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• King Edward Hotel, The
  The King Edward Hotel was built by George Gooderham's Toronto Hotel Company to meet the demand in the rising metropolis for a grand hotel. When it opened in 1903, the hotel, affectionately known as the "King Eddy," was embraced by the city. The fireproof, eight-storey building, designed by eminent Chicago architect Henry Ives Cobb and prominent Toronto architect E.J. Lennox, provided luxury and service in dramatic settings. The 18-storey tower, with its top-floor Crystal Ballroom, was added in 1920-21 to enlarge the hotel. Although threatened with demolition in the 1970s, the hotel was revitalized in 1980-81. On its 100th anniversary in 2003, the King Edward, Toronto's first luxury hotel, remains a vibrant and elegant meeting place for local and international visitors.

• St. Lawrence Market
  In 1803, Lieutenant Governor Peter Hunter established a public marketplace here where farmers from nearby townships sold produce and livestock to residents of the town of York (now Toronto). A wooden building was constructed in 1820 and replaced in 1831 by a brick building, which was also used for city council meetings. The market expanded south of Front Street in 1844 with the construction of the Market House and City Hall. It was enlarged again in 1851 when the St. Lawrence Hall and Market was built north of Front Street. The market was an important source of revenue and the City of Toronto rebuilt the north and south market buildings in 1899. The resulting complex, including the present-day south market, was designed by John W. Siddall and completed in 1904. The market remains an important part of Ontario's commercial history.

• Royal York Hotel, The
  Built on the site of the Queen's Hotel by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1928-29, the Royal York Hotel was part of its coast-to-coast chain of grand hotels. The skyscraper hotel, designed by Montreal architects Ross and Macdonald in association with Sproatt and Rolph of Toronto, was the largest hotel in the British Commonwealth and dramatically altered the Toronto skyline. Inside, attractive rooms – from the classicism of the 1928-29 interior to the 1957-59 extension decorated in Canadian themes – have provided the setting for conventions, entertainers, cocktails, teas, debutante balls and royal visits. Together with Union Station to the south and the Dominion Public Building to the southeast, the Royal York Hotel has created one of the finest streetscapes in the provincial capital.

• Loew's Yonge Street and Winter Garden Theatres
  Designed by architect Thomas Lamb for entrepreneur Marcus Loew as the Canadian flagship of his American theatre chain, these double-decker theatres opened in 1913-14. The 2,149-seat, lower theatre was decorated with classical details and red damask, while flowers, leaves, lanterns and garden murals embellished the 1,410-seat rooftop Winter Garden Theatre. Both theatres presented vaudeville acts and silent moving pictures until 1928 when the Winter Garden was closed and Loew's Yonge Street was converted to show sound movies. After the lower theatre (renamed the Elgin in 1978) closed in 1981, the theatres were acquired by the Ontario Heritage Foundation, which restored and upgraded the building. The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre reopened in 1989 and is the last of its kind in operation.

• Hurricane Hazel
  On October 15, 1954, Hurricane Hazel hit southern Ontario with 110 km/h winds and over 200 mm of rain. Many rivers, including the Humber, Don and Rouge overflowed flooding communities in much of southern Ontario. The storm killed 81 people, left 1868 families homeless, and caused extensive property damage. International and local donations to a flood relief fund assisted victims, and all three levels of government shared the expenses of paying for property damage and removing houses located in floodplains. Hurricane Hazel's legacy was the development of a sophisticated weather warning system for the province, measures to conserve the watersheds of major rivers, and a continually evolving system of flood warning and control.

• Santa Claus Parade, The
  In 1905, Timothy Eaton's department store began the tradition of the Santa Claus Parade. Initially, the parade featured Santa Claus on a horse-drawn cart. The parade has grown in size and splendour to include upside-down clowns, colourful marching bands, mascots, characters in elaborate costumes, ornately-decorated floats and – of course – Santa Claus himself. Over the years, Santa has travelled from the North Pole by train, coach, ice floe, airplane and sleigh pulled by nine reindeer. In 1982, a local volunteer group assumed responsibility for the parade. One of Canada's longest-running traditions, the parade remains focussed on bringing joy to children and continues to enchant and entertain people of all ages.

• Fool's Paradise
  This property sits on the ecologically sensitive, geologically significant Scarborough Bluffs that display sediments left by glaciers over 70,000 years during the last phase of the Pleistocene epoch. Aboriginal peoples may have inhabited this site as early as 8,000 B.C. Scottish immigrant James McCowan settled this land for farming in 1833, calling it "Springbank" because of the springs running from the ancient shoreline of Lake Iroquois (predecessor of Lake Ontario) to the north. In 1939, Canadian artist Doris McCarthy purchased the easternmost part of Springbank, which her mother called "Fool's Paradise" because she considered it to be such an extravagant purchase. McCarthy's home and studio grew over the years and in 1998 she donated Fool's Paradise to the Ontario Heritage Foundation for heritage and artistic activities.

• Toronto-Dominion Centre
  Designed by Modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in association with John B. Parkin Associates and Bregman and Hamann Architects, the Toronto-Dominion Centre is located in the heart of Toronto's financial district. The Centre was commissioned by Allen Lambert, chairman of TD Bank, in partnership with Fairview Corporation. The complex is arranged around a granite-paved pedestrian plaza and originally consisted of three buildings: the 56-storey Toronto-Dominion Bank Tower (1967), the one-storey Banking Pavilion (1968), and the 46-storey Royal Trust Tower (1969). An underground shopping concourse is located beneath the granite plinth. The buildings are steel structures, clad with bronze-coloured glass and black-painted steel, with steel I-beam mullions attached to the exterior. A leading example of the International style in Canada, the Toronto-Dominion Centre altered the Toronto cityscape and influenced many buildings throughout the country.

• George Weston, 1864-1924
  George Weston was born in Oswego, New York in 1864. His family moved to Toronto and at age 12 George was apprenticed to a local baker. In 1882, Weston bought a bread delivery route from his employer and two years later a bakery. With the increasing popularity of his "Real Home Made Bread," he opened the "Model Bakery" near this site, in 1897. This bakery used the latest bread-making technology and was praised by the press for its modern efficiency and cleanliness. In 1910, Weston entered Toronto politics. Elected as the "business man's candidate," he served four years as alderman. He joined with bakers from Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg to form the Canada Bread Company in 1911, while continuing to produce biscuits at his own bakery. In 1921, he left Canada Bread to focus on the Weston family business, with his son Garfield as vice president. George Weston died in 1924, having established Canada's largest baking company and laid the foundation for a leading global food business.

• Pendarves – Cumberland House
  Renowned Toronto architectural firm Cumberland & Storm designed this building as the family home of senior partner Frederic W. Cumberland. Completed in 1860 and named Pendarves, the original Italianate villa-style structure stood on spacious grounds with its main entrance facing east towards the new University of Toronto campus. In 1883, it was substantially redesigned by William Storm. After the 1912 closure of Government House on Simcoe Street, Toronto, the Ontario Government leased Pendarves as the temporary official residence and receiving rooms for the Lieutenant Governor. It was first occupied by Sir John Gibson until 1914 and then by Sir John Hendrie until the 1915 completion of Chorley Park, Toronto, the last and most opulent vice-regal residence. Acquired by the University of Toronto in 1923 and eventually renamed Cumberland House, this is a rare surviving example of Cumberland’s residential work, and is significant for its use as the residence for the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.

• Queen’s Park, Toronto
  Officially opened by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) during the Royal Tour of 1860, Queen’s Park is an early example of the public park movement in Canada. Landscaped according to a picturesque design, its sweeping drives curved past maple, oak, elm and white pine, while Taddle Creek ravine and McCaul’s Pond formed the park’s western boundary. Located to the northwest of the city, visitors gained access to the park through two gated, tree-lined avenues, one leading west from Yonge Street (today’s College Street) and the other leading north from Queen Street (today’s University Avenue). The legislative building, opened in 1893, brought a new public purpose to the park and significantly altered the original landscaping of its southern grounds. By then, the city encircled the park.

• Sexual Diversity Activism at the University of Toronto
  Having first met off campus, the University of Toronto Homophile Association (UTHA) convened again on November 4, 1969, at University College to advocate equality and freedom for gay men and lesbians. This was the first group of its kind at a Canadian university. Early on, UTHA attracted supporters far beyond the University of Toronto community, influencing the formation of like-minded groups on university campuses and in communities across Ontario and the country. UTHA was closely connected to a larger North American liberationist culture that sought to bring visibility to traditionally marginalized sexual minorities by challenging the discriminatory practices and beliefs of the state and society. This movement continued to grow through protest, coalition building and community education, countering prejudice and asserting the necessity of recognizing diversity.

• Sacré-Cœur Parish
  In 1887, Sacré-Cœur Parish was founded as the first Roman Catholic parish to serve the French-Canadian community in Toronto. Father Philippe Lamarche came from Montreal to found the church and served as priest until his death in 1924. The Parish's first church building, located on King Street near Sackville Street, was purchased from a Presbyterian congregation in 1888. Since that time, francophones have been able to worship in their own language at Sacré-Cœur Church. This building was designed and constructed for worship and was blessed in 1937. In 1951 the structure was enlarged to accommodate a growing congregation. Sacré-Cœur has served both as a spiritual and cultural centre for many of its French-speaking parishioners who emigrated from Quebec, the Maritimes, northern Ontario, Europe, and more recently from Africa.

• Honourable Herbert Alexander Bruce, M.D. 1868-1963, The
  A distinguished surgeon and able public servant, Bruce was born in Blackstock and educated at the Toronto School of Medicine. In 1897, after obtaining a fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons of England, he established a surgical practice in Toronto. Unable to secure adequate facilities for his patients, he founded The Wellesley Hospital, presiding over its official opening in 1912. Except for a period during World War I when he was active overseas, Bruce devoted the next two decades to the development of this institution. From 1932-37, he served as Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, becoming, during his term, an advocate for slum clearance and redevelopment. Subsequently elected to the House of Commons, Bruce represented the riding of Parkdale from 1940 until his retirement six years later.

• Ontario Human Rights Code
  The Ontario Human Rights Code came into effect on June 15, 1962 and established equal rights and freedom from discrimination as primary elements of provincial law. The first legislation of its kind in Canada, the Code was designed to affirm and uphold the “inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family” by providing a legal mechanism to combat discrimination. The Code was inspired by principles of individual liberty and minority rights established in Canadian constitutional traditions, and by international human and civil rights movements that emerged after the Second World War. It consolidated and expanded existing anti-discrimination statutes to reflect the changing attitudes of Ontarians toward race, religion and equality rights. Since 1962, the Code has broadened in scope, establishing Ontario as a national and international leader in human rights promotion and protection. It continues to make Ontario a more just, equitable and inclusive society.

• Jean Lumb, C.M., 1919-2002
  Jean Lumb was born Jean (Toy Jin) Wong in British Columbia, and came to Toronto in 1935. She was soon operating a profitable fruit store and, by 1959, she co-owned the well-reputed Kwong Chow restaurant with her husband, Doyle Lumb. Energetic and outgoing, she established strong links with prominent politicians and, in the 1950s, lobbied successfully for the removal of discriminatory immigration regulations in Canada. Wide-ranging community work earned her numerous honours, including appointments to Women's College Hospital Board of Governors and the Ontario Advisory Council on Multiculturalism. President of the Women's Association of the Chinese Dramatic Society for 25 years, she is best remembered as the dynamic spirit behind the remarkable "Save Chinatown" campaigns. In 1976, Lumb became the first Chinese-Canadian woman and the first restaurateur appointed to the Order of Canada. Jean Lumb served as a voice for her community for over 40 years and left a legacy of social activism and cultural pride for future generations.

• Fort Rouillé
  The last French post established in what is now southern Ontario, Fort Rouillé was built in 1750-51 to help strengthen French control of trade in the Great Lakes region. It was a palisaded fortification with four bastions and five main buildings.

• Gibraltar Point
  The site of fortifications to defend the harbour of York during the early years of the 19th century, Gibraltar Point was renamed Hanlans Point after the family of the world-championship rower, Ned Hanlan.

• David Gibson 1804-1864
  A deputy land surveyor and Reform politician, Gibson was an ardent supporter of William Lyon Mackenzie. He sought refuge in the United States after the failure of the 1837 rebellion, but returned to Upper Canada in 1848 and resumed his work as a surveyor.

• Colonel James Givins
  After fighting for the British forces in the American Revolution, Givins (c.1759-1846) was commissioned in the Queen's Rangers and subsequently served in the Indian Department in Upper Canada. He was highly commended for his role in defending the town of York against invasion in 1813.

• "Ned" Hanlan 1855-1908
  A native of Toronto, Hanlan took up rowing as a child after his family moved to a house on Gibraltar Point. After winning several amateur rowing events, Hanlan turned professional in 1876. For four years he held the world single sculls championship.

• Honourable George Stewart Henry 1871-1958, The
  Henry began his political career as a councillor for York Township in 1903 and then served as warden of York County. In 1913, he entered the provincial arena and during his 30 years in the Ontario legislature held a number of important portfolios, including that of prime minister from 1930 to 1934.

• Flight Lieutenant David Ernest Hornell, V.C. 1910-1944
  Commanding an eight-man crew, Hornell attacked and, under heavy fire, destroyed an enemy submarine off the Shetland Islands on June 24, 1944. For his courage during the ordeal, which ultimately cost him his life, the Toronto-born Hornell was awarded the Victoria Cross.

• Jarvis Collegiate Institute
  One of the oldest public secondary schools in Ontario, Jarvis Collegiate was established in 1807 as the Home District Grammar School. Under headmaster John Strachan, the school gained wide recognition for its high academic standards and eminent graduates.

• C.W. Jefferys 1869-1951
  Born in England, Jefferys came to Canada about 1880 and settled in Toronto where he worked as a lithographer's apprentice while studying art. He was a prolific illustrator and became widely acclaimed for his drawings of events in Canadian history and scenes of pioneer life.

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