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Tel: 1-800-224-5554 www.healthymarrow.org Email: healthymarrow@gmail.com facebook.com/shahrzadjourney
Publisher: Silk Road Publishing Founder: Steve Moghadam General Manager: Elly Achack Management Team: Bahareh Nouri, Mike Mahmoudian Sheri Chahidi, Parviz Achak, Eva Okati, Nikita Vira Editor: Deleone Downes Public Relations: Samantha Gorys Phone: 416-500-0007 Email: office@northyorkfestival.com Web: www.NorthYorkFestival.com
Contents •
Mel Lastman Square.................................................13
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North York Civic Centre.......................................... 17
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North York Centre.......................................................19
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Allen Road........................................................................ 21
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Bayview Village............................................................23
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Downsview Airport.................................................... 26
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Empress Walk............................................................... 28
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Finch Avenue.................................................................30
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Government of Canada Building.................... 33
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Hillcrest Village............................................................ 33
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Jane and Finch............................................................. 35
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Lawrence Heights.......................................................37
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Ledbury Park................................................................. 38
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Leslie Street.................................................................... 38
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North York Board of Education........................ 39
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Sheppard Avenue.......................................................41
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Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.......... 42
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Toronto District School Board........................... 45
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Victoria Park Avenue................................................ 47
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Willowdale......................................................................48
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Yonge Street..................................................................50
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York Mills.......................................................................... 53
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Ontario Highway 401................................................ 55
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Ontario Highway 404............................................... 58
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Issue: 01 || August 2014
The North York Festival is an annual celebration. The festival has taken place in the heart of North York on the breathtaking grounds of Mel Lastman Square. Our event is the largest and only multicultural event outside of downtown Toronto. The festival includes participation from the European, Asian, Middle Eastern, Hispanic, South Asian, African, and Afro-Caribbean communities, and many, many more… OUR VISION Hosted in one of the most multicultural cities in the entire world, the North York Festival aims to promote cultural diversity through cooperation and participation by both local and surrounding communities. OUR VALUES We believe in the benefits of diverse communities coming together to share their cultures and traditions. Our event organizers and participating businesses, governmental offices and organizations, and esteemed guests, also share a common belief: community service. Healthy Marrow Canada is the official charity of the North York Festival. We will renew our support for this very important organization, to help spread awareness about the effects of cancer, and support cancer research. OUR MISSION To provide a platform that is both education- and live entertainment-based, allowing guests to explore cultural music, cultural dance and cultural food, which have no language and are universal in nature. Unique The North York Festival is the only and largest multicultural event outside of downtown Toronto. While other cultural events occur individually around the GTA, our event is the only festival, which brings together all of these cultural communities and cultural organizations under one roof. Inclusive Staying true to the meaning of the word, our event aims not only to highlight cultures found in North York, but also the multitude of cultures found across the GTA. Convenient Would it not be great to visit 10 different ‘countries’ sampling their culture, their music, their dance and their food, in 10 minutes? Visiting 10 countries in the span of 10 minutes is both challenging and can cost a fortune. Our event is free to attend, and an economical choice this summer to experience both new and beautiful things. This is what the North York Festival has to offer. We want you to take a trip around the world without leaving your doorstep.
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North York Festival 2014
I would like to extend my warmest greetings to everyone taking part in the North York Festival at Toronto’s Mel Lastman Square. Canada’s success as a nation is based on the contributions of people from all backgrounds working together. We draw strength from our diversity. This festival gives Canadians of different backgrounds an opportunity to celebrate their roots, to make new friends, and to share their traditions with one another. I would like to commend the organizers, sponsors, and volunteers for putting together this celebration of arts, community, and heritage. Please accept my best wishes for an enjoyable and memorable festival.
The Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P. OTTAWA 2014
North York Festival 2014
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North York Festival 2014
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North York Festival 2014
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h York Civic Ce entre North 5100 Y Yonge Street North h York, ON M2N 5V7 416-395-6411 counc cillor_filion@ttoronto.ca
August 4, 4 2014 Organizing Committee, North York Festiv val: o off your gathe ering for the e 2014 Nortth York Fesstival, on be ehalf of the On the occasion City of Toronto T and d the Comm munity of Willowdale, I offer you, yyour guestss and particcipants my best wishes for a fantastic c weekend. Though I rregret that I am unable e to join you u in d to see ma any parts of our comm munity coming together in the hea art of person, I am thrilled ale bringing g such enerrgy to the area. a It is o our cultural d diversity, and the abilities of Willowda organize ers such as s yourselves s, which ma ake the Norrth York Ce entre area o one of the sstrongest commun nities in the City. Best wis shes,
John Filion cillor Toronto City Counc 3 – Willowdale Ward 23
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North York Festival 2014
Ottawa Office: Room 700 La Promenade Bldg. 151 Sparks St., Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6 613-992 4964
Constituency Office: 250 Sheppard Ave. East, Unit 200 Toronto, ON M2N 6M9 416-223 2858
Chungsen Leung Member of Parliament Willowdale Parliamentary Secretary for Multiculturalism
August 9, 2014
August 9th, 2014
Dear North York Festival Group,
I am honoured to extend my warmest greetings to all those taking part in the North York Festival, presented by the Silk Road Group.
On behalf of the Government of Canada, I would like to extend my warmest greetings and congratulations to the North York Festival Group for hosting the North York Festival 2014! The North York Festival has pleased audiences across the community with amazing singing and dancing performances. I commend the North York Festival Group for bringing together family and friends in the community for the spirit of friendly competition. Canada's diversity and multiculturalism shape our country's unique character. Through this festival, Canadians of all different backgrounds get the opportunity to gather together to celebrate various cultures and traditions. We are proud of all that it has accomplished during the past years and its significant contribution to building the foundations of our community. I would like to thank all the organizers, participants and sponsors of the North York Festival for their continued efforts and dedication towards the success of our community. May this event continue with its success for countless years.
North York Festival is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the great summer in Canada, and to reflect upon the many ways in which Canadians of different heritage have contributed to Canadian society. The vibrant festival brings together people in celebration and laughter. It forges friendships and connections, sharing in the diverse culture of Canada. Our communities benefit greatly from the ability to celebrate together in times of joy. As the Member of Parliament for Willowdale and Parliamentary Secretary for Multiculturalism, I would like to commend you all for your continued dedication to the betterment of our community and our country. I wish all of you an enjoyable and memorable festival.
Sincerely,
Sincerely, Hon. Bal Gosal, PC, MP Minister of State (Sport)
Chungsen Leung, M.P. Willowdale Parliamentary Secretary for Multiculturalism
“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.�
Constituency Office 2201 Finch Ave. West Unit 25 Toronto, Ontario CANADA M9M 2Y9 416-744-1882 ph 416-952-1696 fx judy.sgro.c1@parl.gc.ca
Parliament Hill Office Justice Building Room 204 House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario CANADA K1A 0A6 613-992-7774 ph 613-947-8319 fx judy.sgro.a1@parl.gc.ca
- Marcus Garvey To My Friends Attending the 2014 North York Festival: On behalf of the Parliamentary Caucus of the Liberal Party of Canada and our Leader Justin Trudeau, I am pleased to add my name to the list of those extending best wishes as you open the 2014 North York Festival, at Mel Lastman Square in Toronto. It has been said that Canada is a nation of newcomers that, unlike any other place on Earth, celebrates and honours various cultural traditions, languages and histories within our civic and national mosaics. There is perhaps no other place in Canada that embodies this spirit of inclusion and blending like right here in North York and, I am proud to know that the 2014 North York Festival will showcase this for all to see, to experience and to enjoy. Today as you come together to celebrate our rich and vibrant languages, cultures and shared history and traditions, please know there are those of us in the Liberal Party who stand with you. May you continue to enjoy success and happiness in the years ahead and may the traditions of our ancestors be a legacy for our children. Sincerely,
Hon. Judy A. Sgro, Privy Council, MP Liberal Industry Critic
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Office of the Mayor
Thank You for Attending the North York Festival August 9, 2014 On behalf of the City of Vaughan, it is my pleasure to welcome everyone attending the North York Festival. This family event provides an opportunity for the entire community to enjoy a fun-filled day of music, dance, activities and great food. The City of Vaughan is proud to be a part of the Greater Toronto Area that contributes to Canada’s multicultural mosaic. By honouring our many different cultural and social traditions we can better appreciate and understand Canada’s rich heritage. Our goal is to foster a community that promotes equality, inclusiveness, respect and tolerance for everyone who lives here. Please accept my best wishes for a successful event. Yours sincerely,
Hon. Maurizio Bevilacqua, P.C. Mayor
Bas Balkissoon, MPP
Scarborough-Rouge River
August 9, 2014 North York Festival 2014
A Personal Message from MPP Bas Balkissoon
I am pleased to extend warm greetings to the participants in this year’s North York Festival, fellow Torontonians and visitors alike. This celebration highlights the diverse cultures that form the fabric of our Province. Through food displays, music, dance, and activities, friends and families from all walks of life, enjoy the cultural expressions our communities. The Mel Lastman Square, in the heart of the former City of North York, provides the perfect backdrop encouraging and engaging outdoor summer activities. I congratulate the organizers, sponsors, entertainers and volunteers for their contribution and involvement in ensuring a successful and memorable event.
As the Member of Provincial Parliament for Scarborough-Rouge River, I regret that due to prior commitments in my schedule I am unable to join you at the Opening Ceremony of the North York Festival 2014, at the Mel Lastman Square, Toronto. In sending my regrets, I thank you sincerely for your kind invitation and extend my warmest greetings to everyone attending this event. This annual festival reflects the rich diversity of the Greater Toronto area in a communal celebration of food and entertainment. Canadians take pride in their cultural diversity and delight in being able to explore the rich traditions and customs of individual heritages. On behalf of the Legislature of Ontario, I would like to thank the organizers and extend my best wishes for a memorable celebration. Sincerely,
Wishing you continued success, Bas Balkissoon, MPP Scarborough-Rouge River
Queen’s Park, Toronto August 9, 2014
Laura Albanese, MPP York South-Weston
4559 Sheppard Avenue East, Unit B, Scarborough, ON M1S 1V3 ~ T (416) 297-5040 F (416) 297-6767 E bbalkissoon.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
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North York Festival 2014
Dignitaries at North York Festival 2014
Live Performances at North York Festival 2014
Vendors at North York Festival 2014
Guests at North York Festival 2014
Kids' Activities at North York Festival 2014
'Near the Stage' at North York Festival 2014
Mel Lastman Square is a public square at North York Civic Centre in the North York, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is named for former North York mayor (and later Toronto mayor) Mel Lastman. The square hosts a variety of activities throughout the year, but is primarily a quiet space in which to relax or eat lunch.
An artificial stream runs from a fountain under a large sign at Yonge street down into a large concrete square. Planters, trees, shrubs and wooden benches surround the area. A large pool is located in the centre of the square that serves as a relaxing focal point in the summer and a skating rink in the winter. The square also features an outdoor theatre for a number of events, including Sunday Serenades jazz concerts each summer. Other events include a farmer’s market, cultural festivals, Canada Day festivities and numerous family events.
Mel Lastman Melvin Douglas “Mel” Lastman (born March 9, 1933), nicknamed “Mayor Mel”, is a former businessman and politician. He is the founder of the Bad Boy Furniture chain. He served as the mayor of the former city of North York, Ontario, Canada from 1972 until 1997. At the end of 1997, North York, along with five other municipalities, was amalgamated with the city of Toronto. Lastman ran for and won the mayoral race for the new “megacity”, defeating incumbent Toronto mayor Barbara Hall. Re-elected in November 2000, he served until his retirement after the 2003 municipal election.
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Mel Lastman Square Early life and career Lastman was born in Toronto in 1933, the son of Jewish immigrants from Poland. He began his sales career as a child, hawking fruit and vegetables at his family’s Kensington Market grocery store. He met Marilyn Bornstein when he was 16 and she was 13, and they were married five years later. He left school after Grade 12 and, with Marilyn’s help, got a job at a College Street furniture store. He quickly established himself as a successful salesman. He switched to selling appliances and promoted himself as “Mr. Laundry” (alias the “Bad Boy”). He opened a small frame building at Kennedy Road and Eglinton in Scarborough, selling used applicances, and then, at age 22, bought out Heather Hill Applicances and established Bad Boy Furniture in 1955.
tario as a Progressive Conservative candidate. He lost to former Toronto Mayor, Phil Givens, who was running for the Ontario Liberal Party in the Armourdale electoral district. That provincial election was his only election loss throughout his career. The Bad Boy trademark was ultimately acquired by the large furniture chain The Brick but the new owners allowed it to lapse through lack of use until it expired. In 1991, Lastman’s son Blayne and business partner Marvin Kirsh relaunched the chain, over the objections of his father, who felt the economic climate was unsatisfactory. The store was soon memorable to most Southern Ontario television viewers who have seen its commercials. The ads feature Lastman in a cameo appearance, Blayne in a prison suit, and always ended with the line: “Who’s better than Bad Boy?... Nooooooobody!”
Having adopted the nickname “the Bad Boy” for himself and developed Bad Boy Furniture into a chain of stores around the Toronto area. “Bad Boy” Lastman was associated with many publicity stunts, including travelling to the Arctic in the 1960s to “sell a refrigerator to an Eskimo.” Lastman sold the chain in 1975 to run for Legislative Assembly of On-
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In 1993, Lastman saw Clinton impersonator Tim Waters on television, and shortly afterwards contacted him and arranged for a commercial to be shot. The commercial featured Waters dressed as Clinton delivering the classic Nooooooobody! line. While merely a mildly amusing commercial to most of the viewing public, Lastman’s move attracted attention, as he soon received a letter from the White House requesting that he “cease and desist all unauthorized use of the likeness of the President of the United States of America in advertising of commercial services and products”. Lastman refused to stop airing the commercials, and even produced several more, featuring both Waters and a Hillary Clinton impersonator. “Last time I checked,” Lastman quipped, “this was Canada, not the 51st state.”
Mayorship North York
Lastman entered politics in 1969, when he ran for and was elected to the North York Board of Control. It was there he met another young motivated rising political figure, Paul Godfrey, who would later serve as Metro Chairman. On December 4, 1972, Lastman was elected mayor of North York by defeating fellow North York city councillor Paul Hunt for the open mayoral seat. Lastman took office on January 1, 1973 and was also automatically a
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member of Metro Council. Lastman was supported by many in North York for operating that city efficiently and effectively, and for keeping property taxes low. As a result of his efforts to promote development around Yonge Street and Sheppard Avenue, the area unofficially became known as the “new downtown” with many office towers and condos springing up in a formerly suburban area. Mel Lastman Square at the North York Civic Centre is named after him. Lastman joined the Ontario Liberal Party in 1987, although he subsequently claimed that it was the result of a misunderstanding. He agreed to support Norman Gardner’s bid for the Liberal nomination in Willowdale, and did not realize that he was also purchasing a party membership card in the process. He did not regret his accidental membership, but said he had no long-term loyalty to the party (Globe and Mail, 28 April 1987).
Post-amalgamation Toronto See also: Moose in the City
In 1997, Lastman’s position was abolished when the provincial government under Mike Harris amalgamated North York with Scarborough, York, East York, Etobicoke, and Old Toronto, creating a single-tier “megacity” forming the new City of Toronto. Lastman ran for the mayoralty of the new “megacity” against incumbent Toronto Mayor Barbara Hall. Lastman’s electoral victory was credited to his very strong base of support in the suburban cities, namely North York as well as in Etobicoke and Scarborough. Hall had won the majority of the vote in old Toronto, York and East York.
Lastman was a critic of Metropolitan Toronto’s Metro Hall, attacking Metro Council’s decision to locate the $220 million building downtown. He argued that it would be more equitable and would have been much cheaper to build the headquarters in the suburbs. Metro Hall was later passed over in favour of City Hall for the future amalgamated city of Toronto. An attempt to put it up for sale only received a maximum bid of $125 million which was far below the construction cost.
Lastman gained national attention after multiple snowstorms, including the Blizzard of 1999, dumped 118 cm of snow and effectively closed the city. He proceeded to have the Canadian Forces (Army) aid in helping to shovel snow, and use their equipment to augment police and emergency services. The move was ridiculed by some in other parts of the country, fueled in part by what was perceived as a frivolous use of resources, although Lastman’s defenders noted that at the time the army was called in, Toronto was already at a standstill, and that the Environment Canada weather forecast called for another severe storm to hit the city later that week. (This second storm did not actually come to pass.)
Throughout Lastman’s political career, he was generally supported by the Progressive Conservatives and Liberals, such as Norman Gardner, Mike Colle, Mike Feldman, Joe Volpe, and David Shiner. Though usually opposed by the New Democratic Party, he did cross party lines to work with left-leaning councillors Jack Layton and Olivia Chow.
Lastman paid back the soldiers by giving them each a free NHL Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey pass in honour of their hard work. These tickets were obtained free of charge due to an agreement with the Toronto Maple Leafs’ management claiming that if these soldiers had not come out to shovel the snow, then the Leafs game that day wouldn’t have had as many people at-
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tending. Ten years later, in 2009, Lastman gave an interview to the Toronto Star newspaper, stating he is proud of his decision to bring in the army during the Blizzard of 1999. Some expected that Lastman would face Independent federal MP John Nunziata in the 2000 municipal election, but Nunziata nixed the rumours when he found that he could not hold onto his seat in Parliament while campaigning for Mayor. Re-elected in November 2000, with an 80% majority, his closest opponent, civic activist Tooker Gomberg, drew just a little more than 8% of the vote. Lastman shared Gomberg’s three main campaign planks: committing Toronto to 100% recycling diversion by 2010 to replace the controversial Adams Mine plan, agreeing with Prime Minister Jean Chrétien to end homelessness in Toronto, and appointing Jane Jacobs, the ethicist and urbanist, to head the Toronto Charter Committee to explore the potential for more autonomy for Toronto. Jacobs had publicly endorsed Gomberg. Among his accomplishments as mayor of Toronto, Lastman brought World Youth Day to Toronto in 2002. He also succeeded in pushing the construction of the TTC Sheppard line, the first new subway line in decades. He played a key role in the negotiations that had the Empress Walk condominium complex developed and two leading schools refurbished, all without using public funds.
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In June 2001, shortly before leaving for Mombasa, Kenya to support Toronto’s bid for the 2008 Summer Olympics, he jokingly said to a reporter “What the hell do I want to go to a place like Mombasa?... I’m sort of scared about going out there, but the wife is really nervous. I just see myself in a pot of boiling water with all these natives dancing around me.” The remarks sparked a firestorm of controversy, with much speculation that they would offend African IOC members and endanger Toronto’s bid. Lastman apologized profusely for those remarks. IOC Vice-President Dick Pound later stated that the comments did not affect the outcome of the bid. In January 2002, Lastman was ridiculed for hugging and shaking hands with members of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang when they held a convention in Toronto. Lastman later claimed that he didn’t know that the Hells Angels were involved in selling illegal drugs. During the 2003 SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) crisis, Lastman did an interview on CNN. When he was asked what the World Health Organization was doing about the crisis, Lastman replied “They don’t know what they’re talking about. I don’t know who this group is. I’ve never heard of them before.”
Personal life On January 14, 2003, Lastman announced that he would not run for reelection, citing deteriorating health. On November 10, 2003, David Miller was elected out of a field of five
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leading candidates to succeed Lastman as city mayor. Lastman continues to live in Toronto with his wife and returned to leading the Lastman’s Bad Boy Furniture chain in May 2006. Lastman sometimes comments publicly on Toronto affairs, such as in 2007 when the city faced a $575 million shortfall and struggled to make service cuts to immediately save $100 million. Lastman sympathized that provincial downloading had burdened Toronto, but also criticized Miller’s service cuts as hurting the quality of life while not going far enough to solve the shortfall. Lastman pointed out that spending had increased by $1.5 billion since he left office, and suggested that councillors had to consider measures such as contracting out services and cutting staff. After his wife Marilyn was caught shoplifting from an Eaton’s store in Toronto, he threatened to kill CITYTV reporter Adam Vaughan unless he stopped reporting on his family. During his tenure as mayor, Lastman and his wife held a surprise news conference announcing that he had a 14 year long extramarital affair with Grace Louie, a former Bad Boy employee. Louie, along with her two sons by Lastman, sued for 6 million dollars claiming that they were his illegitimate children but had not received sufficient child support. Lastman denied responsibility for the two children and successfully fought them off when they tried to claim a share of his estate, although it was already revealed that he was indeed their father.
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North York Civic Centre
The North York Civic Centre is a building that once served as the city hall for the former City of North York, Ontario, Canada. Designed by Adamson Associates Architects, the building is located on Yonge Street north of Sheppard Avenue, and features Mel Lastman Square along the Yonge Street frontage. The construction of the building was in-
tended to act as a catalyst for the development of the “North York City Centre”, a downtown area for the formerly suburban North York. The building received The Governor General’s Medal for Architecture in 1982.
is home to the North York Community Council and a number of local municipal departments and services. Opposite the Civic Centre is the North York Central branch of the Toronto Public Library.
With municipal amalgamation, North York is now part of the City of Toronto, and the building no longer serves as a city hall. Today, the building
The Civic Centre is served by the Toronto Transit Commission’s North York Centre subway station (opened in 1987).
Toronto Centre for the Arts The Toronto Centre for the Arts, previously known as the Ford Centre for the Performing Arts, is a performing arts center in Toronto. It opened in 1993 as the North York Performing Arts Centre and was designed by Canadian architect Eberhard Zeidler for musicals, theatre productions and other performing arts. It houses three theatres: • The Main Stage Theatre with 1727 seats
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• The George Weston Recital Hall with 1036 seats • A multi-purpose 200-seat studio theatre The facility regularly rents out its lobby, piano lounge, VIP suites, and rehearsal hall for various events. The Main Stage was home to the Dancap Productions Canadian production of Jersey Boys from August 2008 until August 2010. Prior to Jersey Boys, the
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facility was the home of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Sunset Boulevard and a 1993 production of Show Boat that transferred to Broadway. It has since hosted several productions, including the musical Million Dollar Quartet.
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416.826.1314
Royal LePage Your Community Realty, Brokerage Address: 8854 Yonge Street, Richmond Hill, ON, L4C 0T4
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North York Centre
North York Centre is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Prior to the Amalgamation of Toronto in 1998, it was considered the central business district of the former city of North York. It is located along Yonge Street and surrounds the Toronto subway station of the same name.
History The Yonge corridor between Finch and Sheppard Avenues grew extensively after the opening of the subway station. To relieve pressure on downtown Toronto, the Official Plan for Metropolitan Toronto encouraged high-density redevelopment at North York Centre (and other suburban centres) permitting high rise condominium towers and office buildings. In the past decade over 20,000 units of new housing have been approved, with over 16,000 of these presently built or under construction. 19
Condominiums pack this strip now growing northward past Finch and extending south from Sheppard toward Highway 401. The area has become an increasingly vibrant part of Toronto due to the dense residential population and numerous commercial and entertainment destinations. Growth has become so rapid that on new condominium projects, the Toronto District School Board and Toronto Catholic District School Board have posted notices stating that they are unable to accommodate new students in local schools.
Landmarks The North York Centre subway station is accessed through the basement levels of the two shopping malls at the intersection of Yonge Street and Empress Avenue; Empress Walk and North York Centre. wwww.NorthYorkFestival.com
The North York Civic Centre (formerly North York City Hall) contains City of Toronto offices, and faces onto Mel Lastman Square on the west side of Yonge Street. The station serves Earl Haig Secondary School (two blocks east), the adjacent North York Central Library, as well as the Empress Walk shopping centre with a movie theatre (above) and a stage theatre (the Toronto Centre for the Arts, three blocks south). A 2001 Census showed that the average household income is approximately $78 000, with a disposable income of $48 000. It is projected that by the year 2011, the average household income will reach $97 000, with a disposable income of $62 000.
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Allen Road William R. Allen Road, also known as Allen Road, the Allen Expressway or The Allen is a short expressway/freeway and arterial road in Toronto, Canada. It starts as a controlled-access expressway at Eglinton Avenue West north to Transit Road and then continues as an arterial road north to Kennard Avenue and Dufferin Street. Allen Road is named after late Metro Toronto Chairman William R. Allen and is maintained by the City of Toronto. Landmarks along the road include the Lawrence Heights housing project, Yorkdale Shopping Centre and Downsview Park (formerly CFB Downsview). A section of the Toronto subway Yonge–University–Spadina line is located within its median from Eglinton Avenue to Sheppard Avenue. The portion south of Sheppard Avenue was originally constructed as part of the Spadina Expressway project. The Spadina Expressway was a proposed north-south freeway, intended to connect downtown Toronto to the suburb of North York, and to serve the Yorkdale Shopping Centre project. It was only partially built before being cancelled in 1971 due to public opposition. It was proposed in the mid-1950s as part of a network of freeways for Metro Toronto. Its cancellation prompted the cancellation of the rest of the network.
Route description The road begins at Eglinton Avenue West with two separate signalized intersections with the street. The northbound lanes intersect with Eglinton to the east of the Eglinton West subway station, and the two south-bound lanes connect to Eglinton Avenue west of the station. The road proceeds north to Lawrence Avenue West as a four-lane North York Festival 2014
freeway with a speed limit of 80 km/h in the northerly direction and 80 km/h until 500m north of Eglinton Avenue. The tracks of the Yonge–University– Spadina subway line (Y-U-S) are situated between the roadways. There is a subway station at Glencairn Avenue. The roadway and subway are situated in a cut-out section of land, with grass and trees on either side. The roadway intersects with Lawrence Avenue West with on- and offramps which are signalized. The Lawrence West subway station and bus terminals are located between the two roadways. From Lawrence Avenue north, the roadway is six-lanes, with a speed limit of 80 km/h. The Allen connects to Yorkdale Road by on- and offramps. The Yorkdale subway station is located between the two roadways, and over the Yorkdale connecting ramps. For a short stretch, the Allen is eight lanes, the lanes connected to the Yorkdale Road exits. On either side of the road through this stretch concrete retaining walls were built on both sides. The interchange of the Allen and Highway 401 is a hybrid of the turbine and clover-stack. The Allen proceeds on bridges over the lanes of the 401, with ramps from the Allen to 401 passing overhead. The interchange also serves to connect Yorkdale Road with the 401. The exit from the north-bound Allen to the 401 serves as a ramp to both twitter.com/northyorkfestival
directions of the 401, with two lanes proceeding north of the 401. Similarly, two lanes are provided south-bound over the 401, and access from the eastbound and west-bound 401 merges with the Allen south of Yorkdale Road. Access to Yorkdale Road from the eastbound 401 is provided at the partial Dufferin Avenue interchange to the west. The southbound ramp from the Allen to the eastbound 401 flys over the whole interchange and connects with the eastbound 401 collector lanes. The interchange is one of the few on Highway 401 that uses conventional light poles instead of high-mast lighting. The subway is situated on bridges over the 401 between the north- and southbound lanes. From north of the 401, the Allen is four or six lanes, and meets with Transit Road at a signalized intersection. The subway diverges from the route just north of Sheppard Avenue, with a large rail yard to the west of the road. Just south of Transit Road, a partial interchange with Wilson Heights is provided. It was the former northern terminus of the road until 1982. North of Transit Road, Allen Road is a an arterial road of four- or six-lanes, meeting Sheppard Avenue West at a signalized intersection. Its speed limit is 70 km/h (45 mph). It continues north, still maintaining the higher speed limit with signalized intersections at Rimrock and Kennard Avenue. The road becomes Dufferin Street north of Kennard Avenue. 21
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Bayview Village Bayview Village is an affluent neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, formerly in North York before it was amalgamated into Toronto in 1998. It is part of the federal and provincial electoral district Willowdale, and Toronto electoral wards 24: Willowdale (East) and 33: Don Valley North (East). In
2006, it had a population of 15,370.
Community
Nearly a quarter of the space in Bayview Village is green. Bayview Village’s winding streets and culs-de-sac are planted with mature birch, cedar, willow, spruce, pine and maple trees. Some of the Bayview Village houses are situated on ravine lots that feature views of the East Don River Valley Parklands. Several of the street names in Bayview Village, such as Citation Drive, recall that the area was a racehorse training stable and grounds before being developed. In the Bayview Village area, there are United, Greek Orthodox, Catholic, and Anglican churches, the latter is located just outside the area’s southwest boundary.
The present day Bayview v neighbourhood was planned in 1954 by a group of developers led by Farlinger Development Ltd. Bayview Village was hailed as “contemporary living in the countryside, at the doorstep of the urban concentration of Metropolitan Toronto.” The design and layout of Bayview Village is very much influenced by the East Don Valley Parklands. Dr E.G. Faludi, the town planner who designed Bayview Village, recognized the importance of the East Don Valley Parklands when he said “We will fit the community into the landscape and not the landscape into the community.” Faludi’s trademark curvilinear street pattern that follows the natural contours of the land was designed to highlight the natural beauty of the neighbourhood.
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The area is bordered on the north by Finch Avenue East, on the west by Bayview Avenue, on the east by Leslie Street, and on the south by Highway 401, and also including the grounds of North York General Hospital, east of Leslie in the neighbourhood’s south-
The main shopping centre located in Bayview Village and serving the community is an upscale shopping mall called Bayview Village Shopping Cen-
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east corner, according to the City of Toronto’s definition. The Bayview Village Association regards the east boundary as the Don River (east branch) and the south boundary as Sheppard Avenue East, thereby excluding land between the Don River and Leslie, Sheppard and Highway 401.
tre, located at the northeast corner of Sheppard Avenue and Bayview Avenue.
Community Associations Homeowners are actively represented by the Bayview Village Association. Established in 1956, this is a volunteer group of residents who work to monitor city and provincial initiatives on a wide range of topics including traffic, local development, parks, and safety. In addition, they produce a regular newsletter distributed to all homes covering a wide range of topical issues. The Bayview Village Association also hosts a number of events throughout the year including clean-up days, all-candidates meetings, community fairs, annual perennial swaps, etc. Over 50% of Bayview Village residents are members of the Association.
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Homes Most Bayview Village homes were built between 1954 and 1964. The mix of housing here includes raised and executive ranch style bungalows, splitlevel houses, and Georgian Revivalstyle homes. Most of the houses are original. Many homes have undergone renovation and landscaping to fit the park-like neighbourhood. There has been some infill housing (newly built houses replacing the older ones) within the Bayview Village area. There also continues to be high rise condominium development along Sheppard Avenue and in the land south of Sheppard Avenue and north of Highway 401. This development is of a completely different nature to the fiftyyear-old suburban low-rise architecture found in the northern area.
Parks The western edge of the East Don Parklands winds its way through the centre of Bayview Village and is a vast and expansive green haven with various trails, walkways and bicycle paths. The
park’s naturalization and preservation programs have made the space a habitat for wildlife and a number of rare plant species. There are many smaller parks and parkettes in Bayview Village. Blue Ridge Park and Bayview Village Park are child-focused, with baseball diamonds, splash pads and playgrounds.
Recreation The Bayview Village Tennis Club, home of “tennis ace” Daniel Nestor is a community tennis club serving Bayview Village since 1975. The courts at Bayview Village Tennis Club were completely rebuilt at the end of the 2008 tennis season. Today, Bayview Village Tennis Club continues to be looked upon as the premier tennis club of North York. There are also free public tennis courts in Bayview Village Park. The North York YMCA, located at the southeast corner of Bayview Avenue and Sheppard Avenue, is the largest recreational facility serving this neighbourhood. Some of the programs being
offered at this YMCA include playgym and swim lessons for preschoolers, gymnastics, karate, swimming and basketball programs for children, and aerobics, yoga and aquafit for adults. Facilities at this centre include a gymnasium, a dance studio, a conditioning room, a main swimming pool with lanes and a training swimming pool.
Education There are two public schools in the Bayview Village community, Elkhorn Public School and Bayview Middle School. Most high school students who live in Bayview Village attend Earl Haig Secondary School, located west of Bayview. There is also a Catholic Elementary school located on the west side of Bayview Avenue, called St. Gabriel Catholic School.
Transportation The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) Sheppard subway line passes through the neighbourhood, including Bayview and Bessarion stations.
Famous residents of Willowdale past and present include:
for the Mandopop group Super Junior M
nightly newscast, CTV News with Lloyd Robertson
Ravi Baichwal, news anchor of ABC Television
Geddy Lee, bassist and lead singer of progressive rock band Rush
Seymour Schulich, Canadian businessman and philanthropist
Joseph Boyden, author David Clayton-Thomas, singer for Blood, Sweat & Tears
Alex Lifeson, lead guitar player of progressive rock band Rush
Dream Warriors, hip hop group
Howie Mandel, comedian
Frog Fagan, NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver
Kirk McLean, ice hockey player Mark Napier, ice hockey player
Corey Haim, an actor in the 1980s who was in The Lost Boys
Joshua Raj, orthopaedic surgeon and author
Jimenez Lai, architect, lived on Cummer Avenue
Lloyd Robertson, O.C., Chief News Anchor and Senior Editor of CTV Television Network’s
Henry Lau, actor, and singer
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Dick Shatto, Canadian Football League player Steve Shutt, ice hockey player
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GREATER TORONTO
The YMCA of Greater Toronto is a charity focused on community support and development. Our aim is to provide every individual in our community with opportunities for personal growth, community involvement, and leadership. By making connections, collaborating, and mirroring our region’s diversity, we believe we can become the network that binds our many neighbourhoods into one city, one country, and one world. As one of the largest charities in North America, we help over 400,000 people each year through three core programs:
www.ymcagta.org
YMCA Health, Fitness & Recreation programs help members of our community – regardless of their background or economic circumstances – to live active, meaningful lives
YMCA Child & Family programs and YMCA Camps ensure toddlers and school age kids get the child care they need and create memorable camp experiences. These programs also support parents and guardians
Mailing address: 2200 Yonge St., Unit 300 Toronto, Ontario M4S 2C6 Telephone: 416-928-9622 or 1-800-223-8024 Fax: 416-928-2030
YMCA Employment programs, Skills Development programs, Youth Support Services, and Newcomer programs provide employment counseling and training, help newcomers settle in Canada, and offer youth-at-risk with the support they need to survive and thrive
Downsview Airport Since 1998, the property has been administered by a civilian Crown corporation Parc Downsview Park, which co-manages the airfield with Bombardier Aerospace (the successor to de Havilland Canada). In recent years the property has been undergoing various landscape usage plans and some redevelopment has taken place.
Downsview Airport or Toronto/ Downsview Airport, (ICAO: CYZD), is located in Toronto, Ontario and has been exclusively owned and used as a testing facility by Bombardier Aerospace since 1994. Downsview Airport has its own fire service (Bombardier Aerospace Emergency Services) which covers airport operations (using two airport fire rescue vehicles) and plant operations (using two SUV emergency vehicles). Bombardier Emergency Services employees are cross-trained as firefighters, first responders and airport security.
The airfield was used in recent years to host the 1984 and 2002 papal visits by Pope John Paul II, as well as to host the Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto concert headlined by The Rolling Stones to revive the local economy after the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003.
Downsview Airfield Downsview Airfield opened in 1929 as general aviation airfield and one of two airports in the area. It was built by de Havilland Canada for testing aircraft at the plant at the site.
The airfield has also served as a test site for several famous aircraft produced by de Havilland and Avro Canada, including the Beaver, the Twin Otter, Dash 8 and the Avro Arrow. The airport is available to pilots only with prior permission.
The site was expanded during World War II by the Royal Canadian Air Force and renamed RCAF Station Downsview.
Bombardier Aerospace currently owns 12 hangars in the southwest corner of the airport, where the De Havilland Dash 8 is built and assembled. The Bombardier Global Express and the Bombardier Global 5000 are also assembled here at the Downsview plant, as are the wings and wingboxes of the Learjet 45.
Downsview Airport The Downsview Airport was developed in 1939 as an airfield next to an aircraft manufacturing plant operated by de Havilland Canada. In 1947, the Department of National Defence purchased property surrounding the airfield and expanded it, creating RCAF Station Downsview to provide an air base for Royal Canadian Air Force units. The base was renamed Canadian Forces Base Toronto (Downsview) in 1968 and retained this name until its closure in 1996.
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The airport has one operational runway, 15/33 at 7,000 feet with a parallel taxiway. Runway 09/27 at 3,164 feet is closed (east section removed), as is runway 04/22 at 4,000 feet (north section removed and south part retained as taxiway into the Bombardier plant).
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Empress Walk
Overview Behind the Empress Walk complex on its east side is Princess Park, commemorating the original sites of the first municipal building and fire hall of North York. The clock tower from the fire hall has been reconstructed and serves as the centrepiece for the park. Across the street, and connected via the TTC tunnel, are Mel Lastman Square, the North York Civic Centre, the North York City Centre office tower and Novotel. Next door, and connected via a passageway is the 5075 Yonge Street tower, with Scotiabank and Upper Madison College. It was built as part of Mel Lastman’s bid to create a downtown in North York to rival the old city of Toronto. It remains a hub of activity with condominium projects being built north and south of it today.
Empress Walk is a large condominum and retail complex at the intersection of Yonge Street and Empress Avenue in the North York Centre area of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Developed by Menkes Development, Phase 1 was completed in 1997 and Phase 2 by 2000. The lower portion is a threestorey retail mall (lower level with access to the North York Centre subway station) covering 240,000 square feet (22,000 m2) topped with a 95 feet (29 m) dome, the highlight being the longest unsupported escalator in North America to give access to the movie theatre from the ground floor. There is a 3035-seat Cineplex Cinemas movie multi-plex featuring an IMAX Theatre. Above are two 34-storey residential towers with a total of 745 units between them. These skyscrapers remain among the tallest in North York.
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In 2000, the property was acquired by RioCan REIT, a Canadian real estate investment trust.
Major retailers Cineplex Cinemas (originally Famous Players SilverCity & Empire Theatres) (63,644 sq ft.) Staples Business Depot (originally Indigo Books and Music) (20,202 sq ft.) LCBO (3,238 sq ft.)
Future Shop (originally SportChek) (28,970 sq ft.) Wendy’s and the former Fabricland (originally Tower Records) (3.934 sq ft. and 10,100 sq ft (940 m2). respectively) Fabricland closed in late 2012 and was replaced by Dollarama
Re-zoning Prior to the building of Empress Walk, the east side of Yonge Street did not have the zoning capacity to build condominiums but only office space and retail stores. A deal was made with City Council to re-zone the area on the condition that the developers had done the following without municipal funding: rebuild Mitchell Field Community Centre re-align Doris Avenue to prevent thru-way traffic in a residential area connecting Bayview Avenue and Yonge Street. This decision proved to be a very popular one in the community because Empress Walk would contribute opportunities for entrepreneurs and also revitalize the aging community. Mitchell Field Community Centre drastically required rebuilding or advanced renovations; however, funding was not available.
Loblaws greatfood Empress Market (60,100 sq ft.)
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Finch Avenue
Finch Avenue is an arterial thoroughfare and concession road which travels east–west through the city of Toronto. The road also has short extensions into Peel and Durham Regions as Peel Regional Road 2 and Durham Regional Road 37.
History The street is named after hotel owner John Finch, who operated John Finch’s Hotel at the northeast corner of Finch Avenue and Yonge Street in Toronto. The road allowance was a concession road, and at one time, there were a number of older churches, schoolhouses, and cemeteries on each side of the road. In the 1950s, Ontario Hydro constructed a series of transmission lines around Toronto, and paralleled Finch from Highway 400 eastward into Pickering. A compressed natural gas pipeline also follows this routing. As suburban development in North York progressed northward in the 1960s, Finch was rapidly reconstructed from a gravel road into a four-laned traffic artery. This began with the realignment of several sections, such as at Bayview where Newtonbrook Creek flows diagonally beneath the crossroads. A rail overpass west of Leslie was built by 1968. West of Islington Avenue, Finch ended at the Humber River. Traffic proceeding west had to travel on Islington, northwards towards Steeles Avenue, or south across the Humber to Albion Road. As urban development came to the Toronto area, a Finch Avenue alignment was developed in this area, and was completed in the 1980s within Toronto (at Islington), and then briefly into Mississauga with the construction of Highway 427, and BrampNorth York Festival 2014
ton, turning northwestward onto the Gorewood Road concession (formerly Toronto Gore Township Concession 3). The road now ends at Steeles Avenue, where Gorewood Road is cut off by Highway 407. The concession is then called MacVean Drive in northeastern Brampton, north of Queen Street, the former Highway 7. It then continues into Caledon as Centerville Creek Road.
Sink holes On August 19, 2005 a freak rainstorm in Toronto caused the Black Creek water level to rise, which caused a section of Finch Avenue West near Sentinel Road (due south of York University between Keele and Jane Streets) to collapse, leaving a deep pit that prevented any pedestrian or vehicular traffic from passing through. The crater left twitter.com/northyorkfestival
where a 4 lane roadway once was is approximately 20–25 feet (7 metres) deep. Two lanes reopened in late 2005, and the remaining lanes opened in April 2006. On July 24, 2009 two sink holes appeared on Finch Avenue West between Dufferin Street and Bathurst Street.
Transit hub Finch Station, located at the intersection of Finch Avenue and Yonge Street, is the northernmost station of the Toronto subway network and is a major regional transit hub. The station features a large TTC bus terminal, and the adjoining Finch Bus Terminal is a hub for GO Transit, Viva and York Region Transit buses. Finch Avenue is served by TTC buses 24 hours a day, with the 36 Finch West (309 Blue 30
Night) serving Finch Avenue West, and 39 Finch East (308 Blue Night) serving Finch Avenue East. There are also two express routes serving Finch Avenue East. Route 139 Finch-Don Mills Express is a peak-hour bus that serves the Don Mills Station on the Sheppard Subway line and the 199 Finch Rocket is an all day route serving Scarborough Centre Station on the Scarborough RT. As a part of the canceled Transit City light rail plan, Finch Avenue would have been served by the EtobicokeFinch West LRT, which would have run in the median of Finch Avenue West. In 2012, the LRT plan was revived by city councils, now renamed to Finch W. LRT and shortened from the original Transit City proposal, serving between Humber College and the future Finch West Station of the Yonge-University Spadina line. The line is proposed to be in service by 2019.
Neighbourhoods Other sites and neighbourhoods along Finch: Wild Water Kingdom — at Steeles Avenue East (Brampton), located within Brampton, Ontario. Humber College Main Campus, near Highway 27 Etobicoke General Hospital
Yorkgate Mall — near Jane Street Norfinch Mall — near Jane Street Jane Finch Mall — near Jane Street York University, north on Keele Street and Sentinel Road G. Ross Lord Dam and Reservoir, on the Don River (Western Branch), near Dufferin Street/Allen Road North York Branson Hospital, near Bathurst Street Herb Carnegie North York Centennial Recreation Complex (opposite Branson) Esther Shiner Stadium, behind Northview Heights SS at Bathurst Finch Transit Terminal at Yonge Street. Finch Parkette — site of John Finch’s Hotel and tavern in 1848; demolished in 1873 Historic Zion Schoolhouse near Leslie Street Old Cummer GO Station at Leslie Street Seneca College Newnham Campus at Highway 404
Albion Mall — at Albion and Kipling Avenue
Bridlewood Mall at Warden Avenue
Thistletown Regional Centre for Children and Adolescents
Scarborough Grace Hospital at Birchmount Road
Thistletown Rexdale Emery — at Weston Road York-Finch Hospital — Humber River Regional Jane and Finch 31
Woodside Mall at McCowan Road Malvern Rouge Park at the Rouge River
Toronto Zoo Street details Despite its length (one of the longwwww.NorthYorkFestival.com
est streets in the Greater Toronto Area), few major landmarks are located on Finch; it runs primarily through business and residential areas. When it intersects Yonge in Uptown, there are located office high-rises and condominiums. Most of Finch Avenue west of Morningside Avenue is a four to sixlane principal arterial, with a speed limit of 60 km/h (35–40 mph) in most sections. East of Morningside, Finch Av. E becomes Staines Rd. a collector road that runs through residential communities, northeast to Steeles Av. E. However Finch Av. E continues briefly at the south end of Beare Road heading east as it enters into the City of Pickering in Durham Region after ScarboroughPickering Townline where it is simply known as Finch Av.Durham Road # 37. In Pickering, Finch Avenue is also known as Durham Road # 37 and continues east to Brock Road (Durham Regional Road 1). It ends at a cul-de-sac at Kingston Road (Durham Regional Road # 2 and formerly Highway 2), and the highway follows this concession line to the eastern boundary of Oshawa. In Mississauga and Brampton, Finch Avenue is also known as Peel Regional Road 2, and is the shortest road corridor under the jurisdiction of the Region of Peel.
Side streets Pawnee Avenue and Old Finch Avenue are both former alignments of Finch Avenue. Pawnee Avenue runs along the former North York Township road alignment between Highway 404 and Victoria Park Avenue. Old Finch Avenue runs in northeastern Scarborough, and includes a section of the original road alignment east of Morningside Avenue to Meadowvale Avenue, including the routing through the Rouge Park, and the northern edge of the Toronto Zoo. North York Festival 2014
Government of Canada Building,
North York
The Government of Canada Building, also known as the Joseph Sheppard Federal Building, is a Government of Canada office complex at 4900 Yonge Street in North York. Built in 1977 to service residents of the former Metropolitan Toronto boroughs of North York and Etobicoke, it houses a branch of the Passport Office in addition to other federal departments. The structure, with its multi-layered design, stands out among the surrounding skyscrapers along Yonge Street, which were built during the office boom of the 1990s surrounding the diversification of downtown North York.
Hillcrest Village Hillcrest Village is a neighbourhood located in the district of North York at the northernmost tip of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Hillcrest Village is considered by some to be part of the Don Valley Village, the neighbourhood directly to the south, however it is quite distinct. It is bordered by Finch to the South, Leslie Street to the West, Steeles to the North and Victoria Park to the East. Both neighbourhoods share the Don Valley as a point of reference in the Eastern border of the neighbourhoods. Hillcrest Village is home to one of Toronto’s most popular Chinese areas. The top ethnicity in the area is by far Chinese and most recent immigrants to the area continue to arrive from China, Hong Kong and Korea. While there is social housing in the area and a large percentage of residents earning low incomes, many residents earn incomes in the top tax brackets. The 75%+ home ownership rate is another indicator of affluence in the area. The Don Valley provides an interesting hillside landscape in the East end of the neighbourhood. In conjunction with Duncan Creek and numerous parks the area has some natural splendour to enjoy. Public transit in this area is only bus routes. Most of these are operated by the TTC, including the 42 Cummer, 53 Steeles East, 51 Leslie, 25 Don Mills, 39 Finch East, and 24 Victoria Park bus routes. YRT buses run along Don Mills Road en route to York Region, and also serve Seneca College’s Newnham Campus.
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Dr. Nourkeyhani Phone: 416-493-7657 Address: 5 Fairview Mall Dr, North York, ON M2J 2Z1
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Jane and Finch Jane and Finch is a neighbourhood located in the northwest end of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the district of North York. Centred at the intersection of Jane Street and Finch Avenue West, the area is roughly bounded by Highway 400 to the west, Driftwood Avenue to the east, Grandravine Drive to the south, and Shoreham Drive to the north. It is a multicultural neighbourhood. The community has one of the largest concentrations of criminal gangs of any area in Canada. It also has “one of the highest proportions of youth, sole-supported families, refugees and immigrants, low-income earners and public housing tenants of any community in Toronto”. Only 70% of people in the neighborhood have proper indoor plumbing (compared to 95% of Canadians), and brownouts are common. As well, there is a substantial and equally diverse population living in middle class detached and semi-detached houses, townhouses, and high-rise tower blocks. In January 2009, the area was alternatively named University Heights by Toronto Ward 8 city councillor Anthony Perruzza, in an attempt to rid the area of its notorious reputation.
History Jane-Finch was originally developed as a model suburb in the 1960s in response to the rapid urban growth of Toronto. The community was planned to accommodate a socially diverse population and included a substantial amount of public housing, but insufficient thought was given to the social infrastructure needed to sustain community life. (A historical name for the general area from 1878 to 1956 was Elia). The 1960s development plans spearheaded by the Ontario Housing Corporation (OHC) coincided with North York Planning Department’s goal of creating a more urban-looking suburb. Known for its series of high-rise buildings and, concomitantly, its above average population density, Jane-Finch
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experienced astronomical growth from 1961 to 1971 when the population went from 1,300 to 33,000, thereby accounting for more than 40% of the growth in North York. In general, urban planners, local politicians, residents of JaneFinch, and others today are of the opinion that the OHC and North York erred seriously, contributing to rapid population growth in the area without anticipating its negative consequences. In 1973, a group of dedicated residents, politicians and community workers started identifying ways to address community problems. They concentrated their efforts on improving their neighbourhood’s negative image and creating a sense of community pride. Since then the neighbourhood has developed over 30 grassroots associations, including social and health
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service organizations, based on principles of mutual aid. Jane-Finch residents managed to create the infra-structure that their community needed to become healthy and sustainable. They succeeded in bringing together various sectors to address a wide range of economic, social and recreational needs. The United Way’s “Poverty by Postal Code-The Geography of Neighbourhood Poverty: 1981-2001” (2004) report explained that by 2001, there were more high-poverty neighbourhoods in the former City of North York than in any of the other former cities. More than one in five families in North York live in poverty, and in the Jane-Finch region. The Toronto City Summit Alliance’s Strong Neighbourhoods Task Force identified the Black Creek Neighbour-
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hood as one of the 13 Priority Neighbourhoods across the city, where there are not enough social services to address the growing needs of the community. The United Way “Strong Neighbourhoods: A Call to Action” (2001) Fact Sheet on Black Creek also reports that the Black Creek Neighbourhood, which is encompassed in the catchment region of this project, has a higher rate of racialized groups, immigrants, recent newcomers, children, youth, lone parents, low income families, low income unattached individuals, lower median household income, higher percentage of households with incomes below $30 000, higher proportion of rental households, higher unemployment, lower percentage of population with university education, and higher percentage of population with less than high school education. Between 1981 and 2001, the total population of North York grew by 8.7%; higher economic families by 9%, but poor economic families by 80.5%. Poverty intensified in 5 main areas. The most prominent is the Jane-Finch area, where four poor neighbourhoods turned into regions of very high poverty, and a region that previously had low to moderate poverty became classified as having high levels of poverty. By 2001, a major shift had taken place, with the immigrant family population now accounting for 62.4% of the total family population in these communities, and Canadian born families making up the remaining 37.6%. The immigrants were disproportionately poor, as 65% of the ‘poor’ family persons were immigrants. Between 1981 and 2001, the number of racialized individuals also increased by 219%. The racialized family population then accounted for two thirds of the total family population in higher poverty neighbourhoods. Jane and Finch also contains the highest rates of malnutrition and hunger in Canada (higher than that of First
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Nations communities). See related articles, Poverty in Canada and Economic impact of immigration to Canada As a result, many more children in this area are being raised in high poverty households than in the city as whole.Jane and Finch also contains a large portion of residents without indoor plumbing and inconsistent electricity. Currently, several communitybased organizations, businesses, community residents and city staff have joined together to form the Black Creek West Community Capacity Building Project. Funded by the City of Toronto, the project aims to “improve the quality of life for residents living in the Black Creek West community by placing emphasis on building on assets and capacities, prevention, community involvement, diversity and community well-being.” There are also a number of other organizations and networks that have come together to develop programs and solutions to the problems that have been identified in the various reports.
The percentage of population below the poverty line dropped from 47% (in 1996) to 40% (in 2001).
Glenfield-Jane Heights In 2006, it had a population of 30,715. Major ethnic populations (2006) Italian – 5,675 Vietnamese – 3,020 East Indian – 2,945 Chinese – 2,930 Jamaican – 2,645 Canadian – 1,425 Spanish – 1,395 African – 935 Guyanese – 810 Ecuadorian – 780
Places of interest
Black Creek In 2006, it had a population of 21,715 Black Creek’s major ethnic and cultural groups (by ancestry) in 2001: Jamaican – 14% South Asian – 10% Italian – 10% Chinese – 9% Vietnamese – 7% Canadian – 6% Guyanese – 4% English – 4%
Black Creek Pioneer Village York University Rexall Centre (venue for the professional Canada Masters tournament) Seneca College (Seneca@York and Yorkgate Mall campuses) Toronto Public Library (York Woods Library, including its Theatre, and Jane Sheppard Library) Jane Finch Mall (featured in the video for Organized Rhyme’s hit song “Check the O.R.”)
Spanish – 4% African Black – 3% Other – 35%
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Lawrence Heights Lawrence Heights is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located north-west of central Toronto, in the district of North York. The neighbourhood is bounded by Lawrence Avenue to the south, Highway 401 to the north, Allen Road to the east and Dufferin Street to the west. It is part of the greater Yorkdale-Glen Park official Toronto neighbourhood.
Character Lawrence Heights has been referred to as the “Jungle” by residents and police alike soon after its creation in 1962. The Globe and Mail news outlet’s article “Toronto’s new murder capital” gives an insight on the crime in the area without actually specifically going into the reasons for the “Jungle” moniker, but does contain a quote “It’s like you’re in the jungle. It is like a war,” says Linkx, a 20-year-old rap producer from nearby Rexdale who wears Crip colours and spoke on condition of anonymity. “ The area is divided into two distinct subsections. The area bounded by Yorkdale Shopping Centre to the north, Lawrence Avenue to the south, Dufferin Street to the west and Highland Hill to the east. The neighbourhood is a post World War II development of bungalows and storey-and-a-half dwellings. As the frontage of the these homes average 45 feet, the area has had significant changes as older houses are torn down and replaced by “Monster Homes” as the area’s proximity to major city arteries and the downtown core make it lucrative to builders. The other housing area, which is east of Flemington Road, is short-term public housing. Because of the area’s proximity to Downsview Airport, high-
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rise buildings were not originally permitted to be constructed in this area, and the majority of the housing is in low to mid-rise buildings.
by North York and Metro without any support from the Ontario or the federal housing agency Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
Public housing development
In 2007, city councillor Howard Moscoe unveiled a plan to revitalize Lawrence Heights. The plan proposes a demolition of all 1,208 units in the neighbourhood, as well as Lawrence Square, and they would be replaced by modern affordable units, market housing and retail/commercial streets, including a northward extension of Marlee Avenue.
Lawrence Heights was the first large public housing project built by Metropolitan Toronto outside of the then-City of Toronto and is now managed under Toronto Community Housing. By 1955, 100 acres (40 ha) had been assembled by Metro. The project would have approximately 6,000 residents in 1,081 family units at a density of 12 families per acre, the largest public housing project to that date in Canada. When the project was announced, it sparked a strong opposition from the then North York Township. Citizens and elected officials threatened legal action to block the development. A compromise was worked out between Metro and North York whereby some of the units would be rented at market rates so that the project would not be exclusively very poor families. Construction was completed by 1962. It consisted mainly of row houses and maisonettes with some small apartment buildings of less than 30 units each. A buffer of single-family dwellings was built between the project and the private sub-division to the east. An elementary school was part of the project. The elementary school filled up immediately and senior elementary students were sent to a neighbouring junior high. A controversy erupted over the use of the swimming pool at a neighbouring secondary school, whereby project students could only use the pool on one or two evenings per week. A community center was built in the mid-1960s, its $100,000 cost shared
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Notable locations Lawrence Centre
Heights
Community
Lawrence Heights Health Centre
Community
John Polanyi Collegiate Institute Formerly known as Sir Sandford Fleming Academy in the Bathurst Heights Secondary School facility which was once home to one of Toronto’s elite basketball teams. Bathurst Heights was closed by the Toronto District School Board. The site was temporarily the home of Brebeuf College as Brebeuf underwent a school restoration. The school reopened in 2011 as JPCI when Sir Sanford Fleming was leased as the new (but temporary) home of the overcrowded Dante Alighieri Academy for its grade 9 students. Lawrence Square Shopping Centre Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Head Office Operations — 750 Lawrence Avenue West Yorkdale Shopping Centre — located just north of the community
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Ledbury Park Ledbury Park is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Canada. It is located in the southern part of the North York area, just across the border from Midtown Toronto. Its boundaries are Avenue Road to the east, Lawrence Avenue to the south, Bathurst Street to the West, and Wilson Avenue and Highway 401 to the north. The area was settled by farmers in the 19th century. In 1918, most of the land was purchased by real estate developers, who began to sell lots on the site. Developer H.A. Clark named a number of the new streets, such as Marmion, Deloraine, Melrose,and Falkirk after the works of Sir Walter Scott. It was not until after the Second World War that most of the area was developed. The area was filled with small post-war bungalows and became a middle class suburban area with easy access to Highway 401. The character of the neighbourhood began to change rapidly beginning in the 1990s. Ledbury Park is adjacent to Lawrence Park, one of Toronto’s most exclusive neighbourhoods. Ledbury Park began to be redeveloped in its image as many of the 1950s bungalows were demolished and replaced with much larger based structures. The park “Ledbury Park” sits in the middle of the neighbourhood and contains a skating rink in winter and a swimming pool in the summer. It also sits next to Ledbury Park Elementary and Middle School, which in 2013 placed 3rd overall among 2000 private and public schools internationally and first in Canada in the International Math League competition.
Leslie Street
Leslie Street was originally the second concession line, laid about 13,200 ft (4,000 m) east of Yonge Street. Leslie Street was named for nursery owner George Leslie, who owned a store on Queen Street in Leslieville. Leslie Street, which has four separate sections, begins at Lake Ontario at the foot of the Leslie Street Spit. Just north at Lake Shore Boulevard East was the former eastern terminus of the Gardiner Expressway. It continues north to the railway tracks north of Gerrard Street East, where the first segment ends. Donlands Avenue, which runs from the north side of the railway tracks to north of O’Connor Drive, was originally another segment of Leslie Street. The second segment is represented by a one-block stretch of road between Wicksteed
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Avenue and Vanderhoof Avenue in the Leaside Industrial land area. It is separated from the third segment by the Ernest Thompson Seton parklands. The third segment begins at Eglinton Avenue near E.T. Seton and Wilket Creek Park. It travels north through commercial and residential neighbourhoods in Don Mills and the Don Valley. A proposed extension from Eglinton Avenue south to Bayview Avenue (north of Pottery Road) never came to fruition. It exits Toronto and enters York Region at Steeles Avenue. North of there, Leslie Street is a local road and ends shortly thereafter in Wycliffe Park. The fourth segment continues as an arterial road north of John Street in Markham, where Don Mills Road becomes Leslie Street.
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North York Board of Education
The North York Board of Education (NYBE, commonly known as School District 13) is the former public school board for the former city of North York in Ontario, Canada.
Nelson A. Boylen Collegiate Institute
In 1998, the provincial Government of Ontario passed legislation which amalgamated North York into the City of Toronto. As part of the amalgamation process, the NYBE ceased to exist. Today, administration of schools in North York is handled by the Toronto District School Board. The NYBE building was located at 5050 Yonge Street, in the same complex as Mel Lastman Square, the former North York City Hall. This building now houses the Toronto District School Board offices.
Emery Collegiate Institute
Schools
Newtonbrook Secondary School
This is a listing of secondary schools that were within this district before the merger.
Secondary schools Avondale Secondary Alternative School A. Y. Jackson Secondary School Bathurst Heights Secondary School North York Festival 2014
Downsview Secondary School Drewry Secondary School
Sir Sandford Fleming Academy Earl Haig Secondary School George S. Henry Academy C. W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute Don Mills Collegiate Institute
Northview Heights Secondary School Victoria Park Secondary School Westview Centennial Secondary School York Mills Collegiate Institute Yorkdale Secondary School
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French-language schools Previously the district operated two French-language schools in addition to English-language schools. As of May 1980 the district operated two of the seven public French-language schools in Metropolitan Toronto, with the other five being operated by the Metropolitan Separate School Board (now the Toronto Catholic District School Board). The North York school board required that a potential student must know French before being admitted to a Frenchspeaking school. In 1977 the school board voted to build a school out of surplus portable buildings on the site of the Ecole Etienne Brule, spending $120,000 to construct the school. The residents in the area where it was being constructed were against the proposal because 172 children from the area were bussed 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi) away to another school, and the new school in their community would not serve them. At nighttime, when workers tried to move the portables onto the site, some residents tried to obstruct their efforts
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Sheppard Avenue is carried across the lanes of Highway 404. East of Yonge Street, Sheppard travels east through North York to Highway 404. Historically, it continued straight to Victoria Park Avenue at the Scarborough border, where travellers then turned south to meet up with the Sheppard section through Scarborough. However, a new section called the Lansing Cutoff was constructed joining the two disconnected pieces. The orphaned section of Sheppard between the 404 and Victoria Park was renamed Old Sheppard Avenue. 43°46’34?N 79°20’13?W Sheppard continues straight east through Scarborough until just east of Meadowvale Road, where the Rouge River valley presents steep grades 43°48’33?N 79°09’58?W, and so Sheppard curves southwards to meet Kingston Road just north of Highway 401. At that junction, it also meets Port Union Road, which heads south into the Port Union neighbourhood. However, Twyn Rivers Drive continues east into the Rouge valley as a collector road, and becomes Sheppard again at Altona Road just east of the border of Pickering, Durham Region. It continues farther east until it ends at Fairport Road just north of Highway 2 / Kingston Road. 43°49’28?N 79°06’26?W This routing parallels the alignment for Highway 401 and serves as an alternative if the highway is closed or congested.
Sheppard Avenue West West of Yonge Street, Sheppard travels west across the Sheppard Avenue Bridge over the Don and past Bathurst Street and Wilson Heights Boulevard. Further west, the road allowance became blocked in 1939 by the appropriation of land for a DeHavilland aircraft plant and, after World War II, Canadian Forces Base Downsview. A crescent-shaped section of road was finally 41
Sheppard Avenue Sheppard Avenue is an east-west principal arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. A small portion (2.5km) of a continuation of the road in Pickering, Ontario is also called Sheppard Avenue from Altona Road and Fairport Avenue.
History Sheppard is named for Joseph Sheppard I, who acquired 400 acres (160 ha) of land at the northwest corner of Sheppard and Yonge Street. His son opened a general store there. The site was occupied in 1860 by the Dempsey Hardware Store,
constructed along the northern edge of the now former base in the 1970s, connecting Sheppard at Wilson Heights to Keele Street. 43°45’17?N 79°28’42?W Today, Sheppard also intersects Allen Road on this section, but the intersecting portion of Allen Road was not constructed until 1982. Sheppard Avenue continues still further west to Weston Road, but cannot be extended because the Humber Sheppard Community Centre (the former site of St. Basil’s Catholic High School) is on the west side of the intersection.43°44’01?N 79°32’18?W
Public transportation The Sheppard Subway runs under Sheppard Avenue East from Yonge Street to Don Mills Road, with proposals to continue the line farther eastwards to the Scarborough Town Centre and westwards to Downsview Station at Allen Road. There are five stations on the line providing access to Sheppard Avenue, including Bayview, Bessarion, and Leslie, as well as the SheppardYonge (at the junction with the Yonge section of the Yonge-University-Spadina line line) Don Mills termini. Downsview station is located at the corner of Sheppard and Allen Road at the northern terminus of the Spadina section of the Yonge-University-Spadina line. Three bus routes runs along Sheppard Avenue in Toronto from Sheppard Subway station: wwww.NorthYorkFestival.com
which was later moved and restored as a museum. The former site is now an empty lot pending developed of a commercial building. In the former Scarborough municipality, Sheppard was once called the Lansing Sideroad.
84 Sheppard West (1974–present) 85 Sheppard East (1963-present) Blue Night Network 385 Sheppard East (2005–present) This bus route runs along Sheppard Avenue East between Scarborough Centre and Don Mills Stations: 190 Scarborough Centre Rocket (2002-present) GO Transit has stations at Agincourt on the Stouffville line, on Sheppard between Kennedy Road and Midland Avenue, and at Oriole on the Richmond Hill line, south-west of the intersection of Leslie Street and Sheppard.
Communities Emery , Dublin Heights Elia, Downsview Lansing, Bayview Village Don Valley Village Willowdale (includes Lansing) North York Centre Henry Farm, Parkway Forest The Peanut, Agincourt Malvern, L’Amoreaux North York Festival 2014
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, abbreviated SHSC and known simply as Sunnybrook, is an academic health sciences centre located in Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest trauma centre in Canada and is one of two major trauma centres in Toronto; the other is St. Michael’s Hospital. It offers comprehensive care and is a national leader in image-guided therapies. It is one of the fastest growing hospitals in North America, and is the nation’s largest maternity hospital with the new Women & Babies Program, which opened on September 12, 2010. Sunnybrook is home to the Edmond Odette Regional Cancer Centre and the Schulich Heart Centre, both national North York Festival 2014
leaders in the respective areas of medicine. In October 2008, Sunnybrook was named one of Greater Toronto’s Top Employers by Mediacorp Canada Inc., which was announced by the Toronto Star newspaper. The Kilgour Wing (K Wing) is a long-term care centre with the large majority of patients being war veterans in World War II.
History Alice M. Kilgour donated the Sunnybrook Farm to the City of Toronto in memory of her husband, Joseph Kilgour, for use as a public park in 1928. With the consent of the Kilgour heirs, part of the parkland was transferred to the Government of Canada to build a hospital for veterans. The Sunnybrook
Veterans Hospital opened its doors in June 1948. In 1991, The Province of Ontario opened major research facilities to house the rapid growth of research on campus.The hospital merged with Women’s College Hospital and the Orthopaedic and Arthritic Hospital in June 1998 under the provisions of Bill 51, but Sunnybrook and Women’s College Health Sciences Centre was deamalgamated in April 2006 to create Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the separate Women’s College Hospital. On July 1, 2012, Sunnybrook and St. John’s Rehab Hospital voluntarily merged, recognizing that their highly complementary programs and services can offer patients a seamless, continuum of care from acute injury or illness, through to rehabilitation and recovery. Currently, Sunnybrook maintains
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three campuses, with its main campus (Bayview) on Bayview Avenue in North York, the satellite Holland Centre (orthopaedic and arthritic care) on Wellesley St. E., and St. John’s Rehab on Cummer Avenue. SHSC became affiliated with the University of Toronto in 1966.
Areas of focus Veterans and Community Located in the Kilgour Wing it is partnered with Veterans Affairs Canada and has about 500 veterans of WWII and the Korean War. For veterans they provide various types of services such as mental health, cognitive and palliative care which is also provided to the general population
Brain Sciences They provide care for people with brain-related problems including dementia, strokes and mood and anxiety disorders. It is also a research centre looking into areas such as neuropsychology and neurochemistry.
Holland Musculoskeletal Program The program is mainly involved in musculoskeletal injury but are also involved in musculoskeletal education and research.
Women and Babies The program provides gynaecology services and includes a neonatal intensive-care unit. They deliver about 4,000 babies a year, of which 25% are high risk births.
Schulich Heart Centre The centre is named for Seymour Schulich a Canadian businessman and
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philanthropist from Montreal. The centre, as per the name, is a cardiac care clinic and is involved in research, surgery and intervention.
Odette Cancer Centre The centre is involved in cancer research but also provides education and treatment.
Trauma, Emergency and Critical Care The hospital provides critical care and provides a consultation service to the Ross Tilley Burn Centre. The emergency department is open 24 hours a day. The trauma centre provides emergency medical services to patients suffering traumatic injuries.
St. John’s Rehab St. John’s Rehab Hospital provides specialized rehabilitation, education and support for people recovering from complex, life-changing illnesses and injuries, including: amputations, cancer, cardiovascular surgery, organ transplants, orthopaedic conditions, stroke and neurological conditions, traumatic injuries and complex medical procedures and conditions.
Heliport A helicopter pad (TC LID: CNY8) is located at the east end of the hospital grounds. Sunnybrook handles air ambulance flights with urgent trauma cases from the Greater Toronto Area where an ambulance run is not possible. Only two other hospitals in Toronto have helipads (St. Michael’s Hospital (Toronto) and Hospital for Sick Children).
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Private, for-profit cancer clinic Sunnybrook Hospital was the site of Ontario’s first private cancer clinic created since the inception of Medicare. The clinic operated after regular working hours at the hospital, and was owned by Dr. Tim McGowan. An investigation by the Auditor General of Ontario revealed that the cost per procedure was $500 greater than in the public sector and that the waiting times did not decrease in the public system as a result of the clinic’s creation. The clinic operated from 2001 until 2003.
Holland Musculoskeletal Centre The Holland Centre consists of the Orthopaedic Program located in downtown Toronto; the Holland Centre Campus is located on 43 Wellesley St. East. The Holland Orthopaedic and Arthritic Centre was initially founded as the Orthopaedic and Arthritic Hospital by Dr. James E. Bateman and Charles S. Wright II in 1955 based on a charter procured by Dr. C. Stewart Wright, an orthopaedic surgeon. It was founded as a specialty hospital for the treatment of patients with orthopaedic ailments. The building it was founded in was a sanitorium and since then it has undergone a series of renovations and additions. As part of the Ontario initiative to reduce hospital wait-times, the Holland Orthopaedic and Arthritic Centre was named as a centre of excellence in joint replacement.
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Shop online at http://www.LinQTab.com/ Email: contactus@exiomtech.com Phone: 416-775-8796 Store Location: LINQTAB (next to Shoppers Drug Mart) CenterPoing Mall
Toronto District School Board The Toronto District School Board (TDSB; known as English-language Public District School Board No. 12 prior to 1999) is the English-language public-secular school board for Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The minority public-secular francophone (Conseil scolaire Viamonde), public-separate anglophone (Toronto Catholic District School Board), and public-separate francophone (Conseil scolaire de district catholique CentreSud) communities of Toronto also have their own publicly funded school boards and schools that operate in the same area, but which are independent of the TDSB. Its headquarters are in North York.The TDSB is Canada’s largest school board and the fourth largest school board in North America.
History The TDSB was created in 1998 following the merger of the Board of Education for the City of York, the East York Board of Education, the North York Board of Education, the Scarborough Board of Education, the Etobicoke Board of Education, the Toronto Board of Education and the Metropolitan Toronto School Board. Originally the headquarters was located at 155 College Street, the former offices of the Toronto Board of Education. The head office moved from 155 College Street to 5050 Yonge Street, which was previously occupied by the North York Board of Education.
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acts as a student council for the entire board.There has also been an attempt to place student input in the TDSB’s Equity Department through the second, and last, boardwide student group: Students Working Against Great Injustice.Both groups have put together various events and have had much success in giving input towards the decisions of the Board
Former Directors tional mission is “to enable all students to reach high levels of achievement and to acquire the knowledge, skills, and values they need to become responsible members of a democratic society.” The TDSB is the largest school board in Canada and the 4th largest in North America. The record was previously held by the Metropolitan Separate School Board with over 100,000 students until 1998 what is now the Toronto Catholic District School Board. There are more than 250,000 students in nearly 600 schools within the TDSB. Of these schools, 451 offer elementary education, 102 offer secondary level education, and there are five adult day schools. The TDSB has 16 alternative elementary schools as well as 20 alternative secondary schools. TDSB has approximately 31,000 permanent and 8,000 temporary staff, which includes 10,000 elementary school teachers and 5,800 at the secondary level. There has also been an effort to include more student involvement in the Toronto District School Board. The “Super Council” is an organization which wwww.NorthYorkFestival.com
Chris Spence 2009-2013 - resigned due to a plagiarism scandalGerry Connelly 2005-2009 David Reid 2001-2005 - now with Ontario Institute for Studies in Education Marguerite Jackson 1998-2001 now CEO of the Education Quality and Accountability Office
Community involvement The TDSB’s Parent and Community Involvement Policy describes ways in which “parents, the community, students, staff and the Board” are working together. One option is the Parent Involvement Advisory Committee.
Proposing and starting a school Parents can design and propose a new school in the TDSB. There is a 2-year process for review, approval and opening the school.
Controversies Financial issues In 2002, the Government of Ontario stripped all power and authority from the school board trustees because they failed to balance the board’s budget. Paul Christie was appointed by the North York Festival 2014
province to serve as supervisor of the Toronto District School Board, with authority for all financial and administrative functions of the Board. This allowed Christie to supersede the authority of elected school trustees. The provincial government argued that the appointment was necessary, as the TDSB had not submitted a budget to the Ontario Minister of Education as legally required. Representatives of the TDSB claimed that they could not find the necessary operating expenses for the year, given provincial regulations which prohibited deficit spending. Christie balanced the TDSB’s budget through a dramatic spending reduction of $90 million. Under his watch, the TDSB eliminated many secretarial positions, phased out school-community advisors, child and youth counsellors, and attendance counsellors and reduced the number of vice-principals, cut outdoor education and adult education, and re-evaluated the position of social workers in the system. Christie’s staff reports were not made public, and some critics argued that there were no adequate checks or balances on his authority. Blackstone Partners carried out a review in 2006. They submitted a 113page report in January 2007.Blackstone Partners were “asked to determine if the facilities division had “effective governance.””The report showed “high costs of repairs, lots of workers and spotty results, and managerial “silos” that made it hard for principals to figure out whom to approach to get a job done.”Blackstone Partners gave 43 recommendations in the report.The school board claims a few have been carried out and others are in the works.When surveyed about a wide range of topics, the worst result was the school board’s maintenance and construction division. Eighty percent of principals didn’t believe the maintenance and construction division delivered good value for the money TDSB director Chris Spence “To use a football analogy, we are trying to move the yardstick. There is no quick North York Festival 2014
fix.” The Toronto Star reported that in recent investigation showed little has changed since that review. A high school principal “raised questions about the $143 cost of installing a pencil sharpener and the $19,000 cost of installing a sign on the school’s front lawn.” In 2007, again due to alleged mismanagement by the trustees, the board will try to submit a budget with a deficit of $84 million. The school board wants $3.6 million from the Toronto Star before it releases a database. The database shows “work orders showing what taxpayers have been charged for maintenance and construction projects at local schools. In June 2012, the Toronto Star asked for “an electronic copy showing three years of work at the TDSB.” The Ontario Ministry of Education Froze funding for the school board’s buildings project. The ministry cited the possibility of a $10 million to $11 million cost overrun for the retrofit of Nelson Mandela Park Public School. The project was originally priced at $21.7 million. Some of the school board’s trustees are “outraged”. Laurel Broten, Ontario’s Minster of Education, stated, “We are not happy they don’t know why” when talking about the overrun. She also stated that a supervisor may be sent in. Contract with Trade Council A top official from the Toronto District School Board stated that he has concerns about a “controversial contract” between the Trades Council and the Ontario Government and claims that the contract with the trades council is “politically motivated. Chris Bolton, the Chairman of the school board, stated that the Trade Council is a “major contributors to the Liberals” and even campaigned for the Liberals. A government spokesperson stated that Education Minister Laurel Broten decision to retain the Trade Council’s services
“nothing to do with politics.” Terms of the contract includes: “The TDSB will not be allowed to hire outside workers for some jobs. The school board won’t be allowed to hire outside workers even if it would cost taxpayers less. “The trades council is still allowed to choose all new workers for the publicly funded school board.” The Toronto District School Board, who pays the workers, doesn’t have a say on who is hired. A structured shift system will be preserved where the morning and afternoon shifts overlaps. This requires the school board to maintain extra trucks and vehicles. The school board has estimated “it could have sold off up to 300 trucks and other vehicles that would not be needed if the afternoon shift started when the morning shift ended. Immigration Act charges In 2001, Toronto School Board Trustee Sam Basra was convicted of Immigration Act charges and was forced under the Education Act to resign his seat. He pleaded guilty in August 2001 to selling fake offers of employment to potential immigrants for US$1,500.00 each. This came to light after being tipped by a former employee, police raided Basra’s paralegal firm and found 250 false letters of employment. In March 2001 Arjan Singh launched a $15 million lawsuit against Basra alleging that while doing paralegal work, Basra forged documents to make him think his rights case was active more than a year after it was closed. After much infighting among the trustees and inaction from then Chair of the Board Donna Cansfield to make an appointment to fill the vacant trustee seat left by Basra, a byelection was called for April 2002 costing the board $160,000.00. Stan Nemiroff defeated former Mayor of Etobicoke Bruce Sinclair in the by-election to become the new Ward 1 trustee representing Etobicoke North.
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Victoria Park Avenue
Victoria Park Avenue is a major north-south route in eastern Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the western border of Scarborough, separating it from Old Toronto, East York, and North York.
History Victoria Park Avenue was originally a pioneer road for settlement of Scarborough. Except for its very southernmost section (south of Bracken Avenue), the road once formed the boundary for the former township, borough, and city of Scarborough with the former municipalities of East York, North York, and the former city of Toronto.
Route description Victoria Park Avenue begins as a two-lane residential street near Lake Ontario at Queen Street at the east end of The Beaches community. It takes a sharp jog west just before Bracken Avenue, and then continues in a straight
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line northward. It is still a two-lane residential street from Bracken Avenue north to Gerrard Street, albeit one with a heavy traffic load; at Gerrard Street it becomes a four-lane major arterial road. It reduces to two lanes again from a point north of Danforth Avenue to Dawes Road, then resumes its role as a four-lane arterial road for the rest of its length. North of Dawes it shifts from being a residential street to being a suburban arterial, with mostly stores and low rise apartment buildings along the rest of its length. Victoria Park Avenue ends a short distance north of Steeles Avenue at Denison Street in Markham, Ontario.
Transportation Victoria Park remains one of the busiest north-south streets on Toronto’s east side, along with Markham Road and Kennedy Road. It is served by the Toronto subway and RT at Victoria Park wwww.NorthYorkFestival.com
station and Route 24 (Victoria Park) and Route 12 (Kingston Road) buses. Historically the first bus to service the street were private routes that operated along Dawes Road, and then north along Victoria Park. This route was taken over by the TTC in 1954, and offered service as far north as Victoria Park and Lawrence. The opening of Victoria Park subway station in 1968 led to the creation of the 24 Victoria Park, replacing the Dawes Road bus on Victoria Park. It first ran to Victoria Park and Old Sehppard Road, but has steadily been extended northwards. Today it runs into York Region, along Woodbine Avenue at the request of the city of Markham. Alsi beginngin in 1968, the portion of Victoria Park south of the subway station began to be served by the 12 Kingston Road bus. This bus travels south until Kingston Road and then turns east into Scarborough. It stops at the Bingham Loop to meet up with the termini of the 502 Downtowner and 503 Kingston Rd. North York Festival 2014
Willowdale
Willowdale is an established, affluent community in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located in the district of North York. It was originally made up from three postal villages, namely Newtonbrook, Willowdale and Lansing. Willowdale was originally a postal village (orig. Willow Dale) which covered the area from Finch Ave. at the north to Elmwood Ave at the south and Bathurst St. at the west to Bayview Ave. at the east. The postal Village of Lansing was from Elmwood Ave. at the north to approx. Hwy. 401 at the south and Bathurst St. at the west to Bayview North York Festival 2014
Ave. at the east. (East of Bayview Ave. would have been the postal village of Oriole.) The north-south centreline of Lansing & Willowdale was Yonge St. The postal Village of Lansing remained in existence until the Post Office at Lansing corner (northwest corner of Yonge St. & Sheppard Ave.) was closed. When a new Post office was built in Willowdale, the whole area of the former postal villages of Lansing & Willowdale then became Willowdale, but still only a postal village, all within the Township of North York at that time. (Newtonbrook, originally Newton Brook, was also a postal village, located on Yonge St., north from Finch Ave. to Steeles
Ave.) where a number of small business and commercial buildings still remain. The boundaries of the current neighbourhood extend as far east as Victoria Park Avenue, west to Bathurst Street, south to the 401 freeway, and north to Steeles Avenue. The neighbourhood abuts Bayview Village to the east and is considered to overlap Newtonbrook to the north. North York Centre is centred at the intersection of Yonge Street and Empress Avenue and is commonly thought to be a part of Willowdale, though its high-rise residential and commercial development in recent years sets it apart from much of the rest of Willowdale.
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The Willowdale neighbourhood consists of single-family homes, condominium townhouses and high-rise condominium towers. High density development is restricted along Yonge Street. The single-family homes range in age from the original 1910 to 1950s construction (one- and two-storey pre-war houses and modest one-anda-half-storey postwar houses). After the 1990s, very large replacement twostorey luxury homes were constructed by tearing down the original houses. It is in this neighbourhood that the term “monster homes” was first applied by Torontonians.
History Willowdale was first settled by Jacob Cummer, who immigrated to Canada from the United States in 1797. Cummer was a mill owner on the nearby Don River, a proprietor of a tinsmith shop on Yonge Street and a self-trained doctor and veterinarian. Cummer was held in such high esteem by his neighbours that this area was originally known as Kummer’s Settlement. David Gibson, a distinguished land surveyor, was another leader in this community. Like most of his neighbours, Gibson participated in the illfated Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837. He was thus charged with high treason and escaped to the United States, where he found employment as the First Assistant Engineer on the building of the Erie Canal. Gibson returned to his Yonge Street farm in 1851, after being pardoned for his role in the Rebellion. He then helped to establish the “’Willow Dale”’ post office, named after the many willow trees that once graced this district. Members
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of the Gibson family were still living in Gibson House in the 1920s when the residential subdivision of Willowdale began to take place. The Gibson House, circa 1851, is still standing in its original location at 5172 Yonge Street and is now a historic museum.
Demographics Population Home to 79,440 people, Willowdale is an ethnically diverse community, with 59% of all Willowdale residents being immigrants as of 2006. Major ethnic groups in Willowdale include: Chinese: 23.7%, Korean: 9.6%, and Jewish: 5.8%. While English is the mother tongue for 43.7% of the population, other languages with large numbers of speakers include: Chinese: 16%, Korean: 5.4%, and Russian: 5.1%.
Willowdale United Church The first “church” in Willowdale was called the Cummer Chapel, located at the northwest corner of what is now Yonge and Churchill. This log meeting house was built in 1816 by Jacob Cummer on part of his farm. He and other early members of the church are buried in the cemetery which remains on the site, now on the east side of Yonge Street. The Cummers, who were the first German loyalists and farmers from Pennsylvania, had Lutheran roots. However, they readily mixed in with and married people with Methodist and other roots. Thus the chapel was designated as non-denominational. A large, yellow, brick and stucco church with a tall spire replaced the
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log building in 1856. It was called the Methodist Episcopal Church, and became part of the new United Church of Canada in 1925. Between 1931 and 1932, Yonge Street was widened and the front end of the church, facing west, was removed. The front door was relocated to the south side of the building. Following World War II, many veterans and their families began to settle in Willowdale. In 1946, the Rev. Welburn Jones became the minister of Willowdale United Church (WUC) and initiated a building program. In 1954 a substantial building was built on nearby Kenneth Avenue. In 1966, his successor, the Rev. Lindsay G. King, replaced him and completed the program. The Rev. King spent the rest of his ministry, twenty seven years, at WUC. After just over forty years of service, he retired—he prefers to say that he re-directed—to live in Thornhill to which he and his wife Jean (Turner) had moved in 1988. While he was the minister of WUC, the Rev. King wrote a regular column for the community paper and he was frequently heard on radio and television, including the CTV and the CBC. Because of his lifelong interest in bringing psychology, religion and health together, in 1973 he initiated the founding of the Family Life Foundation (FLF) of Willowdale. It is a registered federal charity encouraging the development of healthy community and family life— including body, mind and spirit—regardless of race, creed or religion. Believing in re-directment and skilled in personal and family counseling, the Rev. King said that he would continue to volunteer his services to the FLF and the community for the rest of his life.
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Yonge Street Yonge Street (pronounced “young street”) is a major arterial route connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. It was formerly listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest street in the world at 1,896 km (1,178 mi). The construction of Yonge Street is designated an Event of National Historic Significance in Canada. Yonge Street was fundamental in the original planning and settlement of western Upper Canada in the 1790s, informing the basis of the concession roads in Ontario today. Long the southernmost leg of Highway 11, linking the capital with northern Ontario, Yonge Street has been referred to as “Main Street Ontario”. A large part of the route follows an ancient well-established Aboriginal trail that linked the Lake Ontario waterfront to northern parts of the region. It was also the site North York Festival 2014
of Canada’s first subway line. The street was named by Ontario’s first colonial administrator, John Graves Simcoe, for his friend Sir George Yonge, an expert on ancient Roman roads. Yonge Street is a commercial main thoroughfare rather than a ceremonial one, with landmarks such as the Eaton Centre, Yonge-Dundas Square and the Hockey Hall of Fame located along its length—and lends its name to the eponymous Downtown Yonge shopping and entertainment district. In Toronto and York Region, Yonge Street is the north-south baseline from which street numbering is reckoned east and west. The eastern branch of the Yonge-University-Spadina subway line serves nearly the entire length of the street in Toronto and acts as the spine of the Toronto subway and RT, linking
to suburban commuter systems such as the Viva Blue BRT.
Route description Yonge Street originates on the northern shore of Toronto Bay at Queen’s Quay, a four-lane arterial road (speed limit 50 km/h) proceeding north by north-west. Toronto’s Harbourfront is built on landfill extended into the bay, with the former industrial area now converted from port, rail and industrial uses to a dense residential high-rise community. The street passes under the elevated Gardiner Expressway and the congested rail lines of the Toronto viaduct on their approach to Union Station. The road rises slightly near Front Street, marking the prelandfill shoreline. Here, at the southern edge of the central business district, is the Dominion Public Building, the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts
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and the Hockey Hall of Fame, the latter housed in an imposing former Bank of Montreal office, once the largest bank branch in Canada. Beyond Front Street the road passes through the east side of the Financial District, within sight of many of Canada’s tallest buildings, fronting an entrance to the Allen Lambert Galleria. Between Front Street and Queen Street, Yonge Street is bounded by historic and commercial buildings, many serving the large weekday workforce concentrated here. Yonge Street’s entire west side, from Queen Street to Dundas Street, is occupied by the Eaton Centre, an indoor mall featuring shops along its Yonge Street frontage and a Sears anchor store at the corner of Dundas Street (currently under renovation because of Sears’ recent downscaling). The east side has two historic performance venues, the Canon Theatre and the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres. In addition, Massey Hall is located just to the east on Shuter Street. Opposite the Eaton Centre lies Yonge-Dundas Square. The area now comprising the square was cleared of several small commercial buildings and redeveloped in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with large video screens, retail shopping arcades, fountains and seating in a bid to become “Toronto’s Times Square”. It is used for numerous public events. Another stretch of busy retail lines both sides of Yonge Street north of Dundas Street, including the Sam the Record Man flagship store until its closure on June 30 2007. The density of businesses diminishes north of Gerrard Street; residential towers flank this section. The Art Deco College Park building, a former shopping complex of the T. Eaton Company, occupies most of the west side of Yonge Street from Gerrard Street north to College Street. It was converted into a residential and 51
commercial complex after the building of the Eaton Centre. From College Street north to Bloor Street, Yonge Street serves smaller street-level retail, mostly in two- to three-storey buildings of a hundred years’ vintage. The businesses here, unlike the large chains which dominate south of Gerrard Street, are mostly small independent shops and serve a dense residential community on either side of Yonge Street with amenities such as convenience stores. The intersection of Yonge and Bloor Streets is a major crossroads of Toronto, informally considered the northern edge of the downtown core. The Bloor–Danforth line subway line intersects the Yonge line here, with the resulting transfers between lines making Bloor-Yonge Station the busiest in the city. The Hudson’s Bay Centre and Two Bloor West office towers dominate the corner, visible both from downtown and beyond, with the south-east corner earmarked for a major condominium development. The intersection of Yonge and Bloor Streets is itself a “scramble”type intersection allowing pedestrians to cross from any corner to any other corner. Immediately north of Bloor, the street is part of the old town of Yorkville, today a major shopping district extending west of Yonge Street along Cumberland and Bloor Streets. North of Yorkville, Yonge Street forms the main street of Summerhill, which together with Rosedale to the east is noted for its opulent residences. The area is marked by the historic North Toronto railway station, formerly served by the Canadian Pacific Railway. The CPR route parallels the foot of the Iroquois shoreline escarpment, which Yonge Street ascends here toward Midtown. From approximately St. Clair Avenue to Yonge Boulevard, Yonge Street wwww.NorthYorkFestival.com
is central to the former suburb of North Toronto and features mixed low-scale residential, retail and commercial buildings. Major intersections in Midtown, served by some of the city’s busiest TTC stations, dot the skyline with dense clusters of high-rises in an otherwise leafy residential setting. The intersection at Eglinton Avenue has become a focal point, serving as a high-density residential, commercial and transit hub. The site of Montgomery’s Tavern is nearby, scene of a significant clash in the Upper Canada Rebellion and a National Historic Site. North of Yonge Boulevard, Yonge Street traverses the deep forested ravine of the West Don Valley at Hoggs Hollow, a formidable obstacle in pioneer days and the site of one of the last of the former toll gates. The lower-density residential community and park-like setting here represent an interlude between North Toronto and the newer high-rise district beyond, towering over the valley. Canada’s busiest section of highway (Highway 401) spans the valley via the Hogg’s Hollow Bridge (exit 369). Leaving the valley, densities, traffic and the speed limit all increase (the latter to 60 km/h) on entering the downtown core of the former suburban city of North York. The street widens to a six-lane urban arterial road through North York, passing inner-suburb transit hubs at Sheppard and Finch Avenues. From Finch Avenue to the boundary of Toronto and Highway 407 (exit 77) in York Region, Yonge Street is a suburban commercial strip, signed as York Regional Road 1. This 39 km (24 mi) segment is a busy suburban arterial, interrupted by the original town centres of exurban communities such as Thornhill, where the route crosses the East Don Valley in the upper part of its watershed. At increasingly higher elevations, the road traverses Richmond Hill, where the dome of the DaNorth York Festival 2014
vid Dunlap Observatory was a visible landmark on the route, and the town of Aurora. Between Richmond Hill and Aurora, Yonge Street is in a nearrural setting, passing a number of kettle lakes and traversing the crest of the Oak Ridges Moraine, thence leaving the Lake Ontario basin. Toward the regional seat of Newmarket, Yonge Street again serves as a main suburban artery, passing through low-density residential and still-undeveloped areas. Regional Road 1 deviates from the original baseline 56 km (35 mi) north of Lake Ontario, bypassing the centre of Holland Landing with a north-west heading and thereby circumnavigating Cook’s Bay and the lower Holland Marsh. The bypass was constructed in 1959. Regional Road 51, also named Yonge Street, branches off Regional Road 1 at the foot of the bypass to continue north through Holland Landing. This short section, known locally as the Yonge Street Extension, is co-routed with Regional Road 13. To the west of Holland Landing the main route crosses the Holland River and its polders near the town of Bradford. Resuming its original north by north-west heading with a 90-degree turn in the centre of Bradford, Yonge Street roughly parallels Lake Simcoe’s western shore, traversing the rolling hills of southeast Simcoe County, and is signed Simcoe Road 4. The route ends in Barrie, less than a kilometre from Kempenfelt Bay, at a T-intersection with Essa Road.
History Establishment of the route With the outbreak of hostilities between France and Great Britain in 1793, part of the War of the First Coalition, the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada (now Ontario), John Graves Simcoe, was concerned about the possibility of the United States entering British North America in support of their French allies. In particular, the
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location of Newark (now Niagara-onthe-Lake), the first and former capital of Upper Canada, was in danger of being attacked by the Americans from the nearby border. Additionally, US forces could easily sever British access to the upper lakes at Lake St. Clair or the Detroit River, cutting the colony off from the important trading post at Michilimackinac. Simcoe planned to move the capital to a better-protected location and build overland routes to the upper lakes as soon as possible. Simcoe established York, as Toronto was originally called, with its naturally enclosed harbour, as a defensible site for a new capital. To provide communications between the site and the upper lakes, he planned two connected roads, the first running north from York to Lake aux Claies, the second joining Lake aux Claies with Georgian Bay. This would allow overland transport to the upper lakes, bypassing U.S. strongholds. The route from Lake Ontario to Lake aux Claies is still known as Yonge Street, and the second leg to Georgian Bay was long known as the Penetanguishene Road.
this one starting on the eastern branch of the Holland River and thereby avoiding the marshes of the western branch (today’s Holland Marsh). They left Pine Fort on October 11 and reached York on the 15th. Simcoe selected this eastern route for his new road, moving the southern end from the Rouge River to the western outskirts of the settled area in York, and the northern end to a proposed new town on the Holland River, St. Albans. The road was actually called ‘Concession 1’at first with Concessions 2 etc. on either side. For instance Concession 1 Whitchurch Township faces Yonge St. and goes east to Concession 2 which starts at Bayview Ave. Concession 1 King Township faces Yonge St. and goes west to Concession 2which starts at Bathurst St. There are 10 concessions in York County going east and west from Concession 1,Yonge St. The east side ending at then Ontario County, now Durham Ragion, and the west side ending at Peel County (now Peel Region).
Before the construction of Yonge Street, a portage route, the Toronto Carrying-Place Trail, had already linked Lake Ontario with Lake aux Claies. On 25 September 1793, Simcoe and a small party of soldiers and native guides started northward along the trail, establishing the Pine Fort on the western branch of the Holland River, near the modern location of Bradford. Stopping only to rename Lake aux Claies “Simcoe” in memory of his father, the party continued north to Lake Couchiching, and then down the Severn River to Georgian Bay. Here he selected the site of Penetanguishene as the location for a new naval base and port. On his return he met with an Ojibway named ‘Old Sail’ and was shown a new route along another arm of the trail, twitter.com/northyorkfestival
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York Mills
York Mills is the name of an affluent neighbourhood around Yonge Street and York Mills Road located in the district of North York in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, it encompassed
later became a
the 4th and 7th most affluent postal codes in Canada. It is recognized as Millionaires' Row, alongside the other Toronto neighbourhoods of The Bridlepath, Forest Hill, Lawrence Park, and Rosedale.
The area was the site of a tragic accident on March 17, 1960, when five Italian construction workers on a water main project were killed in a tunnel fire.
Part of the area is also known as Hoggs Hollow, named for James Hogg, a Scottish settler who settled in the area in 1824 and operated the mill on Yonge Street at the Don River north of the Town of York (now Toronto), by his sons John and William in 1856. Another portion is named St. Andrew-Windfields. St. Andrew-Windfields most famous resident was the popular Canadian Philanthropist E. P. Taylor who left Canada towards the latter years of his life and donated Parkland (now Windfields Park) and his mansion (now the Canadian Film Centre).
History The area name is linked to saw and grist mills that dotted the Don River, which flows through York Mills. The Town of York Mills became part of the Township of North York. North York 53
borough, and then a city, and was merged with five other municipalities and a regional government to form the new "City of Toronto" in 1998.
As well, the area once linked by radial railways and Highway 11, now can be reached via Highway 401, GO Transit, and Toronto Transit Commission buses and York Mills station on the Yonge-University Spadina subway line. Today, the area is home to luxury condos and high end homes.
Topography Natural EnvironmentFrom Yonge Street eastward, the roads slope upward but plateau as they reach Bayview Avenue. The natural environment is also highly integrated into the neighbourhood, with development seeming to build around it. The presence of greenery is a protected and distinguishable feature of York Mills.
Man-Made Environment South of York Mills Road and Yonge Street sits the sub-neighbourhood of Hoggs Hollow. Houses in this residential area are embedded into the natural landscape, which ascends southward. wwww.NorthYorkFestival.com
The directional slope and other natural features serve as identifiable landmarks, edges, and paths, making this area highly legible in terms of a Lynchian analysis. The area has more community-oriented characteristics that make it distinct from the rest of York Mills. Most notably, residents manage a community board located in the centre of this subneighbourhood. As York Mills is a mainly residential neighbourhood, commercial activity occurs strictly at intersections of major arterials. At Yonge Street and York Mills Road, the tallest commercial building in the neighbourhood, York Mills Centre, holds large office and retail spaces, occupied most notably by the human resources services supplier, Randstad Interim. The York Mills Shopping Centre at the intersection of York Mills Road and Bayview Avenue, provides local groceries through the Metro supermarket, Shoppers Drug Mart, and local meat shop. It is set back from the roads by a large parking lot, consistent with the neighbourhoods dependency on automobiles. Along York Mills Road in between major intersections, there are only single detached houses. The pedestrian paths are very close to roads. Residential area here leaves no space for any commercial North York Festival 2014
opportunities, thus commercial nodes are only available at the intersection of major arterial roads. There is very little public space. Properly maintained parks are often playgrounds for children. Actual parks do not properly serve the public as well with its lack of seating and walkways, which discourages overall usage. Free parking compared to the high hourly rates of the rest of Toronto points to space in York Mills as being an inexpensive commodity, yet there is very little space actually available for development. The current Official Plan does not provide for the anticipation of future development.
Transportation As a result of the man-made environment, large lots, and sprawled out nodes of commercial activity, the neighbourhood is highly reliant on the automobile for everyday activities, with approximately two thirds of the York Mills population using it as a primary mode of transportation . Having Highway 401 in such close proximity adds to the benefits of owning a car, as the degree of mobility to the rest of Toronto greatly increases. Public transit is reported to be less than a quarter of the populations’ primary method of commute. Pedestrian paths are not a priority and poorly maintained by the city. Deeper in the residential areas, pedestrian walkways are often only found on one side of the road. As much of the land surrounding the major arterials are claimed by private residences, there is no room to develop along pedestrian paths and make walking a more appealing option. The combined effect of
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this lack of appeal, poor frastructural maintenance, and extended distance in between points of interests justify the populations’ avoidance of walking, with a mere three percent of the population claim walking as their primary mode of commute. York Mills is an example of a neighbourhood stuck within the cycle of auto-dependency.
Demographics
gregate displacement of lower income residents due to the renovation and revitalization of existing properties that drive up overall property values. The ends of revitalization remain the same in York Mills, but the means to achieving this differ in that newcomers are taking a “demolish-and-rebuild” approach to their newly purchased lots. In addition to the convenience of its location beside the highway (given the ownership of an automobile), this revitalization has driven up property values by 47.5% in between 2001 and 2006.
York Mills is generally inhabited by families. The two age groups with the highest frequencies are 15-19 year olds (8.3%) and 45-49 year olds (8.7%). There is a dip in between these two age groups in 30-34 year olds (4.8%), indicating a lack in young professionals.
Landmarks
The neighbourhood is also known for its high levels of income. The median income is C$267,929, with the average income at C$657,613.
Jolly Miller Tavern (now Miller Tavern) 1857, site of James Hogg Tavern 1853 George S. Pratt House 1866
Housing Houses in York Mills are highly distinguishable and contribute greatly to the proclaimed affluence of the neighbourhood. 50% of occupied dwellings are single detached houses. Many have been rebuilt and customized to taste, with heavily renovated front yards. In between 2001 to 2006, property values have increased by 47.6%. The second type of most occupied dwelling is apartments reaching five or more storeys, inhabited by 28% of the population. The average price for condominiums in the area ranges from C$350,000 to C$1,000,000, while the average price of a detached home is just above C$2,000,000.
Gentrification York Mills exhibits a new pattern of gentrification. The conventional understanding of this phenomenon is the ag-
Points of interest in York Mills:
St. Andrew's Park - site of St. Andrew's Junior High School Auberge du Pommier Restaurant - former mill workers cottage St.John's Anglican Church 1816 http://www.sjym.ca York Mills Plaza (now York Mills Shopping Centre) 1952 York Mills Centre - a transit hub, office building, and commercial centre. 4111 Yonge Street - home to Canadian artist C.W. Jeffrey William and Elizabeth Harrison House Don Valley Golf Course Loretto Abbey Catholic Secondary School York Mills Collegiate Institute (local high school - built in 1957) http://schools.tdsb.on.ca/yorkmillsci/École secondaire Étienne-Brûlé (French Immersion high school that serves the Greater Toronto Area) Path of Glory - Access can be gained across from York Mills Collegiate Windfields Park - host to tennis courts, a community centre and green space. At one time, the town of Bancroft, Ontario, on the York River, was also known as York Mills.
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Ontario Highway 401
King’s Highway 401, also known by its official name as the Macdonald– Cartier Freeway (French: Autoroute Macdonald-Cartier) and colloquially as the four-oh-one, is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. It stretches 817.9 kilometres (508.2 mi) from Windsor to the Quebec border. The part of Highway 401 that passes through Toronto is the busiest highway in the world,and one of the widest. Together with Quebec Autoroute 20, it forms the road transportation backbone of the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor, along which over half of Canada’s population resides. The entire route is maintained by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) and patrolled by the Ontario Provincial Police. The posted speed limit is 100 km/h (62 mph) throughout its length. By the end of 1952, three individual highways were numbered “Highway 401”: the partially completed Toronto Bypass between Weston Road and Highway 11 (Yonge Street); Highway 2A between West Hill and Newcastle; and the Scenic Highway between Gananoque and Brockville, now known as the Thousand Islands Parkway. These three sections of highway were 11.8, 54.7 and 41.2 km, (7.3, 34.0 and 25.6 mi), respectively. In 1964, Highway 401 reached provincial highway status. It was then fully navigable from Windsor to the Quebec border. In 1965 it
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was given a second designation, the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway, in honour of the Fathers of Confederation. At the end of 1968, the Gananoque– Brockville section was bypassed and the final intersection grade-separated near Kingston, making Highway 401 a freeway for its entire 817.9-km length. On August 24, 2007, the portion of the highway between Glen Miller Road in Trenton and the Don Valley Parkway / Highway 404 Junction in Toronto was designated the Highway of Heroes, as the road is travelled by funeral convoys for fallen Canadian Forces personnel from CFB Trenton to the coroner’s office in Toronto. On September 27, 2013, the Highway of Heroes designation was extended west to Keele Street in Toronto, to coincide with the move of the coroner’s office to the new Forensic Services and Coroner’s Complex at the Humber River Hospital. In 2011 construction began on a westward extension of Highway 401 that will be known as the Right Honourable Herb Gray Parkway. This new route will generally follow, but not replace, former Highway 3 between the current end of the freeway and the E. C. Row Expressway, at which point it will turn and follow that route to a new international bridge, the Detroit River International Crossing. Elsewhere in Ontario, plans are
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underway to widen the remaining four lane sections between Windsor and London to six lanes and to widen the route between Cambridge and Milton as well as through Oshawa. The expansive twelve-plus lane collector–express system will also be extended west through Mississauga to Milton and east through Ajax and Whitby.
Route description Highway 401 extends across Southwestern, Central and Eastern Ontario. In anticipation of the future expansion of the highway, the transportation ministry purchased a 91.4-metre-wide (300 ft) right-of-way along the entire length. Generally the highway occupies only a portion of this allotment. It is one of the world’s busiest highways; a 2008 analysis stated that the annual average daily traffic (AADT) count between Weston Road and Highway 400 in Toronto was approximately 450,000, while a second study estimates that over 500,000 vehicles travel that section on some days. This makes it the busiest roadway in North America, surpassing the Santa Monica Freeway in Los Angeles and I-75 in Atlanta. The just-in-time auto parts delivery systems of the highly integrated automotive industry of Michigan and Ontario have contributed to the highway’s status as the busiest truck route in the world, carrying 60 percent of vehicular trade between Canada and the US. 55
Highway 401 also features the busiest multi-structure bridge in North America, located at Hogg’s Hollow in Toronto. The four bridges, two for each direction with the collector and express lanes, carried an average of 373,700 vehicles daily in 2006. The highway is one of the major backbones of a network in the Great Lakes region, connecting the populous Quebec City–Windsor corridor with Michigan, New York and central Ontario’s cottage country. It is the principal connection between Toronto and Montreal, becoming Autoroute 20 at the Quebec border.
History Predecessors Main articles: Lakeshore Road, The Middle Road, Highway 2 and Highway 2A Highway 401’s history predates its designation by over two decades. As automobile use in southern Ontario grew in the early 20th century, road design and construction advanced significantly. Following frequent erosion of Lake Shore Road, then macadamized, a cement road known as the Toronto– Hamilton Highway was proposed in January 1914. Construction began on November 8 of that year, following the onset of World War I. The highway was designed to run along the lake shore, instead of Dundas Street to the north, because the numerous hills encountered along Dundas would have increased costs without improving accessibility. Middle Road, a dirt lane named because of its position between the two, was not considered since Lake Shore and Dundas were both overcrowded and in need of serious repairs. The road was formally opened on November 24, 1917, 5.5 m (18 ft) wide and nearly 64 km (40 mi) long. It was the first concrete road in Ontario, as well as one of the longest stretches of concrete road between two cities in the world.
Over the next decade, vehicle usage increased substantially, and by 1920 Lakeshore Road was again congested, particularly during weekends. In response, the Department of Highways examined improving another road between Toronto and Hamilton. The road was to be more than twice the width of Lakeshore Road at 12 m (39 ft) and would carry two lanes of traffic in either direction. Construction on what was then known as the Queen Street Extension west of Toronto began in early 1931. Before the highway could be completed, Thomas McQuesten was appointed the new minister of the Department of Highways, with Robert Melville Smith as deputy minister, following the 1934 provincial elections. Smith, inspired by the German autobahns—new
“dual-lane divided highways”—modified the design for Ontario roads, and McQuesten ordered that the Middle Road be converted into this new form of highway. A 40 m (130 ft) right-ofway was purchased along the Middle Road and construction began to convert the existing sections to a divided highway. Work also began on Canada’s first interchange at Highway 10. Beginning in 1935, McQuesten applied the concept of a dual-highway to several projects along Highway 2, including along Kingston Road in Scarborough Township. When widening in Scarborough reached the Highland Creek ravine in 1936, the Department of Highways began construction on a new bridge over the large valley, bypassing the former alignment around West Hill. From here the highway was constructed on a new alignment to Oshawa, avoiding construction on the congested Highway 2. As grading and bridge construction neared completion on the new highway between West Hill and Oshawa in September 1939, World War II broke out and gradually tax revenues were re-allocated from highway construction to the war effort. At the same time, between September 6 and 8, 1939, the Ontario Good Roads Association Conference was held at Bigwin Inn, near Huntsville, drawing highway engineers from across North America to discuss the new concept of “Dual Highways”. On the first day of the convention, McQuesten announced his vision of the freeway: an uninterrupted drive through the scenic regions of Ontario, discouraging local business and local traffic from accessing the highway except at infrequent controlled-access points. It was announced in the days thereafter that this concept would be applied to a new “trans-provincial expressway”, running from Windsor to the Quebec border. Highway engineers evaluated fac-
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tors such as grading, curve radius and the narrow median used along the Middle Road (which was inaugurated on August 23, 1940, as the Queen Elizabeth Way), and began to plan the course of a new dual highway mostly parallel to Highway 2, with precedence given to areas most hampered by congestion. Unlike the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW), this highway would not be built along an existing road, but rather on a new right-of-way, avoiding the need to provide access to properties. Along with immense improvements to machinery and construction techniques over its six-year course, the war provided planners an opportunity to conduct a survey of 375,000 drivers, asking them about their preferred route to travel to their destination. Using this information, a course was plotted from Windsor to Quebec, bypassing all towns along the way.
1941 or early 1942,the road followed the shore of the Saint Lawrence River and connected with the western end of the twinned Highway 2 near Brockville. In addition, the highway between Highland Creek and Oshawa was opened as a gravel-surfaced road in May 1942. Following the war, construction resumed on roadways throughout Ontario. The expressway between Highland Creek and Oshawa was completed in December 1947, while other sections languished. The Toronto–Barrie Highway was the primary focus of the Department of Highways at the time, and the onset of the Korean War in 1950 stalled construction again. Despite the delays, highway minister George Doucett officially announced the plans for construction of the new trans-provincial expressway that year, with the Toronto to Oshawa expressway serving as a model for the design.
Highway 2S (S for Scenic), was the first completed section of new roadway. Built to connect with the Thousand Islands Bridge at Ivy Lea and opened as a gravel road in late
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Work on the most important link, the Toronto Bypass, began in 1951, but it would not open with that name.
Since 2008 On August 10, 2008, following a series of explosions at a propane facility in Toronto, Highway 401 was closed between Highway 400 and Highway 404 as a precautionary measure, the largest closure of the highway in its history. The highway remained closed until 8 p.m., though several exits near the blast remained closed thereafter. Between 2006 and 2008, Highway 401 was widened from four to six lanes between Highway 402 and Wellington Road in London. This included replacing the original Wellington Road overpass. In Oshawa, Exit 416 (Park Road) was replaced by a new interchange at Exit 415 (Stevenson Road). The contract, which began September 7, 2005, included the interchange and the resurfacing of 23.4 km (14.5 mi) of the highway between Oshawa and Highway 35 / Highway 115. The westbound ramps were opened in mid-September 2007 and the eastbound ramps in mid-2009. The resurfacing was completed mid-2010.
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Ontario Highway 404
King’s Highway 404 (pronounced “four-oh-four”), also known as Highway 404 and colloquially as the 404, is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting Highway 401 and the Don Valley Parkway (DVP) in Toronto with Newmarket. The controlled-access highway also connects with Highway 407 in Markham. Construction on the freeway began soon after the completion of the Don Valley Parkway, with the first section south of Steeles Avenue opening in 1977. Over the next twelve years, the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) undertook a continuous construction program to build the freeway to Davis Drive in Newmarket. This was completed on October 24, 1989. Since then, the route has been expanded in width and extended by 2 km (1.2 mi) to Green Lane, an east-west road in the town of East Gwillimbury. A northward extension to Ravenshoe Road near Keswick is currently under construction, with completion tentatively scheduled North York Festival 2014
for 2014. This 13.5 km (8.4 mi) route is the first part of a proposed extension to southeast of Beaverton. Highway 404 is one of several freeways in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) with High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes; the southbound lane was one of the initial projects in the province and opened on December 13, 2005. The northbound lane opened on July 23, 2007.
Route description Running parallel to Highway 400 approximately 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to the east, Highway 404 extends 36 km (22 mi) on a north–south orientation between Highway 401 and Green Lane. There are 14 interchanges along its length, mostly of the Parclo A4 configuration. Exit numbers on the freeway start at 17, suggesting that the length of the Don Valley Parkway was considered in distance calculations; there are no exit numbers posted on the parkway.
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Officially, the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) jurisdiction over the freeway begins as the opposing directions of travel diverge south of the Highway 401 interchange. Northbound, two lanes from the DVP are joined by a third from the eastbound collectors of Highway 401. These narrow to two lanes before merging with a single lane from westbound Highway 401 immediately south of Sheppard Avenue. An additional two lanes from westbound Highway 401 converge and form a separate carriageway with no access to Sheppard. Southbound, the freeway is divided into two carriageways, both of which provide access to the DVP. The outer carriageway also provides access from Sheppard and to Highway 401, including the westbound express lanes, while the inner carriageway is intended for DVP-bound traffic. The HOV lane also provides access to westbound Highway 401 via a dedicated tunnel, which passes beneath the other southbound lanes. To the east of
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Highway 404 is the Consumers Road office park. To the west and north of Sheppard Avenue is Fairview Mall, which has its own connection with the southbound lanes. The highway continues directly north along the old Woodbine Avenue right-of-way to just south of Steeles Avenue, where it diverges to the west before continuing north. From just north of Sheppard, a northbound HOV lane is present alongside the central median. Southbound, the HOV lane continues as far as Highway 401. Alongside the 404 to the east is an industrial warehouse and commercial office area, while on the west is a suburban subdivision of North York. Northbound, the freeway is six lanes wide from Sheppard Avenue to Finch Avenue, where one diverges onto an off-ramp, re-emerging north of Finch. Southbound, it is six lanes wide from Steeles south to Sheppard. At Steeles Avenue, the freeway enters the Regional Municipality of York. To the east are industrial units, while on the west are residential suburbs. This land-use persists north to the Highway 407 ETR interchange, a multilevel stack interchange with two flyovers. North of Highway 407, the freeway crosses Highway 7, where the HOV lanes transition to standard through lanes. The freeway passes west of Buttonville Airport and interchanges with 16th Avenue. It narrows and the central barrier ends; a grass median taking its place between the opposing lanes. The land-use density continues to drop, with the appearance of some open spaces and farms interspersed with industrial and commercial buildings. By 19th Avenue, just north of the Honda Canada headquarters in Markham, the land-use is agricultural on both sides of Highway 404. Immediately south of Stouffville Road, the freeway curves to the east before proceeding north. North of Bethesda Road, the free59
way crosses through a green space area. Two small lakes are present to either side. The larger, to the east, is Simeon Lake. North of Aurora Road, the highway reduces in width to four lanes, which is its configuration north to East Gwillimbury, where the highway terminates at Green Lane (York Regional Road 19).
History Initial construction A freeway east of Highway 11 was in the works as early as 1954, when the province extended Highway 48 south from Port Bolster. A large cloverleaf interchange was constructed with the Toronto Bypass, and plans formulated for a dual highway around the east side of Lake Simcoe, connecting with Highway 11 near Orillia or Gravenhurst. This route was dropped when Metropolitan Toronto began planning for the northern extension of the DVP in 1957, as subdivisions encroached upon Woodbine Avenue north of Highway 401. The six-lane expressway was to follow the alignment of Woodbine from its southern terminus at Lawrence Avenue to north of Steeles Avenue, where the Department of Highways (DOH) would continue the road as a “new King’s Highway”. In 1959, the DOH announced that they would construct and maintain the new route once the DVP was completed to Highway 401 and designate it Highway 404. The proposed route of the freeway was presented at a special delegation on December 13, 1960 by Harold Barry, a representative of the department. Design work started in 1973, the first contract was awarded in early 1976, and construction began in March 1976 with the awarding of a C$6.9 million contract. This contract included construction of the Finch Avenue interchange, overpasses at McNicoll and Van Horne Avenues and 4.5 km (2.8 mi) of six-lane freeway between wwww.NorthYorkFestival.com
Sheppard and Steeles Avenues. Shortly thereafter, on April 20, Ernest Avenue and Van Horne Avenue were closed to traffic at Woodbine. The first section of Highway 404 between Highway 401 and Steeles Avenue opened in late 1977, including the flyover ramp from southbound Woodbine Avenue. The freeway was separated by a grass median with a steel beam acting as a barrier between the lanes. Construction north of Toronto proceeded quickly, with the contract for the section from Steeles to Highway 7 being awarded in 1976 and the section opening on November 10, 1978. The next extension, to Stouffville Road (then known as the Gormley Side Road), was opened ceremoniously on December 9, 1980 by minister James Snow; the segment north of Highway 7 was four lanes wide. The section of Highway 404 north of Stouffville Road was the subject of considerable controversy when work began to clear the route on May 15, 1981 before the completion of an environmental assessment. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications was charged with violating the newly enacted Environmental Assessment Act, which it contested came into effect after construction of the Highway 404 extension had begun. Minister James Snow was charged with violating the act, and called upon to resign. The Minister did not resign, but paid a $3,500 fine. Despite the issues surrounding it, the extension between Stouffville Road and Bloomington Road was opened ceremoniously on the morning of August 10, 1982. Construction on the segment north of Bloomington to Aurora Sideroad was already in progress by this point. It was opened to traffic in late September 1985. Construction on the 6.5 km (4.0 mi) section from Aurora Road to Davis Drive began in early 1986, and the section opened to traffic on October 24, 1989 at 8:30 am. This final segment North York Festival 2014
cost $22.1 million, ending the continuous construction program undertaken since 1973 at a cost of $83.3 million.
Expansion Studies and environmental into various extensions began almost immediately, while Highway 404 ended at Davis Drive; it would take over a decade for any northward progression to take place. In the interim period, work went into expanding the six lane freeway through Toronto and Markham. In early 1998, the MTO announced plans
for two contracts to widen Highway 404 south of Highway 7. The first contract converted the grass median into an additional lane in each direction with a central barrier between them. Highmast lighting was also installed, replacing the unique luminaires used on the freeway. The second contract resulted in an additional lane in each direction on the outside of the existing freeway south of Steeles Avenue, making it ten lanes wide. The proposal to eventually convert the inner lanes into HOV lanes was announced at the same time. The
next year, Highway 404 was widened to six lanes between Highway 7 and Major Mackenzie Drive. On June 23, 1998 the Minister of Transportation, Tony Clement, made a formal agreement with the Region of York to expand the route through the region. The MTO formally announced this on August 28, 2000: a three contract project to widen and extend Highway 404. The first contract added an additional lane in each direction in the grass median from Major Mackenzie Drive to Bloomington Road. A second contract then extended those two lanes north to Aurora Sideroad. These two projects both began in the summer of 2001 and were completed in December. The third contract called for a four lane extension from Davis Drive to Green Lane and the reconstruction of Green Lane into a four-laned arterial road between Leslie Street and Woodbine Avenue. This contract began shortly after the announcement in September 2000. The extension was opened to traffic on February 8, 2002 at a ceremony attended by York North MPP Julia Munro and York Regional Chair Bill Fisch. On June 19, 2003, Transportation Minister and Oak Ridges MPP Frank Klees opened a new interchange at Regional Road 73 (16th Avenue). Traffic was permitted onto the ramp following the ceremony, also attended by Thornhill MPP Tina Molinari. One of the three original HOV lanes in Ontario opened on Highway 404 in late 2005; the other two were the lanes on Highway 403. In early 2004, construction began on a new ramp to westbound Highway 401, curving beneath the southbound lanes of Highway 404. On December 13, 2005, the southbound HOV lane was opened to traffic. Work on the northbound HOV lane began shortly thereafter, opening at 8:30 am on Monday, July 23, 2007.
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