55 Interesting and Fun Facts About Toronto, Canada (2024)

What’s the more fun and interesting fact that you know about Toronto?

After this post, you’ll have 55 facts to throw out and rock your friend’s socks off (or your dad, or that weird uncle at the family reunion you never know what to say to).

I grew up in Toronto and genuinely thought it was the most boring city in the world. It turns out, its not! There are so many fun facts, historical ties, and unique stats that make the city amazing.

Find out the world records we actually hold, and the ones we like to say we do. And learn the best place to go celebrity spotting in the city.

Get ready to be a Toronto fact machine.

Save on flights with Skyscanner!

55 Fun Facts About Toronto, Canada

These are my FAVOURITE fun facts about Toronto. They make the city unique, diverse, and such a cool place to live.

I actually didn’t know many of these Toronto fun facts until I left the city, so I’ve been so grateful to explore it with fresh eyes since.

1. Toronto is home to North America’s only real castle: Casa Loma. It was built by Sir Henry Pallett in the early 1900s. Now you can visit the historic castle yourself. It was used to film scenes for Harry Potty and the Deathly Hallows, X-Men, and Beauty and the Beast.
2. You used to be able to find the longest street in the world in Toronto. A few years ago Guinness reclassified the street as part highway and took about our designation. But Torontonians still fight to say Yonge Street, the 2000km street, is the longest in the world.
3. Toronto is the “most multicultural city in the world” with over 200 different ethnic origins, and 50% of the population born elsewhere.
4. The Skydome (or as it’s now known, the “Rogers Centre” – but true Canadians never refer to it as such) was the first stadium to have a retractable roof. The technology dates back to ancient Rome where the colosseum had the ability to be covered or uncovered depending on the weather.
5. The PATH in Downtown Toronto is the world’s largest underground shopping centre. With over 30km of space, the area has 1200 retail stores and hosts the world’s largest sidewalk sale annually. It connects 70 buildings and more than 200,000 people walk through it daily.
6. You can spot celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Scarlett Johansen at TIFF every year. The Toronto International Film Festival is the largest publically attended film festival, with tickets as low as $2.
7. Bonnie and Clyde are the most famous rodents in Canada – and perhaps the most famous Capybaras in the world! In 2016, the two capybaras escaped from the zoo at High Park and went on a 1 month “crime spree” (hidden adventure) in the park. Eventually, they were captured when the zookeepers realized one kept coming home each night but found the gate closed. They opened it and used her to lure her friend back.
8. You can find the world’s highest wine cellar in Toronto. At the CN Tower, the 360 Restaurants has a 351m high wine cellar that has held the Guinness record since 1997.
9. People often think Drake coined the term “the 6ix”, but it was actually in use long before he made it world famous. No one is sure where the name came from but there are two guesses. The first is that it refers to the 6 cities that amalgamated to form Toronto (Etobicoke, Scarborough, York, East York, North York, and the City of Toronto). Or it may be a reference to the popular phone codes 416 and 647. Either way, it’s not actually a term we use to describe the city (only 7% of people use it). It’s basically just a Drake thing now.
10. Did you know famous baseball player, Babe Ruth, hit his first home run in Toronto? He was playing a game at Hanlan’s Point on the Toronto Islands in 1914 when he started his famed career in baseball.
11. The CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) uses 15,240 decks of cards each year.
12. Pizza Pizza was founded in Etobicoke the same year the Leafs won the Stanley Cup. Since 1967, Pizza Pizza has flourished, but the Leafs haven’t won another cup.
13. Toronto has more than 30 annual festivals. Some are pretty tame, like Winterlicious and Nuit Blanche. Others celebrate the unique cultures of Toronto, like Greek Fest and Ukie Fest. But others are downright weird: like the naked bike ride that happens annually through Downtown Toronto or the Zombie Parade on Halloween.
14. Canada is called the “True North” and Toronto gets associated with that. But Toronto is actually very southerly. We’re further south than parts of the United States (not just Alaska) and even Milan!
15. Toronto has a unique relationship with graffiti. In King West, you can find a 2km Graffiti Alley covered in beautiful graffiti that’s city-sanctioned. It’s one of the best places for an Instagram photoshoot in Toronto. You can also find a graffiti car in Kensington Market that’s the only car legally allowed to be parked there. It’s become a living garden and art piece.

Interesting Facts About Toronto

Toronto isn’t just the CN Tower. There are way more interesting facts – and some myths – that make the city so fascinating.

Learn the most interesting facts about Toronto below:

• Toronto is not the capital of Canada, a common myth around the world. Ottawa is the capital of Canada while Toronto is the capital of Ontario.
• There are 52 outdoor skating rinks in Toronto open from the beginning of December until the end of February. None are as long as the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, but you can spend many winter days exploring forest and city rinks.
• Over 30% of Torontonians speak a language other than English or French. You can even find local languages on street signs in Little Italy, Little Portugal, and Chinatown. Over 180 languages and dialects are spoken in Toronto.
• Toronto is 76.5m above sea level. The highest point of 209 metres is at the intersection of Steeles Avenue West and Keele Street.
• The shore of Toronto along Lake Ontario is 43km long. You can cycle, walk, or jog along this route on the Lakeshore Boardwalk.
• There are over 43,000 hotel rooms in Toronto.
• It makes sense that we need so many hotel rooms when over 40 million people visit every year.
• Almost 25% of Canada’s population lives within 160km of Toronto.
• The Toronto Islands weren’t always islands. They were a peninsula until two powerful storms in 1852 and 1858 separated them from the land. Now you can visit them for the best views of Toronto on a sunset canoe tour.
• The Toronto Islands are the largest urban car-free community in North America.
• There are over 10 million trees in Toronto. The oldest is a 300-year-old red oak in North York.
• Toronto is the only Canadian city with 7 major league sports teams. We have a basketball team (Raptors), a hockey team (Maple Leafs), a baseball team (Blue Jays), a rugby team (Wolfpack), a soccer team (Toronto FC), and a lacrosse team (Toronto Rock).
• Over 2.9 million people live in Toronto. That’s half the size of New Zealand!
• There are over 8,100 restaurants in Toronto. It would take 22 years to eat your way through them if you ate one each night. Find the best restaurants to try in Toronto for your visit.
• Toronto is the 3rd largest city for English theatre in the world. We’re beaten out by New York City and London.

Toronto’s Claims to Fame WorldWidE

Toronto has some amazing world records and unique stats that most people don’t know about. We aren’t just a part of the friendliest country in the world. In fact, we’ve got a lot of world records to put us on the global stage.

There’s a reason everyone knows Toronto, Canada.

• The CN Tower used to be the world’s tallest free-standing structure. In 2010, the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai took this record. But the CN Tower remains the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere. It’s not as catchy, but we’re still proud of it!
• Toronto is the 5th largest city in North America! I don’t know why people keep track of this but they do. We’re behind New York City, Mexico City, Los Angeles, and Chicago (coincidentally, all amazing places for a weekend getaway in the USA!).
• Caribana – a Caribbean cultural festival in Toronto – is the largest single-day parade in North America! It beats out the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade by a lot. The route is 3.6km with over 1 million spectators coming out to enjoy the 10,000 costumed participants. The celebration goes from 10am to 8pm, with amazing Caribbean food, celebratory music, and cultural events around the area.
• We have the second-largest transit system in North America, just behind New York City. However, our ridership rates per capita are higher! I will say, I don’t think the TTC is as awesome as the Tube in London or as widespread as the New York system, but I’m still proud it’s making history!
• Around 25% of Hollywood movies are actually filmed in Toronto. We are commonly used as New York City in many movies, such as The Amazing Spiderman and shows like Suits.
• Many studies have been done to find the safest metropolitan area in North America, and guess who won? Toronto! We have the lowest rate of violent crimes, making us the safest city. For reference, one year we had 78.4 while Detroit (the highest) had a whopping 2,122.9!
• Because of our safety ratings, it makes sense that Toronto is the 4th most livable city in the world. Our safety, public transit, healthcare, education, and overall cleanliness lead to this score.
• Toronto has the largest population of Italians outside of Italy. You can admire their heritage in Little Italy.
• Toronto is known for its skyline with the skyscrapers surrounding the CN Tower. Did you know that Toronto has the 9th most skyscrapers in the world! In 2019 we were found to be the highest Canadian city on the list.
• The CN Tower is home to the Edgewalk, an experience where you can scale the outside of the building and hang over the city. It is recognized as the World’s Highest Outdoor Walk.

Historical Facts About Toronto

Canada may not be a very old country, but Toronto has some pretty cool history facts. In fact, did you know the city is older that

• Canada is famed for our cold, so you might expect that the coldest temperature in Toronto is pretty cold. In January 1981, we hit record lows of -31.3C. With windchill, it felt like -44.7C!
• But, did you know that summers get equally hot? In July 1936, we had our hottest day with 41C (no humidity).
• People have lived in Toronto since shortly after the last ice age. The Indigenous peoples who traditionally lived in Toronto include the Missisaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee (often called the Mohawk peoples), and the Wendat peoples.
• The urban city of Toronto dates back to 1793, old for Canada, when it was founded as the town of York. It became Toronto in 1834.
• There is a house that’s been sawed in half in Toronto. On St. Patrick Street you can find house 54 1/2. One half was sold to a developer while the other remains there to this day. It’s hard to spot but once you notice it, it seems like an optical illusion.
• In 1861, 24 men created the Toronto Stock Exchange. There were 18 stocks. Now Toronto is the largest financial centre in Canada and the 4th largest in North America. In fact, the TSX is the 7th largest exchange in the world!
• The St. Lawrence Market has stood as a cultural gathering place since 1803. It’s the perfect place to connect, share stories, and enjoy the culinary histories at the heart of Toronto. Be sure to stop in to try some famous Canadian food.
• Yorkville may be the fanciest shopping area in Toronto now, but historically, this area was actually a cemetery. In the 1850s, the area was a large cemetery. When people renovate now, there is still a risk of finding bodies.
• There’s a secret subway station in Toronto. Beneath Queen Station, there’s a station called “Lower Queen Station”. It’s an underground streetcar route that was abandoned.
• In 2076, an exciting time capsule from the CN Tower will be opened. Inside are letters from primary school children, copies of newspapers, and a letter from former Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau (the current Prime Minister’s father). On the 100th birthday of the tower, the time capsule will be opened.
• In 2013, the Toronto Zoo rented 2 giant pandas from China. They cost $1 million per year with a $200,000 surcharge every time a cub is born. So far two have been born. That’s a lot of money, especially when you factor in the $200,000 a year for food that they require.
• Toronto has a large electrical grid. In the early 20th century, to keep the traffic running, the government put houses around the city that are hidden transformers. They create nondescript residential houses around the city to hide these transformers. You might be walking past an electrical site without even realizing it!
• Toronto Pearson International Airport is the busiest airport in Canada and the 4th busiest in North America. In 2013, it saw over 13.69 million overnight visitors from outside of North America.
• One King West is a famous Ontario Heritage Building that was initially home to the Toronto Dominion Bank in the late 1800s. when it was built, it was the narrowest condo tower in the world and the tallest residential tower in Canada. This building is 51 stories high and 11 feet for every foot of with at the base.
• Toronto’s Distillery District is famed for its involvement in prohibition and as being home to the first Whiskey Distillery in Toronto. It was once the largest distillery of the British Empire but ceased operations in 1990 after 135 years in use. Now it’s more famous for being involved in over 800 films and TV shows.

Toronto Fun Facts Wrap Up

It’s weird to live in a city your whole life and not know half the amazing stuff it’s known for. I always took the festivals and celebrities for granted. I never knew to celebrate the underground PATH system I used to walk every week to meet my mom after work. And I had no idea the castle I went to every summer with my grandmother was a legitimate castle!

Hopefully these fun and interesting facts have helped you learn more about Toronto so you can see it through new eyes on your next visit.

Maybe you’ll challenge yourself to visit all 6 burroughs that now make up the city, or ride the length of Canada’s longest transit system. Whatever this list inspires you to do in Toronto, have fun!

Save on flights with Skyscanner!

Pin This for Later!

I Think You’ll Love These Posts:

• Toronto Beaches Neighbourhood Guide
• 10 Delicious Canada Cocktail Recipes to Make This Canada Day
• 10 Most Haunted Places to Visit in Canada
• Best Places to See Tulips in Ottawa at the Canadian Tulip Festival
• How to Spend a Winter Weekend in Toronto
• Safe Solo Travel Destinations