First Canadian Place
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

First Canadian Place (originally First Bank Building) is a
skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...
in the
Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...
of
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, at the northwest corner of
King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
and
Bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...
streets, and serves as the global operational headquarters of the
Bank of Montreal The Bank of Montreal (BMO; french: Banque de Montréal, link=no) is a Canadian multinational investment bank and financial services company. The bank was founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1817 as Montreal Bank; while its head office remains in ...
. At , it is
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
's tallest skyscraper and the 15th tallest building in
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
to structural top (spires) and 9th highest to the rooftop, and the 105th tallest in the world. It is the third tallest free-standing structure in Canada, after the
CN Tower The CN Tower (french: Tour CN) is a concrete communications and observation tower in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Built on the former Railway Lands, it was completed in 1976. Its name "CN" referred to Canadian National, the railway c ...
(also in Toronto) and the
Inco Superstack The Inco Superstack in Sudbury, Ontario, with a height of , is the tallest chimney in Canada and the Western hemisphere, and the second tallest freestanding chimney in the world after the GRES-2 Power Station in Kazakhstan. It is also the sec ...
chimney (projected to be demolished) in
Sudbury, Ontario Sudbury, officially the City of Greater Sudbury is the largest city in Northern Ontario by population, with a population of 166,004 at the 2021 Canadian Census. By land area, it is the largest in Ontario and the fifth largest in Canada. It is a ...
. The building is owned by
Manulife Financial Corporation Manulife Financial Corporation (also known as Financière Manuvie in Quebec) is a Canadian multinational insurance company and financial services provider headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company operates in Canada and Asia as "Manulife" an ...
(50 per cent) in addition to a private consortium of investors including CPP Investments. The building is managed by
Brookfield Properties Brookfield Properties is a North American subsidiary of commercial real estate company Brookfield Property Partners, which itself is a subsidiary of alternative asset management company Brookfield Asset Management. It is responsible for the pro ...
.


History and architecture

First Canadian Place is named for Canada's first bank, the Bank of Montreal. Designed by
B+H Architects B+H Architects or BH Architects (formerly Bregman + Hamann Architects) is a Canadian architectural and engineering firm headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The firm was founded in 1953 by Sidney Bregman and George Hamann. B+H is a member of the Su ...
with Edward Durell Stone as a design consultant, First Canadian Place was constructed in 1975 and originally named ''First Bank Building''. The tower and associated buildings occupy a block once home to two major newspapers, the '' Toronto Star’s'' Toronto Star Building and ''
The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
''s
William H. Wright Building The William H. Wright Building was a six-storey office building located at 140 King Street West in Toronto, Ontario, at the corner of King and York streets. Designed by the firm Mathers and Haldenby and built between 1937 and 1938, it was one of ...
. The site was the last of the corners at King and Bay to be redeveloped in the 1960s and 1970s, and a major bidding war began over the property. The then-little-known firm of
Olympia and York Olympia & York (also spelled as Olympia and York, abbreviated as O&Y) was a major international property development firm based in Toronto, Canada. The firm built major financial office complexes including Canary Wharf in London, the World Fina ...
eventually obtained nearly the whole city block, but the election of reformist mayor
David Crombie David Edward Crombie (born April 24, 1936) is a Canadian former academic and politician who served as the 56th mayor of Toronto from 1972 to 1978. Crombie was elected to Parliament following his tenure as mayor. A member of the Progressive Conse ...
led to new rules banning skyscrapers. It took three years of lobbying before permission for First Canadian Place was granted. When completed, the building was nearly identical in appearance to Stone's Aon Center in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
; completed two years previous as the Standard Oil Building, the Chicago tower is of the same floor plan and clad in the same marble, the only overtly visible difference being the vertical orientation of the windows, as opposed to the horizontal run of those on First Canadian Place. First Canadian Place was the 6th tallest building in the world to structural top (currently 103rd) and the tallest building overall outside of Chicago and New York when built-in 1975. It was also the tallest building in the
Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...
until the completion of the
Petronas Towers The Petronas Towers, also known as the Petronas Twin Towers or KLCC Twin Towers, (Malay: ''Menara Berkembar Petronas'') are 88-storey supertall skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, standing at . From 1998 to 2003, they were officially design ...
in
Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...
,
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, in 1998. The Bank of Montreal "M-bar" logo at the top of the building was the highest sign in the world from 1975 until overtaken by the sign atop
CITIC Plaza China International Trust and Investment (CITIC) Plaza () is an 80-storey, office skyscraper in the Tianhe District of Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China. Its structural height includes two antenna-like spires on the top. Complete ...
in 1997. The roof is still the location of a number of antennas used for
radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
and
television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
broadcasting. The structure contains 29
elevator An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...
s, and is one of only a few buildings in the world that uses the double-decked variety, and is connected to the underground
PATH A path is a route for physical travel – see Trail. Path or PATH may also refer to: Physical paths of different types * Bicycle path * Bridle path, used by people on horseback * Course (navigation), the intended path of a vehicle * Desire p ...
system. The building was pictured on the front and rear cover of the 1981 album ''
This Is the Ice Age ''This Is the Ice Age'' was Martha and the Muffins' third album, released on LP and cassette in 1981. The track "Women Around the World at Work" was released as a single in the UK and Canada (#24). "Swimming", featuring a lead vocal by Mark Gan ...
'' by Canadian New Wave band
Martha and the Muffins Martha and the Muffins are a Canadian rock band, active from 1977 to the present. Although they only had one major international hit single "Echo Beach" under their original band name, they had a number of hits in their native Canada, and the c ...
and also their 7" single " Women Around the World at Work". The album featured two photos which were taken from the same place but at different times by Muffins guitarist Mark Gane using a time-lapse camera and features the building at midday and dusk. The 7" cover again features the same photo but has 9 small images taken at various times of the day and night.


Cladding

The same white
Carrara marble Carrara marble, Luna marble to the Romans, is a type of white or blue-grey marble popular for use in sculpture and building decor. It has been quarried since Roman times in the mountains just outside the city of Carrara in the province of Massa ...
used on Aon Center was employed as an exterior cladding and interior finish for First Canadian Place, with approximately 45,000 marble panels weighing around each. Foreshadowing what would take place with First Canadian Place in 2007, one of the marble slabs of Aon Center, when it was named the Standard Oil Building, detached in 1974, falling and penetrating the roof of a neighbouring building, resulting in an eventual recladding of the entire Aon Center in white granite between 1992 and 1994. This problem would surface at First Canadian Place as well, during an intense storm on the evening of 15 May 2007, a , white marble panel fell from the 60th storey of the tower's southern face onto the 3rd-floor mezzanine roof below, causing authorities to close surrounding streets as a precaution. In late 2009, owner
Brookfield Properties Brookfield Properties is a North American subsidiary of commercial real estate company Brookfield Property Partners, which itself is a subsidiary of alternative asset management company Brookfield Asset Management. It is responsible for the pro ...
announced it would follow the example of Aon Center and, over three years, replace the tower's 45,000 marble panels with new ones in glass, those on the main expanses with a white ceramic
frit A frit is a ceramic composition that has been fused, quenched, and granulated. Frits form an important part of the batches used in compounding enamels and ceramic glazes; the purpose of this pre-fusion is to render any soluble and/or toxic compo ...
and the corners in a bronze tint. Brookfield and the co-owners also launched a multi-faceted rejuvenation program, including "upgrades to the building's mechanical, electrical, and lighting systems that will redefine the standard for enhanced performance, comfort, and greening". FCP's common areas including upper and lower level entrance and elevator lobbies, the retail concourse and Market Place were to also undergo renovation, with new natural stone flooring,
frit A frit is a ceramic composition that has been fused, quenched, and granulated. Frits form an important part of the batches used in compounding enamels and ceramic glazes; the purpose of this pre-fusion is to render any soluble and/or toxic compo ...
ted glass accents, brushed metal handrails, landscaping, and water features. The rejuvenation program design architects were Moed de Armas & Shannon Architects and Bregman + Hamann Architects were the architects of record. The entire project, completed in 2012, cost was in excess of CA$100 million, paid by the owner. This extensive capital improvement project was intended to provide a new exterior for FCP and eliminate the
maintenance costs Maintenance may refer to: Biological science * Maintenance of an organism * Maintenance respiration Non-technical maintenance * Alimony, also called ''maintenance'' in British English * Champerty and maintenance, two related legal doctrine ...
associated with marble upkeep.


Tenants

*
Bank of Montreal The Bank of Montreal (BMO; french: Banque de Montréal, link=no) is a Canadian multinational investment bank and financial services company. The bank was founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1817 as Montreal Bank; while its head office remains in ...
*
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP is a Canadian-based law firm founded in 1862. Osler is considered one of the Seven Sisters (law firms), a historical collection of seven law firms with offices in Toronto, Ontario. History The firm was founded in ...
*
DLA Piper DLA Piper is a multinational law firm with offices in over 40 countries throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. In 2021, it had a total revenue of US$3.47 billion, an average profit per equity partner of ...
*
Bennett Jones Bennett Jones LLP is a law firm based in Canada. Firm Bennett Jones is a Canadian business law firm with 400 lawyers and business advisors. The firm has five offices in Canada ( Calgary, Toronto, Edmonton, Ottawa and Vancouver), and one i ...
*
Gowling WLG Gowling WLG is a multinational law firm formed by the combination of Canada-based Gowlings and UK-based Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co in February 2016, in the first multinational law firm combination co-led by a Canadian firm. Gowling WLG ranks at ...


Broadcasting

The following Toronto-area broadcasters have their transmitters atop First Canadian Place:


FM stations

*
CIND-FM CIND-FM, branded as ''Indie88'', is an FM radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, broadcasting at 88.1 MHz. The station, which broadcasts an adult album alternative format, had its "soft launch" on July 31, 2013, and had its official launch ...
88.1 (''Indie 88'') *
CKLN-FM CKLN-FM was a community radio station based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From 1983 to 2011, CKLN Radio Inc. was licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission as a campus-community FM radio station affiliated with Ry ...
88.1 (The first radio station to use this transmitter tower. Now defunct.) * CIRV-FM 88.9 *
CIUT-FM CIUT-FM is a campus and community radio station owned and operated by the University of Toronto. The station broadcasts live and continuously from Toronto on the 89.5 FM frequency. Programming can also be heard nationally via channel 826 on Shaw ...
89.5 *
CJBC-FM CJBC-FM is a public Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 90.3 MHz in Toronto, Ontario. A French-language station, it airs the programming of Radio-Canada's Ici Musique network. CJBC's studios are located in the Canadian Broadcasting Centre, wh ...
90.3 (''Radio-Canada Espace Musique'') *
CKIS-FM CKIS-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 92.5 MHz in Toronto, Ontario. Owned by Rogers Sports & Media, the station broadcasts a Top 40/CHR format branded as ''KiSS 92.5''. The station was founded on January 26, 1993 as CISS-FM und ...
92.5 (''Kiss 92.5'') *
CFXJ-FM CFXJ-FM (93.5 FM, ''93.5 Today Radio'') is a Canadian radio station in Toronto, Ontario. Owned by Stingray Group, it broadcasts an adult hits format. CFXJ's studios are located at Yonge and St. Clair in Toronto's Deer Park neighbourhood, whil ...
93.5 (''93.5 The Move'') * CJKX-FM-2 95.9 (''KX96'') + *
CFMZ-FM CFMZ-FM (''The New Classical 96.3 FM'') is an FM radio station licensed to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Broadcasting on 96.3 MHz, the station is owned by ZoomerMedia and airs a classical music radio format. CFMZ's studios are located on Jefferson Av ...
96.3 (''Classical 96'') *
CFZM CFZM is a Class A clear-channel radio station, licensed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, broadcasting on the assigned frequency of 740 kHz, and with a low power repeater in downtown Toronto at 96.7 FM. The station airs an oldies format branded ...
-1-FM 96.7 (''AM740'') * * CKFG-FM 98.7 (''G 98.7'') *
CBLA-FM CBLA-FM (99.1 MHz) is a non-commercial Canadian radio station in Toronto, Ontario. Owned and operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the station is the flagship station of the CBC Radio One network, broadcasting a mix of news and talk ...
99.1 (''CBC Radio One'') *
CJSA-FM CJSA-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts at 101.3 MHz in Toronto, Ontario. The station broadcasts in 22 languages reaching a majority of the South Asian audience. True to its name, "Canadian Multicultural Radio", CJSA serves well ove ...
101.3 (''CMR Diversity FM'') *
CFNY-FM CFNY-FM (''102.1 the Edge'') is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 102.1 MHz in the Greater Toronto Area, licensed to the suburb of Brampton. CFNY plays an alternative rock format. Owned by Corus Entertainment, its studios are in Downtown ...
102.1 (''102.1 The Edge'') # *
CFPT-FM CFPT-FM (106.5 FM broadcasting, FM, "106.5 Elmnt FM") is an Indigenous peoples in Canada, indigenous radio station in Toronto. Owned by First Peoples Radio, a subsidiary of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), it broadcasts music and ...
106.5 (''First Peoples Radio'') *
CILQ-FM CILQ-FM (107.1 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, known as ''Q107''. The station broadcasts a mainstream rock format and is owned by Corus Entertainment. CILQ's studios are in the Corus Quay building on Dockside ...
107.1 (''Q107'') # # backup transmitter; main transmitter on
CN Tower The CN Tower (french: Tour CN) is a concrete communications and observation tower in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Built on the former Railway Lands, it was completed in 1976. Its name "CN" referred to Canadian National, the railway c ...

+ synchronous transmitter; provides supplementary coverage to primary transmitter in Ajax
* fill-in transmitter; serves downtown core and surrounding inner-city neighbourhoods


Amateur Radio

An
amateur Radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communic ...
digital mobile radio Digital mobile radio (DMR) is a specification for commercial products so they can interoperate. It is defined by a standard created by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), and is designed to be low-cost and easy to use. DMR, ...
repeater for the Greater Toronto area (VA3XPR) has its antennas mounted just above the broadcast antennas on the radio mast. There are also other analog ham repeaters on the building.


Shopping Mall

According to the First Canadian Place website, the lower floors of the building, as part of the Toronto Path system, feature: * 120 stores in three floors of
Carrara marble Carrara marble, Luna marble to the Romans, is a type of white or blue-grey marble popular for use in sculpture and building decor. It has been quarried since Roman times in the mountains just outside the city of Carrara in the province of Massa ...
* 6 restaurants * over 30 eateries * medical centre, featuring an optometrist`s office and dental clinics * spas, beauty salons, and a barbershop * banking and financial planning services from the
Bank of Montreal The Bank of Montreal (BMO; french: Banque de Montréal, link=no) is a Canadian multinational investment bank and financial services company. The bank was founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1817 as Montreal Bank; while its head office remains in ...
* dry cleaning and shoe repair * post office *
FedEx FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "Fe ...
and
UPS UPS or ups may refer to: Companies and organizations * United Parcel Service, an American shipping company ** The UPS Store, UPS subsidiary ** UPS Airlines, UPS subsidiary * Underground Press Syndicate, later ''Alternative Press Syndicate'' or ...
dropbox Dropbox is a file hosting service operated by the American company Dropbox, Inc., headquartered in San Francisco, California, U.S. that offers cloud storage, file synchronization, personal cloud, and Client (computing), client software. Dropb ...
* a parkette on King Street, between the FCP and the
Exchange Tower Exchange Tower is a 36 storey tower in the First Canadian Place complex of Toronto, Ontario, Canada completed in 1981. The International style building is named for the Toronto Stock Exchange, which is the building's highest profile tenant. The ...
First Canadian Place Basement PATH 2021.jpg , Basement Access First Canadian Place basement restaurants and supermarket 202112.jpg, Basement supermarket and food stall First Canadian Place Arcade 2021.jpg, Shopping Mall First Canadian Place Level 2 Food Court 2021.jpg , Food Court in Level 2


See also

*
Bank of Montreal Head Office The Bank of Montreal's Head Office (french: Édifice de la Banque de Montréal) is located on 119, rue Saint Jaques (119, Saint Jacques Street) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, across the Place d'Armes from the Notre-Dame Basilica in the Old Montrea ...
*
List of tallest buildings in Canada This is a list of the tallest buildings in Canada. As of December 2017 there are a total of 133 completed and under construction buildings in Canada with an official height of or more. Greater Toronto has 86 (Toronto 83 (including the eight tal ...
*
List of tallest buildings in the British Empire and the Commonwealth The title of tallest building in the British Empire (later in the Commonwealth) has been contested since the late nineteenth century. In this era the nations of the British Empire possessed a large measure of cultural unity and naturally looked t ...
*
List of tallest buildings in Toronto Many of the tallest buildings in Toronto are also the tallest in all of Canada. The tallest structure in Toronto is the CN Tower, which rises . The CN Tower was the tallest free-standing structure on land from 1975 until 2007. However, it is no ...
*
List of tallest freestanding steel structures This is a list of tallest freestanding steel structures in the world past and present. To be a freestanding steel structure it must not be supported by guy wires, the list therefore does not include guyed masts and the main vertical and lateral str ...
*
List of tallest freestanding structures in the world This is a list of tallest freestanding structures in the world past and present. To be freestanding a structure must not be supported by guy wires, the sea or other types of support. It therefore does not include guyed masts, partially guyed tow ...


References


External links


First Canadian Place tenant website

First Canadian Place retail and events website

First Canadian Place mall website
{{Authority control Bank headquarters in Canada Bank of Montreal Modernist architecture in Canada PATH (Toronto) Shopping malls in Toronto Skyscrapers in Toronto Edward Durell Stone buildings Brookfield Properties buildings Skyscraper office buildings in Canada Office buildings completed in 1975