1.
Toronto
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Toronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. With a population of 2,731,571, it is the fourth most populous city in North America after Mexico City, New York City, and Los Angeles. A global city, Toronto is a centre of business, finance, arts, and culture. Aboriginal peoples have inhabited the area now known as Toronto for thousands of years, the city itself is situated on the southern terminus of an ancient Aboriginal trail leading north to Lake Simcoe, used by the Wyandot, Iroquois, and the Mississauga. Permanent European settlement began in the 1790s, after the broadly disputed Toronto Purchase of 1787, the British established the town of York, and later designated it as the capital of Upper Canada. During the War of 1812, the town was the site of the Battle of York, York was renamed and incorporated as the city of Toronto in 1834, and became the capital of the province of Ontario during the Canadian Confederation in 1867. The city proper has since expanded past its original borders through amalgamation with surrounding municipalities at various times in its history to its current area of 630.2 km2. While the majority of Torontonians speak English as their primary language, Toronto is a prominent centre for music, theatre, motion picture production, and television production, and is home to the headquarters of Canadas major national broadcast networks and media outlets. Toronto is known for its skyscrapers and high-rise buildings, in particular the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere. The name Toronto is likely derived from the Iroquois word tkaronto and this refers to the northern end of what is now Lake Simcoe, where the Huron had planted tree saplings to corral fish. A portage route from Lake Ontario to Lake Huron running through this point, in the 1660s, the Iroquois established two villages within what is today Toronto, Ganatsekwyagon on the banks of the Rouge River and Teiaiagonon the banks of the Humber River. By 1701, the Mississauga had displaced the Iroquois, who abandoned the Toronto area at the end of the Beaver Wars, French traders founded Fort Rouillé on the current Exhibition grounds in 1750, but abandoned it in 1759. During the American Revolutionary War, the region saw an influx of British settlers as United Empire Loyalists fled for the British-controlled lands north of Lake Ontario, the new province of Upper Canada was in the process of creation and needed a capital. Dorchester intended the location to be named Toronto, in 1793, Governor John Graves Simcoe established the town of York on the Toronto Purchase lands, instead naming it after Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany. Simcoe decided to move the Upper Canada capital from Newark to York, the York garrison was constructed at the entrance of the towns natural harbour, sheltered by a long sandbar peninsula. The towns settlement formed at the end of the harbour behind the peninsula, near the present-day intersection of Parliament Street. In 1813, as part of the War of 1812, the Battle of York ended in the towns capture, the surrender of the town was negotiated by John Strachan. US soldiers destroyed much of the garrison and set fire to the parliament buildings during their five-day occupation, the sacking of York was a primary motivation for the Burning of Washington by British troops later in the war
2.
Ontario
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Ontario, one of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada, is located in east-central Canada. It is Canadas most populous province by a margin, accounting for nearly 40 percent of all Canadians. Ontario is fourth-largest in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and it is home to the nations capital city, Ottawa, and the nations most populous city, Toronto. There is only about 1 km of land made up of portages including Height of Land Portage on the Minnesota border. Ontario is sometimes divided into two regions, Northern Ontario and Southern Ontario. The great majority of Ontarios population and arable land is located in the south, in contrast, the larger, northern part of Ontario is sparsely populated with cold winters and is heavily forested. The province is named after Lake Ontario, a thought to be derived from Ontarí, io, a Huron word meaning great lake, or possibly skanadario. Ontario has about 250,000 freshwater lakes, the province consists of three main geographical regions, The thinly populated Canadian Shield in the northwestern and central portions, which comprises over half the land area of Ontario. Although this area mostly does not support agriculture, it is rich in minerals and in part covered by the Central and Midwestern Canadian Shield forests, studded with lakes, Northern Ontario is subdivided into two sub-regions, Northwestern Ontario and Northeastern Ontario. The virtually unpopulated Hudson Bay Lowlands in the north and northeast, mainly swampy. Southern Ontario which is further sub-divided into four regions, Central Ontario, Eastern Ontario, Golden Horseshoe, the highest point is Ishpatina Ridge at 693 metres above sea level located in Temagami, Northeastern Ontario. In the south, elevations of over 500 m are surpassed near Collingwood, above the Blue Mountains in the Dundalk Highlands, the Carolinian forest zone covers most of the southwestern region of the province. A well-known geographic feature is Niagara Falls, part of the Niagara Escarpment, the Saint Lawrence Seaway allows navigation to and from the Atlantic Ocean as far inland as Thunder Bay in Northwestern Ontario. Northern Ontario occupies roughly 87 percent of the area of the province. Point Pelee is a peninsula of Lake Erie in southwestern Ontario that is the southernmost extent of Canadas mainland, Pelee Island and Middle Island in Lake Erie extend slightly farther. All are south of 42°N – slightly farther south than the border of California. The climate of Ontario varies by season and location, the effects of these major air masses on temperature and precipitation depend mainly on latitude, proximity to major bodies of water and to a small extent, terrain relief. In general, most of Ontarios climate is classified as humid continental, Ontario has three main climatic regions
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
University of Toronto
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The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on the grounds that surround Queens Park. It was founded by charter in 1827 as Kings College. Originally controlled by the Church of England, the university assumed the present name in 1850 upon becoming a secular institution, as a collegiate university, it comprises twelve colleges, which differ in character and history, each with substantial autonomy on financial and institutional affairs. It has two campuses in Scarborough and Mississauga. Academically, the University of Toronto is noted for influential movements and curricula in literary criticism and communication theory, by a significant margin, it receives the most annual scientific research funding of any Canadian university. It is one of two members of the Association of American Universities outside the United States, the other being McGill University, the Varsity Blues are the athletic teams that represent the university in intercollegiate league matches, with long and storied ties to gridiron football and ice hockey. The universitys Hart House is an example of the North American student centre. The founding of a college had long been the desire of John Graves Simcoe. As an Oxford-educated military commander who had fought in the American Revolutionary War, the Upper Canada Executive Committee recommended in 1798 a college be established in York, the colonial capital. On March 15,1827, a charter was formally issued by King George IV, proclaiming from this time one College, with the style. For the education of youth in the principles of the Christian Religion, the granting of the charter was largely the result of intense lobbying by John Strachan, the influential Anglican Bishop of Toronto who took office as the colleges first president. The original three-storey Greek Revival school building was built on the present site of Queens Park, under Strachans stewardship, Kings College was a religious institution closely aligned with the Church of England and the British colonial elite, known as the Family Compact. Reformist politicians opposed the control over colonial institutions and fought to have the college secularized. Having anticipated this decision, the enraged Strachan had resigned a year earlier to open Trinity College as a private Anglican seminary, University College was created as the nondenominational teaching branch of the University of Toronto. Established in 1878, the School of Practical Science was precursor to the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, while the Faculty of Medicine opened in 1843, medical teaching was conducted by proprietary schools from 1853 until 1887, when the faculty absorbed the Toronto School of Medicine. Meanwhile, the university continued to set examinations and confer medical degrees, the university opened the Faculty of Law in 1887, followed by the Faculty of Dentistry in 1888, when the Royal College of Dental Surgeons became an affiliate. Women were first admitted to the university in 1884, over the next two decades, a collegiate system took shape as the university arranged federation with several ecclesiastical colleges, including Strachans Trinity College in 1904. The university operated the Royal Conservatory of Music from 1896 to 1991, the University of Toronto Press was founded in 1901 as Canadas first academic publishing house
5.
Municipal government of Toronto
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The municipal government of Toronto, or City of Toronto, is a public corporation providing services to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is administered by 44 elected councillors, who along with the mayor, torontonians elect a new council every four years, in October. The City of Toronto is legally bound by the City of Toronto Act and it lays down the division of powers, responsibilities and required duties of the corporation. The Council itself forms several committees after every election to divide the administration of the corporation, the Council also forms several Community Councils which hear matters relating to narrower, district issues, such as building permits and developments requiring changes to zoning by-laws. Community Council decisions, as well as those of the Mayor, the top civil servant in the corporation is the City Manager, who reports to the Mayor and City Council. Prior to 2005, the city had various departments headed by Commissioners and these heads were simplified by replacing the departments with divisions headed by Deputy Manager. All department heads now report to the City Manager.8 billion, the citys net debt stood at $4.4 billion as of the end of 2010 and has an AA credit rating from Standard & Poors, and an Aa1 credit rating from Moodys. Toronto is expected to pay million of the debt in 2011. The citys debt increased by $721 million in 2010, the City of Toronto was incorporated in 1834, succeeding York, which was administered directly by the then-province of Upper Canada. The new city was administered by a council, which served a one-year term. The first mayor, chosen by the councillors, was William Lyon Mackenzie. The first law passed was an Act for the preventing & extinguishing of Fires, the first mayor directly elected to the post was Adam Wilson, elected in 1859. Through 1955 the term of office for the mayor and council was one year, to finance operations, the municipality levied property taxes. In 1850, Toronto also started levying income taxes, Toronto levied personal income taxes until 1936, and corporate income taxes until 1944. Until 1914, Toronto grew by annexing neighbouring municipalities such as Parkdale, after 1914, Toronto stopped annexing bordering municipalities, although some municipalities overwhelmed by growth requested it. After World War II, an group of suburban villages. Change to the structure came in 1954, with the creation of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto in 1954. The new regional government built highways, water systems and public transit, while the thirteen townships, villages, towns, to manage the yearly upkeep of the new infrastructure, the new regional government levied its own property tax, collected by the local municipalities
6.
Seating capacity
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Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats hundreds of thousands of people. The International Fire Code, portions of which have adopted by many jurisdictions, is directed more towards the use of a facility than the construction. It specifies, For areas having fixed seating without dividing arms and it also requires that every public venue submit a detailed site plan to the local fire code official, including details of the means of egress, seating capacity, arrangement of the seating. Once safety considerations have been satisfied, determinations of seating capacity turn on the size of the venue. For sports venues, the decision on maximum seating capacity is determined by several factors, chief among these are the primary sports program and the size of the market area. Seating capacity of venues also plays a role in what media they are able to provide, in contracting to permit performers to use a theatre or other performing space, the seating capacity of the performance facility must be disclosed. Seating capacity may influence the kind of contract to be used, the seating capacity must also be disclosed to the copyright owner in seeking a license for the copyrighted work to be performed in that venue. Venues that may be leased for private functions such as ballrooms and auditoriums generally advertise their seating capacity, seating capacity is also an important consideration in the construction and use of sports venues such as stadiums and arenas. The seating capacity for restaurants is reported as covers, a restaurant that can seat 99 is said to have 99 covers, seating capacity differs from total capacity, which describes the total number of people who can fit in a venue or in a vehicle either sitting or standing. Use of the term public capacity indicates that a venue is allowed to more people than it can actually seat. Again, the total number of people can refer to either the physical space available or limitations set by law
7.
Canadian dollar
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The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or sometimes Can$ or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and it is divided into 100 cents. Canadas dollar is the fifth most held reserve currency in the world, accounting for approximately 2% of all global reserves, behind only the U. S. dollar, the euro, the yen and the pound sterling. In 1841, the Province of Canada adopted a new system based on the Halifax rating, the new Canadian pound was equal to four US dollars, making one pound sterling equal to 1 pound,4 shillings, and 4 pence Canadian. Thus, the new Canadian pound was worth 16 shillings and 5.3 pence sterling, the 1850s was a decade of wrangling over whether to adopt a sterling monetary system or a decimal monetary system based on the US dollar. In 1851, the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly passed an act for the purposes of introducing a sterling unit in conjunction with decimal fractional coinage. The idea was that the coins would correspond to exact amounts in relation to the U. S. dollar fractional coinage. This gold standard was introduced with the gold sovereign being legal tender at £1 = US$ 4.86 2⁄3, no coinage was provided for under the 1853 act. Sterling coinage was legal tender and all other silver coins were demonetized. The British government in principle allowed for a decimal coinage but nevertheless held out the hope that a unit would be chosen under the name of royal. However, in 1857, the decision was made to introduce a decimal coinage into the Province of Canada in conjunction with the U. S. dollar unit, in 1859, Canadian colonial postage stamps were issued with decimal denominations for the first time. In 1860, the colonies of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia followed the colony of Canada in adopting a system based on the U. S. dollar unit. In the following year, Canadian colonial postage stamps were issued with the shown in dollars. The U. S. dollar was created in 1792 on the basis of the weight of a selection of worn Spanish dollars. As such, the Spanish dollar was slightly more than the U. S. dollar, and likewise. In 1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia were united in a called the Dominion of Canada. In 1871, Prince Edward Island went decimal within the U. S. dollar unit, however, the currency of Prince Edward Island was absorbed into the Canadian system shortly afterwards, when Prince Edward island joined the Dominion of Canada in 1873. The Canadian Parliament passed the Uniform Currency Act in April 1871, tying up loose ends as to the currencies of the various provinces, the gold standard was temporarily abandoned during the First World War and definitively abolished on April 10,1933
8.
PCL Construction
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The PCL family of companies is a group of independent general contracting construction companies. The organization has over 4,400 employees across the United States, Canada, the organization is active in the commercial, institutional, multi-family residential, renewable energy, heavy industrial, historical restoration, and civil construction sectors. The PCL family of companies has headquarters in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, with a United States head office in Denver, PCL began operations in 1906, as E. E. Contractors, founded by Ernest Edward Poole of Stoughton, Saskatchewan. In 1913, Ernest Poole renamed the company to Poole Construction Company Limited, in 1932 the company was moved to its current corporate headquarters in Edmonton, Alberta. In 1975 PCL opened its U. S. head office in Denver, Ernest Pooles sons, John Edward and George Ernest, sold the company to their 25 employees and Great West Life in 1977. In 1978, Poole Construction Company Limited became PCL Construction Limited, PCL maintains ongoing relationships with multiple charitable organizations including United Way of America, United Way of Canada, and the Red Cross
9.
2015 Pan American Games
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The games were held from July 10 to 26,2015 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, preliminary rounds in certain events began on July 7,2015. These were the third Pan American games hosted by Canada, the Games were held at venues in Toronto and seventeen other Golden Horseshoe communities. The Pan American Games and 2015 Parapan American Games were organized by the Toronto Organizing Committee for the 2015 Pan and Parapan American Games. The Games hosted 6,132 athletes representing 41 National Olympic Committees in the Americas, marking the largest multi-sport event hosted in Canada, a record of 45% of competitors were women, the most ever for any multi-sport event. 364 events were contested in 36 sports, which included the 28 sports contested at the 2016 Summer Olympics, canoe slalom and golf made their Pan American Games debut, as well as womens competitions in baseball, C-1 canoe and rugby sevens. The Canadian Olympic Committee chose Toronto and the region as the Canadian candidate. No other Canadian city was given a chance to bid in a domestic race, Torontos interest in bidding came after failing to land the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics, which were held in Atlanta and Beijing respectively. On February 23,2009, Toronto City Council and Hamilton City Council approved the bid, the official bid book document was submitted to the Pan American Sports Organization on May 27,2009. PASO made a visit to Toronto between August 30 and 31,2009. The team analysed the candidate city features and provided its feedback back to voting members of PASO, the evaluation committee was headed by Julio Maglione, a member of the IOC representing Uruguay and the head of Fédération Internationale de Natation, the international swimming federation. After the visit Maglione said, Toronto has all the conditions to play host to the Pan American Games. Toronto won the bidding process to host the Pan and Parapan American Games by a vote of the Pan American Sports Organization on November 6,2009, at the PASO Session held in Guadalajara, the result was announced by PASO President Mario Vázquez Raña. Toronto faced two other finalists shortlisted Lima, Peru, and Bogotá, Colombia, Toronto earned 33 votes, while contesting candidate cities Lima and Bogotá received 11 and 7 votes, respectively. The 2015 Pan American Games used a mixture of new venues, existing and temporary facilities, after the Games, some of the new facilities will be reused in their games time form, while others will be resized. A total of 30 competition venues across 14 municipalities were used for competition, ten of these venues were newly built, while fifteen were renovated to stage the games. Toronto was one of the most populous cities in history to hold the Pan American Games, in July, Toronto has an average mean temperature of 22.3 °C and afternoon maximum average of 26. Torontos elevation is 112 m above sea level, the opening and closing ceremonies were held at Pan-Am Ceremonies Venue, or simply Pan-Am Dome, due to sponsorship rules. Some of the venues in the Toronto area included Exhibition Stadium, the Pan Am/Parapan Am Fields, the Exhibition Centre
10.
2015 Parapan American Games
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Both the Parapan American and Pan American Games were organized by the Toronto 2015 Organizing Committee. The Games hosted 1,608 athletes representing 28 National Paralympic Committees in the Americas, the Canadian Olympic Committee chose Toronto and the surrounding region as the Canadian candidate. No other Canadian city was given a chance to bid in a domestic race, Torontos interest in bidding came after failing to land the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics, which were held in Atlanta and Beijing respectively. On February 23,2009, both Toronto City Council and Hamilton City Council approved the bid officially and confirmed their intentions to support the successful hosting of the event, the official bid book document was submitted to the Pan American Sports Organization on May 27,2009. PASO made a visit to Toronto between August 30 and 31,2009. The team analyzed the candidate city features and provided its feedback back to voting members of PASO, the evaluation committee was headed by Julio Maglione, a member of the IOC representing Uruguay and the head of Fédération Internationale de Natation, the international swimming federation. After the visit Maglione said, Toronto has all the conditions to play host to the Pan American Games. Toronto won the bidding process to host the Pan and Parapan American Games by a vote of the Pan American Sports Organization on November 6,2009, at the PASO Session held in Guadalajara, the result was announced by PASO President Mario Vázquez Raña. Toronto faced two other finalists shortlisted Lima, Peru, and Bogotá, Colombia, Toronto earned 33 votes, while contesting candidate cities Lima and Bogotá received 11 and 7 votes, respectively. Toronto became one of the most populous cities to hold the Parapan American Games. In August, the month when the Games was held, Toronto has a temperature of 21 °C. Toronto’s summer temperatures around August are warm, and the city less than five days with the temperature going above 30 °C. As well in August Toronto averages about 67mm of precipitation, moreover, Torontos elevation is at 112 m above sea level, which provides optimal and ideal conditions for athletes. Athletes living quarters were at the 2015 Pan American Games Athletes Village, the opening ceremonies was held at the CIBC Pan Am and Parapan Am Athletics Stadium and the closing ceremonies was held at Nathan Phillips Square. The Parapan Games re-used 12 venues from the Pan Am Games while one venue University of Toronto Scarborough Tennis Centre was newly constructed for the Parapan Am Games. The provincial government and the Canadian federal government provided 35% each of the funding, also $1 billion Canadian dollars was spent on building an athletes village in the West Don Lands area of Toronto. Therefore, the total cost was $2.4 billion, the highest ever spent for a Pan/Parapan American Games, later in 2011 Torontos contribution to the games almost doubled from $49.5 million to $96. $700 million Canadian dollars was spent to build and renovate infrastructure in the region, many transit improvements in Toronto were made in time for these games
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