Downtown Toronto
Downtown Toronto is the city centre and main central business district of Toronto, Canada. Located within the district of Old Toronto, it is 14 square kilometers in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the north, Lake Ontario to the south, the Don Valley to the east, Bathurst Street to the west, it is the governmental centre of the City of Toronto and the Province of Ontario. The area is made up of the Canada’s largest concentration of skyscrapers and businesses that form Toronto's skyline. Downtown Toronto has the third most skyscrapers in North America exceeding 200 metres in height, behind New York City and Chicago; the retail core of the downtown is located along Yonge Street from Queen Street to College Street. There is a large cluster of retail centres and shops in the area, including the Toronto Eaton Centre indoor mall. There are an estimated 600 retail stores, 150 bars and restaurants, 7 hotels. In recent years the area has been experiencing a renaissance as the Business Improvement Area has brought in new retail and improved the cleanliness.
The area has seen the opening of the Dundas Square public square, a public space for holding performances and art displays. The area includes several live theatres, a movie complex at Dundas Square and the historic Massey Hall. Historical sites and landmarks include the Arts & Letter Club, the Church of the Holy Trinity, Mackenzie House, Maple Leaf Gardens, Old City Hall, the Toronto Police Museum and Discovery Centre; the Financial District, centred on the intersection of Bay Street and King Street is the centre of Canada's financial industry. It contains the Toronto Stock Exchange, the largest in Canada and seventh in the world by market capitalization; the construction of skyscrapers in downtown Toronto had started to increase during the 1960s. The area of St. Lawrence to the east of the financial district is one of the oldest area of Toronto, it features heritage buildings, music and many pubs. It is a community of distinct downtown neighbourhoods including the site of the original Town of York, Toronto's first neighbourhood, dating back to 1793.
The area boasts one of the largest concentrations of 19th century buildings in Ontario. Of particular note are the St. Lawrence Hall, St. James' Cathedral, St. Michael's Cathedral, St. Paul's Basilica, the Enoch Turner School House, the Bank of Upper Canada, Le Royal Meridien King Edward Hotel, the Gooderham Building. On Saturday there is a farmers market. Other historical districts in downtown Toronto include Cabbagetown, the Distillery District, Old Town. To the west of the financial district is the Entertainment District, it is home to hundreds of restaurants, sporting facilities, hotels and live theatre. The district was an industrial area and was redeveloped for entertainment purposes in the early 1980s, becoming a major centre for entertainment; the redevelopment started with the Mirvish family refurbishing of the Royal Alexandra Theatre and their construction of the Princess of Wales Theatre. The area is now the site of the Canadian Broadcasting Centre; the Yorkville area, to the north, north of Bloor Street and the Mink Mile, has more than 700 designer boutiques, restaurants and world class galleries.
It is a former village in its own right and since the early 1970s has developed into an up-scale shopping district. The intersection of Bloor and Yonge Streets is the intersection of the city's subway lines and is one of the busiest intersections in the city. At the intersection of Avenue Road and Bloor Street is the Royal Ontario Museum, the largest museum of the city, with a diverse anthropological and natural history collection; the Harbourfront area to the south was an industrial and railway lands area. Since the 1970s, it has seen extensive redevelopment, including the building of the Rogers Centre stadium, numerous condominiums and the Harbourfront Centre waterfront revitalization; the area to the east of Yonge Street is still in transition, with conversion of industrial lands to mixed residential and commercial uses planned. Among the important government headquarters in downtown Toronto include the Ontario Legislature, the Toronto City Hall. In the 1970s, Toronto experienced major economic growth and surpassed Montreal to become the largest city in Canada.
Many international and domestic businesses relocated to Toronto and created massive new skyscrapers downtown. All of the Big Five banks constructed skyscrapers beginning in the late 1960s up until the early 1990s. Today downtown Toronto contains dozens of notable skyscrapers; the area's First Canadian Place is the tallest building in Canada at height of 298 metres. The CN Tower, once the tallest free-standing structure in the world, remains the tallest such structure in the Americas, standing at 553.33 metres. Other notable buildings include Scotia Plaza, TD Centre, Commerce Court, the Royal Bank Plaza, The Bay's flagship store, the Fairmont Royal York Hotel. Since 2007, urban consolidation has been centred in downtown Toronto and as a result has been undergoing Manhattanization with the construction of new office towers and condos. Downtown Toronto is home to three public universities, OCAD University, Ryerson University, the University of Toronto. OCAD University is Canada's oldest post secondary institution for art and design.
Ryerson University is a research university. The University of Toronto is a collegiate research university, whose St. George campus is situated downtown. Established in 1827, the University of Toronto is the oldest university in the province of Ontario. In ad
Nathan Phillips Square
Nathan Phillips Square is an urban plaza in Toronto, Canada. It forms the forecourt to Toronto City Hall, or New City Hall, at the intersection of Queen Street West and Bay Street, is named for Nathan Phillips, mayor of Toronto from 1955 to 1962; the square was designed by the City Hall's architect Viljo Revell and landscape architect Richard Strong. It opened in 1965; the square is the site of concerts, art displays, a weekly farmers' market, the winter festival of lights, other public events, including demonstrations. During the winter months, the reflecting pool is converted into an ice rink for ice skating; the square attracts an estimated 1.5 million visitors yearly. With an area of 4.85 hectares, it is Canada's largest city square. The square is rectangular in shape, with the edge of the city hall meeting the square on an angle on the north side; the main portion of the square is paved with two sizes of reinforced concrete slabs. The square has a reflecting pool, a peace garden, a permanent stage and several sculptures, including Three-Way Piece No. 2 by Henry Moore.
Around the remaining perimeter of the square runs an elevated concrete walkway. Outside the walkway are treed lawns dotted with various other memorials and monuments, such as Oscar Nemon's statue of Sir Winston Churchill, a Roman column. Beneath the square is one of the world's largest underground parking garages. In 2012, illuminated "disappearing" fountains were installed among the slabs, used for decoration and cooling; the Square is property of the City of Toronto. Smoking is prohibited in the entire square; the reflecting pool is situated in the south-east corner of the square. Spanning the reflecting pool are three concrete arches. At the same time, a piece of the Berlin Wall was placed at the southern base of the central arch. To the west of the reflecting pool is a pavilion where food is available; the Peace Garden was created as a memorial to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, as well as the "commitment of Torontonians to the principle of world peace." The sundial at the south end of the garden pre-dates the peace memorial.
R. Johnson, presented by Nathan Phillips to the residents of Toronto. Fifteen years during the city's sesquicentennial Prime Minister of Canada Pierre Trudeau turned the first sod for the Peace Garden, to sit north of, but incorporate, the pre-existing sundial; the 600 m2 garden consists of a pavilion, a fountain, surrounding plantings. The gazebo is a stone-clad cube with arched openings on all sides, capped with a pitched roof, with one corner of the structure deconstructed, to signify conflict and the fragility of civilization; the fountain's pool encroaches into this removed corner, with an eternal flame placed in the water so as to appear as though it supports the pavilion structure, to symbolise hope and regeneration. Pope John Paul II lit this flame with an ember from the Peace Flame in Hiroshima, poured into the pool water from the rivers that flow through Nagasaki; the entire monument was formally dedicated by Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, in October 1984. As part of the redesign of the square, the Peace Garden was moved from the centre of the square to its western edge.
The elevated concrete walkway connects to the podium of the City Hall at the height of its roof and extends around the perimeter of the square. Staircases connect the walkway to the floor of the square in several locations. On the south side, the walkway extends across Queen Street to the Sheraton Hotel. On the west side, the walkway is connected to the back of the permanent stage, which serves as a grand staircase; the walkway is closed during winter months. The area occupied by the square was part of the Ward and was a major immigrant reception area during the first half of the twentieth century characterized by poverty during the late 1800s and early 1900s, with Black families settling on the site followed by the large wave of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe during this period. From 1910s leading up to World War II, the immigrant neighbourhood was settled and developed by the Chinese immigrants into Toronto's first Chinatown. Following World War II, the City of Toronto government prepared to construct a civic square in Chinatown, through a by-law which prohibited further development except for public purposes or parking lots.
With voter approval in 1947, the city began acquisition of sites inside Chinatown from 1948 to 1958, with expropriation and demolition of various shops and restaurants in 1955 for the development of the square. With the procurement of the land completed and the design of City Hall finalized in 1958, construction commenced in 1961; the rink was completed before other features in the square, was opened by Mayor Philip Givens on Sunday, 29 November 1964. This was the first operational part of the new City Hall, it was rushed to completion before the December 1964 municipal election. Other dignitaries present that afternoon were former mayors Nathan Allan Lamport; the rest of the square and City Hall was formally completed in September 1965. To add decoration to the square, City Hall architect Viljo Revell wanted a sculpture by British sculptor Henry Moore, he selected the Three-Way Piece No. 2 at a cost of over CAD$100,000. Its purchase
Scotiabank
The Bank of Nova Scotia, operating as Scotiabank, is a Canadian multinational bank. It is the third largest bank in Canada by deposits and market capitalization, it serves more than 25 million customers around the world and offers a range of products and services including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and investment banking. With a team of more than 88,000 employees and assets of $998 billion, Scotiabank trades on the Toronto and New York Exchanges. Founded in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1832, Scotiabank moved its executive offices to Toronto, Ontario, in 1900. Scotiabank has billed itself as "Canada's most international bank" due to its acquisitions in Latin America and the Caribbean, in Europe and parts of Asia. Through its subsidiary ScotiaMocatta, it is a member of the London Bullion Market Association and one of five banks that participates in the London gold fixing. Scotiabank's Institution Number is 002; the company ranked at number 41 on the SNL Financial World's 100 biggest banks listing, September 2013 and is led by President and CEO Brian J. Porter.
The bank was incorporated by the Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia on March 30, 1832, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with William Lawson serving as the first president. Scotiabank was founded in Nova Scotia, in 1832 under the name of The Bank of Nova Scotia; the bank intended to facilitate the trans-Atlantic trade of the time. In 1883, The Bank of Nova Scotia acquired the Union Bank of Prince Edward Island, although most of the bank's expansion efforts in the century took the form of branch openings; the bank launched its branch banking system by opening in Nova Scotia. The expansion was limited to the Maritimes until 1882, when the bank moved west by opening a branch in Winnipeg, Manitoba; the Manitoba branch closed, but the bank continued to expand into the American Midwest. This included opening a branch in Minneapolis in 1885, which transferred to Chicago in 1892. Following the collapse of the Commercial Bank of Newfoundland and Union Bank of Newfoundland on December 10, 1894, The Bank of Nova Scotia established on December 15, 1894, in Newfoundland.
In 1899, Scotiabank opened a branch in Massachusetts. The bank opened a branch in Kingston, Jamaica in 1889 to facilitate the trading of sugar and fish; this was Scotiabank's first move into the Caribbean and the first branch of a Canadian bank to open outside of the United States or the United Kingdom. By the end of the 19th century, the bank was represented in all of the Maritimes, Quebec and Manitoba. In 1900, the bank moved its headquarters to Ontario; the bank continued to expand in the 20th century, although its growth now took the form of acquisitions rather than branch openings. 1906 – The bank opened a branch in Havana, Cuba. By 1931, it had five branches in Havana, one branch each in Camagüey, Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba. In 1960, the Government of Cuba nationalized all banks in Cuba, the Scotiabank withdrew services from all eight branches. 1907 – The bank opened a branch in New York City. 1910 – The bank opened a branch in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1913 – The Bank of Nova Scotia merged with the Bank of New Brunswick.
1914 – Toronto-based Metropolitan Bank was acquired, making Scotiabank the fourth largest financial institution in Canada. 1919 – The bank opened a branch in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, located in Puerto Rico's northeast. 1919 – Bank of Ottawa was amalgamated. 1920 – The bank opened a branch in London, another in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. 1961 – The bank became the first Canadian bank to appoint women bank managers on September 11, 1961. 1962 – The bank expanded into Asia with the opening of a Representative Office in Japan. 1975 – The bank adopted "Scotiabank" as its worldwide brand name. 1978 – The bank and Canadian Union of Public Employees signed the first collective agreement between a Canadian bank and a union on September 28, 1978, in Toronto. 1997 – The bank acquired Banco Quilmes in Argentina. 2000 – Scotiabank's stake in Mexican bank Grupo Financiero Inverlat was increased to 55 percent. The Mexican bank was subsequently renamed to Grupo Financiero Scotiabank Inverlat. 2002 – The bank shut its branches in Argentina during the currency crisis and massive sovereign default.
2003 -The bank's Guangzhou Branch was awarded the first licence to a Canadian bank by the Chinese government to deal in Chinese currency. 2003–2004 – The bank acquired Inverlat banking house in Mexico, taking over all of its branches and establishing a strong presence in the country. 2010 – The bank arrived in Bogotá, Colombia. 2012 - Scotiabank entered into an agreement to acquire ING Direct Bank of Canada from ING Groep N. V. In its early expansion, the bank followed trade and its customers' businesses rather than pursuing a strategy of expansion into international financial centres. Scotiabank is a member of the Global ATM Alliance, a joint venture of several major international banks that allows customers of the banks to use their ATM cards or check cards at certain other banks within the Global ATM Alliance without fees when traveling internationally. Other participating banks are Barclays, Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Westpac. Scotiabank has spent $100 million implementing a controversial system to report to the United States the account holdings of close to one million Canadians of American origin and their Canadian-born spouses.
Scotiabank has been forced to implement this system in order to comply with FATCA. Ac
Avenue Road
Avenue Road is a major north-south street in Toronto, Ontario. The road is a continuation of University Avenue, linked to it via Queen's Park and Queen's Park Crescent East and West to form a single through route; until January 1, 1998, these roads were designated Highway 11A. Avenue Road is the western limit of the former town of Yorkville beginning at Bloor Street and ending just north of Highway 401. At its southern terminus, it runs between two of Toronto's major hotels, the Park Hyatt and the Four Seasons Hotel. On the northeast corner of the intersection with Bloor is the Church of the Redeemer. For much of its length the road is residential, with a mix of small businesses, as well as a few large schools and churches. A notable site along this "lower section" is the Hare Krishna Temple the Avenue Road Church, opposite Dupont Street and across the street from the Anglican Church of The Messiah. Just north of St. Clair Avenue, Avenue Road is interrupted by Upper Canada College, ending at Lonsdale Road and resuming again at Kilbarry Road.
The primary traffic route runs east of the school, following widened sections of Lonsdale Road and Oriole Parkway and returning to Avenue Road via Oxton Avenue.. North of Eglinton Avenue, the former St. James-Bond Church once stood; this building, which used to house two prime downtown congregations – St. James Square, Bond Street – was built in the late 1920s, closed in June 2005, it has since been demolished. Near Lawrence Avenue is Havergal College, a large private girls' school. Although in the former city of North York, much of the area considers the school part of North Toronto. Avenue Road ends at Bombay Avenue, just after crossing Highway 401. Avenue Road continued from what is now the interchange by angling northeast via the Hogg's Hollow Bridge to end at Yonge Street. A few miles north of Toronto's Avenue Road, there is a separate Avenue Road in Richmond Hill, running due north of the Toronto one; the thoroughfare's name sounds tautological or self-contradictory from a North American perspective, where avenue is one of the most common generic designations for street names.
However, Avenue Road is a common street name elsewhere in the English-speaking world, notably London, where at least 40 streets bear this name. In British English, an avenue is a row of trees, hence Avenue Road denotes a street lined with trees, thus one's reaction to the name may be seen as a shibboleth evincing attachment to British or American culture. A common urban legend about the origin of the name goes. Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe was surveying the old town of York and came to a spot on Bloor Street and pointed north, he said, "Let's'ave a new road!" Public transit along Avenue Road is provided by the Toronto Transit Commission, on three different bus routes. The two main full-service routes are the 5 Avenue Road, the 61 Avenue Road North, which provide service south and north of Eglinton Avenue respectively; the former originates from Eglinton station and takes commuters into downtown, the latter originates from a bus loop at the northern end and feeds into Eglinton station.
There is an express route, 142 Avenue Road Express, which runs the length of the road, for a direct ride into downtown and the Financial District. It requires a double fare. Avenue Road at Google Maps
Old City Hall (Toronto)
The Old City Hall is a Romanesque civic building and court house in Toronto, Canada. It was the home of the Toronto City Council from 1899 to 1966 and remains one of the city's most prominent structures; the building is located at the corner of Queen and Bay Streets, across Bay Street from Nathan Phillips Square and the present City Hall in the Downtown Toronto. The heritage landmark has a distinctive clock tower which heads the length of Bay Street from Front Street to Queen Street as a terminating vista. Old City Hall was designated a National Historic Site in 1984. Toronto's Old City Hall was one of the largest buildings in Toronto and the largest civic building in North America upon completion in 1899, it was the burgeoning city's third city hall. It housed Toronto's municipal government and courts for York County and Toronto, taking over from the Adelaide Street Court House. York County offices were located in Old City Hall from 1900 to 1953. With the establishment of Metropolitan Toronto, the county seat moved to Ontario.
Designed by prominent Toronto architect Edward James Lennox, the building took more than a decade to build and cost more than $2.5 million. Work on the building began in 1889 and was built on the site of old York buildings including the Lennox hotel, it was constructed of sandstone from the Credit River valley, grey stone from the Orangeville, Ontario area, brown stone from New Brunswick. Angry councillors, due to cost overruns and construction delays, refused E. J. Lennox a plaque proclaiming him as architect for the completed building in 1899. Not to be denied, Lennox had stonemasons "sign" his name in corbels beneath the upper floor eaves around the entire building: "EJ LENNOX ARCHITECT AD 1898". Lennox designed an annex, called Manning Chambers after former mayor Alexander Manning, at the northwest corner of Bay and Queen Street. Completed in 1900, the five-storey building was demolished to make way for the current Toronto City Hall. Planners proposed a public plaza at the south entrance of the city hall called Victoria Square.
The space was to be an urban square with diagonal walkways meeting at a central statue of Queen Victoria, its proposed namesake. The plan was never executed and a smaller space was allocated in front of the building by Queen Street; the City Beautiful movement influenced Toronto planning as well in the early 20th century, a plan was formulated for a grand thoroughfare from Queen Street at City Hall to Front Street that would have been called Federal Avenue. It, was never built, though the City Beautiful movement did influence the urban design principles of nearby University Avenue. At the foot of the steps on Queen Street is the Cenotaph, erected in 1925 to honour Torontonians who died in World War I fighting for Canada, also in honour of Torontonians who died in the Second World War, the Korean War, Canadian peacekeeping operations during Remembrance Day ceremonies every November 11. Four gargoyles were part of the Clock Tower during the 1899 construction, but were removed due to the effects of the weather on the sandstone carvings in 1938.
In 2002, bronze casts of the gargoyles were reinstalled. The replicas are not duplicates; the gargoyles are similar to those on the Peace Tower in Ottawa. Two grotesques and antique lampposts at the base of the grand staircase inside were removed in 1947 and sold, they were reinstalled in the 1980s. Despite its size, Old City Hall proved inadequate for Toronto's growing municipal government within a couple of decades of completion. Under Mayor Nathan Phillips, Toronto City Council launched an international design competition for a new city hall and public square across Bay Street and completed a striking Modernist city hall and public square in 1965. Soon after in the 1960s, plans were made to start construction of the Toronto Eaton Centre; the original plans called for Old City Hall to be demolished and replaced by a retail complex, a number of skyscrapers around a large plaza, leaving only the cenotaph in the front. Public outcry forced authorities to abandon these plans, the Eaton Centre was constructed around the landmark civic building and the Church of the Holy Trinity.
Old City Hall became a dedicated courthouse. The building is leased by the provincial government and is used as a court house for the Ontario Court of Justice; the City of Toronto has served notice on the province that its current lease at Old City Hall will not be renewed past December 31, 2016. The city spent $77 million on renovations completed in 2005 to restore the exterior and the 103.6 metre-high clock tower. Over the next two years, the city spent an additional $7.2-million on interior repairs completed in 2012. There was speculation. On September 21, 2015, the City of Toronto released an internal study that recommended leasing parts of the Old City Hall to retail tenants. However, in early October, the city said it would allow courts to remain until December 31, 2021, while a new courthouse is constructed. In lieu of converting the structure into retail space, the Government Management Committee voted to study housing a city museum in the historic structure. Old City Hall can be described as a massive square quad with a courtyard in the middle.
Situated at the front elevation, its clock tower was placed off centre to provide a terminating vista for Bay Street. In spite of this seeming asymmetry, the balance of the design is still existent throughout. Though the clock tower was off centre, balance was achieved through the repetition of the sub
Economy of Canada
The economy of Canada is a developed mixed economy with 10th largest GDP by nominal and 16th largest GDP by PPP in the world. As with other developed nations, the country's economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians. Canada has the fourth highest total estimated value of natural resources, valued at US$33.2 trillion in 2016. It has the world's third largest proven petroleum reserves and is the fourth largest exporter of petroleum, it is the fourth largest exporter of natural gas. Canada is considered an "energy superpower" due to its abundant natural resources and small population. Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of the primary sector, with the logging and oil industries being two of Canada's most important. Canada has a sizable manufacturing sector, based in Central Canada, with the automobile industry and aircraft industry being important. With the world's longest coastline, Canada has the 8th largest commercial fishing and seafood industry in the world.
Canada is one of the global leaders of the entertainment software industry. It is a member of the APEC, NAFTA, G7, G20, OECD and WTO. With the exception of a few island nations in the Caribbean, Canada is the only major Parliamentary system in the Western Hemisphere; as a result, Canada has developed its own social and political institutions, distinct from most other countries in the world. Though the Canadian economy is integrated with the American economy, it has developed unique economic institutions; the Canadian economic system combines elements of private enterprise and public enterprise. Many aspects of public enterprise, most notably the development of an extensive social welfare system to redress social and economic inequities, were adopted after the end of World War II in 1945. Canada has a private to public property ratio of 60:40 and one of the highest levels of economic freedom in the world. Today Canada resembles the U. S. in its market-oriented economic system and pattern of production.
As of 2017, Canada has 58 companies in the Forbes Global 2000 list, ranking seventh behind France and ahead of India. International trade makes up a large part of the Canadian economy of its natural resources. In 2009, energy and mining exports accounted for about 58% of Canada's total exports. Machinery, automotive products and other manufactures accounted for a further 38% of exports in 2009. In 2009, exports accounted for about 30% of Canada's GDP; the United States is by far its largest trading partner, accounting for about 73% of exports and 63% of imports as of 2009. Canada's combined exports and imports ranked 8th among all nations in 2006. About 4% of Canadians are directly employed in primary resource fields, they account for 6.2% of GDP. They are still paramount in many parts of the country. Many, if not most, towns in northern Canada, where agriculture is difficult, exist because of a nearby mine or source of timber. Canada is a world leader in the production of many natural resources such as gold, uranium, lead, in recent years, crude petroleum, with the world's second-largest oil reserves, is taking an prominent position in natural resources extraction.
Several of Canada's largest companies are based in natural resource industries, such as Encana, Cameco and Barrick Gold. The vast majority of these products are exported to the United States. There are many secondary and service industries that are directly linked to primary ones. For instance one of Canada's largest manufacturing industries is the pulp and paper sector, directly linked to the logging business; the reliance on natural resources has several effects on Canadian society. While manufacturing and service industries are easy to standardize, natural resources vary by region; this ensures that differing economic structures developed in each region of Canada, contributing to Canada's strong regionalism. At the same time the vast majority of these resources are exported, integrating Canada into the international economy. Howlett and Ramesh argue that the inherent instability of such industries contributes to greater government intervention in the economy, to reduce the social impact of market changes.
Natural resource industries raise important questions of sustainability. Despite many decades as a leading producer, there is little risk of depletion. Large discoveries continue to be made, such as the massive nickel. Moreover, the far north remains undeveloped as producers await higher prices or new technologies as many operations in this region are not yet cost effective. In recent decades Canadians have become less willing to accept the environmental destruction associated with exploiting natural resources. High wages and Aboriginal land claims have curbed expansion. Instead many Canadian companies have focused their exploration and expansion activities overseas where prices are lower and governments more amenable. Canadian companies are playing important roles in Latin America, Southeast Asia, Africa; the depletion of renewable resources has raised concerns in recent years. After decades of escalating overutilization the cod fishery all but collapsed in the 1990s, the Pacific salmon industry suffered greatly.
The logging industry, after many years of activism, has in recent years moved to a more sustainable model, or to other countries. Data about the major economic indicators for Canada, including GDP, GDP per capita, GDP growth, Inflation rate and government Government debt are published by the IMF. Productivity measures are key indicators of economic performance and a k
Queen Street (Toronto)
Queen Street is a major east-west thoroughfare in Toronto, Canada. It extends from King Street in the west to Victoria Park Avenue in the east. Queen Street was the cartographic baseline for the original east-west avenues of Toronto's and York County's grid pattern of major roads; the western section of Queen is a centre for Canadian broadcasting, fashion and the visual arts. Over the past twenty-five years, Queen West has become an international arts centre and a tourist attraction in Toronto. Since the original survey in 1793 by Sir Alexander Aitkin, commissioned by Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe, Queen Street has had many names. For its first sixty years, many sections were referred to as Lot Street, section west of Spadina was named Egremont Street until about 1837. East of the Don River to near Coxwell Avenue it was called Kingston Road, but not be mistaken for Kingston Road, a continuation of King Street and Eastern Avenue; the first park lots laid out in the new city of York were given to loyal officials who were willing to give up the amenities of modern cities such as Kingston to take up residence in the forests north of Lot Street.
These 40 hectares lots were placed along the south side of the first east–west road laid in York, Lot Street. In 1837 Lot Street was renamed in honour of Queen Victoria."Queen West" is local vernacular which refers to the collection of neighbourhoods that have developed along and around the thoroughfare. Many of these were ethnically-based neighbourhoods; the earliest example from the mid-19th century was Claretown, an Irish immigrant enclave in the area of Queen Street West and Bathurst Street. From the 1890s to the 1930s, Jewish immigrants coalesced in the neighbourhood known as "the Ward", for which Queen Street between Yonge and University served as the southern boundary; the intersection of Queen and Bay Streets served as the southern end of a thriving Chinatown in the 1930s. From the 1920s to the 1950s, the area was the heart of Toronto's Polish and Ukrainian communities. From the 1950s through the 1970s, many immigrants from Portugal settled in the area. Gentrification over the past twenty years has caused most recent immigrants to move to more affordable areas of the city as desirability of the area drives up prices.
Like other gentrified areas of Toronto, the original "Queen West" —the stretch between University Avenue and Spadina Avenue — is now lined with upscale boutiques, chain stores, tattoo parlours and hair salons. The best-known landmark on this section of Queen West is the broadcast hub at 299 Queen Street West the headquarters of Citytv and MuchMusic and earlier the site of the Ryerson Press, now housing the broadcast operations of a number of television outlets owned by Bell Media. Queen Street East, though not as famous as Queen Street West, is known for its shopping in nearby neighbourhoods; until the 1940s and 50's Queen Street extended west along what is today The Queensway, with the name changed through the westernmost segment though the former Etobicoke in 1947 to avoid confusion due to the break. The other sections were a stub of the street continuing west of Roncesvalles and ending at Colborne Lodge Drive by High Park, a short side street in Swansea running west from Ellis Avenue; when The Queensway was extended east in the 1950s, the latter two section where absorbed into it, rather than having the name "Queen Street" restored to the now-continuous street due to the Borough of Etobicoke desiring a counterpart to another street called The Kingsway.
The commercial district of Queen Street East lies at the heart of The Beaches community. It is characterized by a large number of independent specialty stores; the stores along Queen are known to change tenants quite causing the streetscape to change from year to year, sometimes drastically. Before Woodbine, Queen street has less traffic and is reduced to one lane each way; the centre lanes are used by the 501 streetcar, causing slight delays at streetcar stops and traffic lights. From Fallingbrook to Victoria Park Avenue, Queen Street East is located in Scarborough, the easternmost part of Toronto. Around the intersection with Vicotoria Park, the south side of the street is beside the R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant, a crucial water treatment plant for both Toronto and York Region. From Woodbine to Coxwell, the queen is in parts of two neighbourhoods, Upper Beaches and The Beaches. From Woodbine to Kingston Road, there's a mix of newer commercial/residential buildings; the northern half is coved with various modern looking stores, with the southern half covered by retail development by The Behar Group, consist of 5 residential condos, with ground floor retail spaces.
The section of Kingston to Coxwell is similar in design, but without the retail development on the southern side, there is the Alliance Cinemas The Beach location. A little to east of the Queen/Eastern/Kingston intersection there is the northern border of Woodbine Park, a park used for outdoor events; the area from Greenwood to Logan is known as Leslieville. Queen passes underneath the elevated CN railway tracks, this marks the border of Leslieville. Queen Street East is the commercial hub Leslieville. In Leslieville, Queen is home to restaurants. From Greenwood to Woodfield, the northern side of the street is beside the Ashbridge Estate, a large historic estate; the Russell Carhouse is on this stretch of Queen Street. The place between Logan and the Don River is c
Media related to 
