Toronto

About Toronto

Toronto is Canada's largest city and an occasional Great Lakes cruise port, handling small-ship and expedition vessels sailing the lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway. Ships dock at the Harbourfront a short walk from the CN Tower, Ripley's Aquarium, and the Rogers Centre. The Distillery District and St. Lawrence Market are the classic food-and-drink stops. Great Lakes cruising is a specialty market.

• Toronto is Canada's most populous city and North America's fourth-largest, behind only Mexico City, New York, and Los Angeles — with a 2021 census population of nearly 2.8 million in the city proper.
• About half of all Toronto residents were born outside Canada, and over 200 ethnic origins and 160 languages are represented — making it one of the most multicultural cities on the planet.
• Indigenous peoples have lived in the Toronto area for more than 10,000 years; the name 'Toronto' likely derives from a Mohawk word meaning 'where there are trees standing in the water'.
• The American forces burned and occupied Toronto (then called York) for two weeks during the War of 1812, an event that may have contributed to the later British burning of Washington D.C. as retaliation.
• The CN Tower, completed in 1976, was the world's tallest free-standing structure for 34 years until surpassed by the Burj Khalifa in 2010; it still allows daredevils to walk on its exterior EdgeWalk 356 meters above the ground.