Government

During the 50 years from 1834 to 1883, the city’s boundaries were virtually unchanged. Some reclamation near the lake improved lakeshore properties and docking facilities. The population increased rapidly, from 86,000 in 1881 to over 500,000 by 1921, and so did the areal extent of the city. Beginning in 1883 with the annexation of Yorkville, another 28 adjacent communities were added to the map of Toronto by 1914, doubling the area of the city by 1900 and doubling it again by 1914. In 1930 the metropolitan area included the central city, four towns (Leaside, Mimico, New Toronto, and Weston), three villages (Forest Hill, Long Branch, and Swansea), and five townships (Etobicoke, East York, North York, Scarborough, and York).

The Great Depression of the 1930s resulted in bankruptcy for many of the suburban communities surrounding Toronto and a setback for the development of municipal infrastructure. World War II increased employment, and a new vision for Toronto was laid out in the 1943 Greater Toronto Advisory Plan, which included park belts and preserving the lakefront. A rapid increase in population after World War II added to the municipal burden, and many solutions were investigated. In 1953 the Ontario Municipal Board recommended for the 13 municipalities the establishment of a federated form of government unique in North America. Passage of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto Act created the Corporation of Metropolitan Toronto, and a 25-member council of Metropolitan Toronto met for the first time on January 1, 1954. One of the first tasks of the council was to find ways and means of dealing with common major problems by united action while also permitting local matters to be handled independently. Since the joint credit of the combined municipalities was much greater than the sum of their credits as individual authorities, financing was greatly simplified. A common level of assessment and tax rate on property—the main source of revenue—was agreed upon by each municipality. A most significant feature of the system was that members of the metropolitan council were appointed by virtue of their election to office either as mayors, councillors, or controllers of a particular municipality, thus ensuring a high degree of coordination and good communication between the central body and the local municipalities.

The metropolitan council worked well: it resolved many of the difficult sewage and water problems; it greatly improved transportation by constructing expressways and roads, a new airport terminal building (1962), and an excellent subway; and it introduced a regional parks system in an attempt to control future development.

In 1967 the Corporation of Metropolitan Toronto was reorganized. The 13 municipalities were reduced to 6, and the council was increased to 33 members. Later legislation gave the boroughs the option to rename themselves cities. The council considerably extended its responsibilities in the social services, adding, for example, urban renewal, waste disposal, and ambulance and library services. In 1975 and 1980 the council was again increased in size, and it added to its jurisdiction such problems as the control of urban development and housing for the elderly. In 1997 the Ontario legislature voted to combine the six municipalities into a single “megacity,” a change that went into effect on January 1, 1998. A mayor and 44 councillors governed the city, which, at that time was organized into six community councils and further broken down into 44 wards, each one electing a councillor. In 2003 the six community councils were reorganized into four councils, each with 10 to 12 wards. In 2018 the ward count was to increase to 47, but, with the municipal election campaign unfolding, a newly elected provincial government made the controversial decision to reduce the number of wards to 25, corresponding to federal and provincial electoral ridings (districts).

Health

Toronto—with its expanding population largely from other parts of the world—was faced with numerous health concerns and appointed its first health officer in 1883 to deal with infectious diseases (e.g. smallpox) and to increase public knowledge regarding sanitation and other disease prevention activities. Toronto, like many other industrial cities, was challenged by housing for the impoverished who also suffered poor nutrition in slum conditions with poor water and air quality. Garbage collection began in the 1830s, a public water system was in place (but not serving all) by the 1870s, and basic sewage lines had been installed by 1900. However, sewage was dumped into Lake Ontario along with industrial wastes from the many industries lining the shore—and drinking water came from the lake. Sewage and water treatment plants were in place by the early 1900s, with many improvements over time.

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Hospitals, in the early days, were constructed mainly to care for people with infectious diseases who needed to be quarantined. Toronto General Hospital (completed in 1913) traces its origin to the General Hospital of the Town of York, which opened in 1829.Supplementing health care for Toronto’s citizens in the early 1900s were public health nurses. Today Toronto has many state-of-the-art hospitals and health facilities along with strong ties to university research on health. Health facilities range from walk-in and after-hours clinics to emergency services at hospitals and local health centers where patients can visit a doctor. A 24-hour 7-days-a-week Telehealth program allows anyone to talk to a qualified nurse, who can direct people to the appropriate facility or suggest remedies. The health services in Toronto reflect the multicultural makeup of the city, giving medical information in more than two dozen languages.

Education

Education options in Toronto reflect the diversity of its population and thereby offer a wide range of options between public and private systems as well as between English- and French-speaking schools. The public system is free, with kindergarten students starting at four years old. High-school students choose between programs of general studies leading to college or trade school options, and advanced studies lead to university entrance.

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At the postsecondary level are three universities—the University of Toronto (1827), York University (1959), and Ryerson University (2002; formerly Ryerson Institute of Technology [established 1948], then Ryerson Polytechnical Institute [1963–64]). The University of Toronto is one of the top universities in Canada and is globally respected for its research. It is the largest in the country, with three campuses and some 90,000 students. There are also three colleges of applied arts and technology, the degree-granting Ontario College of Art and Design, and many private colleges, often with specialized programs.