The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of

municipal government A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the

old city of Toronto Old Toronto is that part of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that corresponds to the original City of Toronto which existed from 1834 to 1998. It was first incorporated as a city in 1834, after being known as the town of York, and being part of York ...

and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, which were starting to urbanize rapidly after World War II. It was commonly referred to as "Metro Toronto" or "Metro". Passage of the 1997 ''City of Toronto Act'' caused the 1998 amalgamation of Metropolitan Toronto and its constituents into the current

City 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 ...

. The boundaries of present-day Toronto are the same as those of Metropolitan Toronto upon its dissolution:

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

to the south,

Etobicoke Creek Etobicoke Creek is a river in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. It is a tributary of Lake Ontario and runs from Caledon to southern Etobicoke, part of the City of Toronto. The creek is within the jurisdiction of the Toronto and Regio ...

and Highway 427 to the west,

Steeles Avenue Steeles Avenue is an east–west street that forms the northern city limit of Toronto and the southern limit of York Region in Ontario, Canada. It stretches across the western and central Greater Toronto Area from Appleby Line in Milton in th ...

to the north, and the Rouge River to the east.

History

City and suburbs

Prior to the formation of Metropolitan Toronto, the municipalities surrounding the central city of Toronto were all independent townships, towns and villages within York County. After 1912, the city no longer annexed suburbs from York Township. At times, the suburbs asked to be annexed into Toronto, but the city chose not to do so. In 1924,

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 ...

cabinet minister

George S. Henry George Stewart Henry (July 16, 1871 – September 2, 1958) was a farmer, businessman and politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as the tenth premier of Ontario from 1930 to 1934. He had acted as minister of highways while Ontario greatly ...

was the first to propose a 'metropolitan district' with its own council, separate from the city and the county, to administer shared services. He wrote a draft bill, but the government chose not to act on it. The

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

saw almost all of the towns and villages of the county become insolvent. When that happened, they were, financially, taken over by the province. In 1933, Henry, now the premier, appointed a formal inquiry into forming a metropolitan district. A proposal was made for Toronto to provide several of its services to the suburbs as well. The inquiry died with the defeat of Henry in 1934. In the 1930s, a Liberal Ontario government named the first minister of municipal affairs, David A. Croll, and introduced a draft bill to amalgamate Toronto and the built-up suburbs. The draft bill faced strong opposition in Toronto and was withdrawn. The government then started its own inquiry into issues of the suburbs surrounding Toronto. Through consensus, it came to the conclusion that a metropolitan municipality was the best solution. The inquiry reported in September 1939, and its conclusions were put aside for the duration of World War II. Two factors changed in the 1940s. A

Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (french: Parti progressiste-conservateur de l'Ontario), often shortened to the Ontario PC Party or simply the PCs, colloquially known as the Tories, is a centre-right political party in Ontario, Canada ...

(PCO) government was elected in 1943, with a changed policy, intending to promote economic growth through government action. Also in 1943, the first Master Plan was adopted in Toronto. It recognized that future growth would take place in the vacant land of adjacent suburbs. Planning would have to take into account the whole metropolitan area. Forest Hill reeve Fred Gardiner, who was politically well-connected to newly elected PC premier George Drew, now promoted the idea of ambitious new programs to lay the capital infrastructure for growth. In 1946, the province passed the ''Planning Act'', which required each urban municipality to have its own Planning Board. A Toronto and Suburban Planning Board was founded, under the chairmanship of James P. Maher, and the vice-chairmanship of Fred Gardiner. The Board promoted specific projects, and also promoted a suburban 'green belt', a unified system of arterial roads and the creation of a single public transit network. The Board was ineffective. Projects such as a bridge across the Don River Valley and the Spadina Road Extension (the basis for the later

Spadina Expressway William R. Allen Road, also known as Allen Road, the Allen Expressway and colloquially as the Allen, is a short expressway and arterial road in Toronto. It starts as a controlled-access expressway at Eglinton Avenue West, heading north to just ...

) were rejected by the local municipalities. Gardiner, elected as chairman of the board in 1949, wrote to Premier

Leslie Frost Leslie Miscampbell Frost (September 20, 1895 – May 4, 1973) was a politician in Ontario, Canada, who served as the province's 16th premier from May 4, 1949, to November 8, 1961. Due to his lengthy tenure, he gained the nickname "Old Man O ...

that only a unified municipality could measure up to the problems. In 1950, the City of Toronto Council voted to adopt an amalgamated city, while nearly all of the suburbs rejected the amalgamation. From 1950 until 1951, the

Ontario Municipal Board The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) was an independent administrative board, operated as an adjudicative tribunal, in the province of Ontario, Canada. It heard applications and appeals on municipal and planning disputes, as well as other matters s ...

held hearings on the proposal, under the chairmanship of Lorne Cumming. The Board worked until 1953, releasing its report on January 20, 1953. Cumming's report proposed a compromise solution: a two-tiered government, with the formation of a Metropolitan government, governed by a Metropolitan Council, to provide strategic functions, while existing municipalities would retain all other services. He rejected full amalgamation, citing a need to preserve 'a government which is very close to the local residents.'

Formation

The Frost government moved immediately and on February 25, 1953, introduced the bill (''An Act to provide for the Federation of the Municipalities in the Toronto Metropolitan Area for Certain Financial and Other Purposes'') to create the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. The new municipality would have the power to tax real estate and borrow funds on its own. It would be responsible for arterial roads, major sewage and water facilities, regional planning, public transportation, administration of justice, metropolitan parks and housing issues as needed. The municipalities retained their individual fire and police departments, business licensing, public health and libraries. The council would have its own chairman, selected by the province initially, then to be elected by the Council itself after 1955. Premier Frost convinced Fred Gardiner, who still preferred amalgamation, over the metro scheme, to take the job. Gardiner was well known to Frost through the Conservative Party, was well-off, was felt to be beyond personal corruption. Gardiner accepted the position partly due to his friendship with Frost, and he demanded that he retain his corporate connections. He also felt that the job would be "bigger than anything he had tried before." The bill to form Metro was passed on April 2, 1953. The Gardiner appointment was announced on April 7. In Canada, the creation of municipalities falls under provincial jurisdiction. Thus it was provincial legislation, the ''

Metropolitan Toronto Act The ''City of Toronto Act'' is the name of a series of different acts of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario that have governed the organization and political powers of the city since Toronto's original incorporation as a city in 1834. ''Incor ...

'', that created this level of government in 1953. When it took effect in 1954, the portion of York Township not yet annexed by Toronto, as well as all of Scarborough and Etobicoke Townships were incorporated as part of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto, and seceded from York County. Metropolitan Toronto Council had its inaugural meeting on April 15, 1953, and was made up of the Metro chairman,

Frederick Gardiner Frederick Goldwin Gardiner, (January 21, 1895 – August 21, 1983) was a Canadian politician, lawyer and businessman. He was the first chairman of Metropolitan Toronto council, the governing body for the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto, ...

, who had been appointed by the province; the

mayor of Toronto The mayor of Toronto is the head of Toronto City Council and chief executive officer of the municipal government. The mayor is elected alongside city council every four years on the fourth Monday of October; there are no term limits. While in ...

; Toronto's two most senior controllers; nine senior aldermen from the

; and the twelve suburban mayors and reeves. Metro Toronto was composed of the City of Toronto, the towns of

New Toronto New Toronto is a neighbourhood and former municipality in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the south-west area of Toronto, along Lake Ontario. The Town of New Toronto was established in 1890, and was designed and planned as an indu ...

Mimico Mimico is a neighbourhood (and a former municipality) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, being located in the south-west area of Toronto on Lake Ontario. It is in the south-east corner of the former Township (and later, City) of Etobicoke, and was an ...

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * ...

and Leaside; the villages of Long Branch,

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the C ...

and Forest Hill and the

townships A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

North York North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a po ...

East York East York is a former administrative district and municipality within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From 1967 to 1998, it was officially the Borough of East York, a semi-autonomous borough within the upper-tier municipality of Metropolitan Toron ...

, and Scarborough. Metropolitan Toronto had planning authority over the surrounding townships such as

Vaughan Vaughan () (2021 population 323,103) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increas ...

, Markham, and Pickering, although these areas did not have representation on Metro Council.

Growth and mergers

Gardiner was

Metro chairman The Chairman of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto or Metro Chairman was the regional chair of Metropolitan Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the most senior political figure in the municipality. The Metro Chairman was elected by the members ...

from 1953 until the end of 1961. During his tenure, Metro built numerous infrastructure projects, including the opening of the first

subway Subway, Subways, The Subway, or The Subways may refer to: Transportation * Subway, a term for underground rapid transit rail systems * Subway (underpass), a type of walkway that passes underneath an obstacle * Subway (George Bush Intercontin ...

line, start of construction of the second subway line, water and sewage treatment facilities, rental housing for the aged and the

Gardiner Expressway The Frederick G. Gardiner Expressway, commonly known as the Gardiner Expressway or simply the Gardiner, is a partially at grade and elevated municipal expressway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Running close to the shore of Lake Ontario, it extends ...

, named after Gardiner. Metro also amalgamated the various police forces into one in 1956. It was a period of rapid development of the suburban municipalities of Metro. The population of Metropolitan Toronto increased from one million to 1.6million by the time he left office. As a result of continued growth, the province reorganized Metro in 1967. The seven small towns and villages, which were no longer any denser than the surrounding areas, were merged into their surrounding municipalities. This left the City of Toronto and the five townships, which at this time were re-designated as

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

s (all but East York were later incorporated as cities). Long Branch, New Toronto, and Mimico were absorbed back into Etobicoke; Weston was absorbed into York; Leaside into East York; and Swansea and Forest Hill, into Toronto, resulting in an unusual final situation where none of the municipalities outside the city were ever entities founded as distinct historic urban settlements in their own right. The reorganized Metropolitan Toronto adopted a flag and decal using a symbol of six rings representing the six municipalities.

Development pattern

Development in Metro Toronto generally unfurled outward smoothly from the City of Toronto into the surrounding boroughs with little leapfrogging, giving it the growth continuum of a single city. For example, most of the areas of the small inner boroughs of York and East York, were in effect, extensions of

inner city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...

Toronto and gradually transitioned into the more typical suburban areas of the outer municipalities (which also had such inner-city areas where they bordered Toronto). Given that none of the boroughs originated as distinct settlements, they did not have their own downtowns. To give themselves an identity distinct from the City of Toronto (which was deemed particularly important after being reincorporated as cities), North York and Scarborough built planned city centres:

North York City Centre North York City Centre is a central business district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in the administrative district of North York. It is located along Yonge Street, between just south of Sheppard Avenue northward to Finch Avenue with its focus aroun ...

and

Scarborough City Centre Scarborough City Centre is a commercial district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was the central business district for the former city of Scarborough, which amalgamated with Toronto in 1998. Scarborough City Centre remains one of the central bu ...

respectively. This pattern was in contrast to other metropolitan areas like Hamilton-Wentworth, where suburbs such as Stoney Creek had historic cores and whose inner areas were well separated from inner-city

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilto ...

. As the seats on Metro Council were reapportioned according to population, the council was now dominated by the suburban majority; but it continued to address suburban and inner city issues in equal measure.

Amalgamation

In the 1995 provincial election, PCO leader

Mike Harris Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a Canadian retired politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. During his time ...

campaigned on reducing the level of government in Ontario as part of his

Common Sense Revolution The phrase Common Sense Revolution (CSR) has been used as a political slogan to describe conservative platforms with a main goal of reducing taxes while balancing the budget by reducing the size and role of government. It has been used in places ...

platform, and promised to examine Metropolitan Toronto with an eye to eliminating it. However, in the end the Harris government announced what they saw as a superior cost-saving plan. The six municipalities of Metro Toronto would be

amalgamated Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan ama ...

into a single-tier city of Toronto. This was a major break from the past, which had seen the core simply annex suburbs. Similar amalgamations were planned for other parts of Ontario, such as

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

and

. The announcement touched off vociferous public objections to what the media termed the "

megacity A megacity is a very large city, typically with a population of more than 10 million people. Precise definitions vary: the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs in its 2018 "World Urbanization Prospects" report counted urban ...

" plan. In March 1997 a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a Representative democr ...

in all six municipalities produced a vote of more than 3:1 against amalgamation. However, municipal governments in Canada are creatures of the provincial governments, and referendums have little to no legal effect. The Harris government could thus legally ignore the results of the referendum, and did so in April when it tabled the ''

City of Toronto Act The ''City of Toronto Act'' is the name of a series of different acts of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario that have governed the organization and political powers of the city since Toronto's original incorporation as a city in 1834. ''Incorpo ...

''. Both

opposition parties Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term '' government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ...

held a filibuster in the provincial legislature, proposing more than 12,000 amendments that allowed residents on streets of the proposed megacity take part in public hearings on the merger and adding historical designations to the streets. This only delayed the bill's inevitable passage, given the PCO's majority. The amalgamation would take place effective January 1, 1998, at which time the new City of Toronto (legal successor of

Old Toronto Old Toronto is that part of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that corresponds to the original City of Toronto which existed from 1834 to 1998. It was first incorporated as a city in 1834, after being known as the town of York, and being part of York Co ...

) came into existence.

Political structure

Originally, members of the Metropolitan Toronto Council also sat on their respective lower-tier councils; they were not directly elected to the upper-tier council, and because Toronto councillors often voted in a bloc, inner-city issues tended to dominate. From its inception in 1953 until the 1966 municipal election, Metropolitan Toronto Council consisted of the mayor of Toronto, two members of the Toronto Board of Control (the top two finishers of the four in municipal election) and one mayor or reeve from each of the 12 suburbs, and was presided over by the Metro chairman who did not have a seat."Etobicoke adds new mayor's face to Metro Council: Metro Council will be more alert to public opinion", Baker, Alden. ''The Globe and Mail'' (1936–2016); Toronto, Ont. oronto, Ontecember 6, 1966: 37. With the 1966 election, as the result of the reorganization of the 13 municipalities into the City of Toronto and five

boroughs A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

, representation on Metropolitan Toronto Council also changed and the body was expanded from 22 to 32 seats, with greater representation from the suburbs which now had 20 out of 32 seats on the body – up from 11 out of 22 with seats roughly allocated according to population. The distribution of seats was as follows. Toronto (12), North York (6), Scarborough (5), Etobicoke (4), York (3), East York (2). The new Metro Council was made up of the mayor of Toronto, two of the four members of the Toronto Board of Control, senior aldermen from the nine wards of the City of Toronto, the mayor of Scarborough and the four members of Scarborough's Board of Control, the mayor of Etobicoke and three of the four members of Etobicoke's Board of Control (the top three in terms of votes), the mayor of York and its two Controllers, the mayor of East York and one alderman, selected by East York council, the mayor of North York, all four members of North York's Board of Control, and one alderman selected by North York's council. After the Toronto Board of Control was abolished with the 1969 Toronto municipal election, Toronto's contingent on Metro Council was made up of the mayor of Toronto and 11 senior aldermen – with the nine previous city wards being redrawn into 11 wards. In the City of Toronto the person who achieved the greatest number of votes in a ward was named the senior alderman. The person with the second most votes was the junior alderman. Both aldermen sat on the Toronto City Council, but only the senior alderman sat on Metro Council. With the

1985 Toronto municipal election The 1985 Toronto municipal election was held to elect members of municipal councils, school boards, and hydro commissions in the six municipalities that made up Metropolitan Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The election was held on November 12, 1985. To ...

the Metro Councillor and City Councillor in the City of Toronto were elected separately though from the same ward. The Metro Councillors still sat on both the Toronto and Metro Council, however. The suburbs retained the status quo and still did not have direct elections to Metro. The Province of Ontario changed this arrangement with the 1988 municipal election, requiring direct elections to Metro Council from all of Metro's municipalities and severing the links between the two tiers. The suburban boards of control were abolished and Metro Councillors were elected from new Metro Wards, which were larger than the city and borough wards. Now only the mayors of the six member municipalities sat on both the upper-tier and lower-tier councils.

Metro chairman

The first chairman of Metropolitan Toronto, Fred Gardiner, was appointed by the province; subsequent chairmen were elected by Metro Council itself. The Metro chairman was, for many years, an ex-officio member of the council without having to be elected to Metro Council by constituents as either a local mayor,

controller Controller may refer to: Occupations * Controller or financial controller, or in government accounting comptroller, a senior accounting position * Controller, someone who performs agent handling in espionage * Air traffic controller, a person w ...

, alderman or councillor. Beginning in 1988, the position of chairman was chosen by council members from amongst its own members (excluding mayors who could vote for Metro councillors but could no longer run for the position). As usual in Ontario municipalities, these councils were

non-partisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers s ...

, although in later years some councillors (and candidates) did identify themselves explicitly as members of particular political parties. Metro councillors were elected by plurality.

List of Metro chairmen

From the inception of Metro Toronto until amalgamation, there were six chairmen altogether: * Fred Gardiner (1953–1962) – former Reeve of Forest Hill * William R. Allen (1962–1969) – former member of the Board of Control for the

. * Albert Campbell (1969–1973) – former mayor of Scarborough *

Paul Godfrey Paul Victor Godfrey, CM, OOnt (born January 1939) is a businessman and former Canadian politician. During his career, Godfrey was a North York alderman, Chairman of Metro Toronto, President of the ''Toronto Sun'' and head of the Toronto Blue ...

(1973–1984) – former alderman and Metro Councillor for the Borough of

* Dennis Flynn (1984–1987) – former mayor of

Alan Tonks Alan Tonks (born April 2, 1943) is a former Canadian politician. He was the Liberal MP for the federal riding of York South—Weston in Toronto from 2000 to 2011, and was the final Metro Toronto Chairman before the amalgamation of Metro Toront ...

(1987–1997) – Metro Councillor from and former mayor of the

City of York The City of York is a unitary authority area with city status in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. The district's main settlement is York, and it extends to the surrounding area including the town of Haxby and the villages of ...

Wards

Metro Toronto wards established in 1988 were given names that contained the number of the ward, name of municipality and the name of the local communities:

East York

* Metro Toronto Ward 1 – East York

Etobicoke

* Metro Toronto Ward 2 – Lakeshore-Queensway * Metro Toronto Ward 3 – Kingsway-Humber * Metro Toronto Ward 4 – Markland Centennial * Metro Toronto Ward 5 – Rexdale-Thistletown

North York

* Metro Toronto Ward 6 – North York Humber * Metro Toronto Ward 7 – Black Creek * Metro Toronto Ward 8 – North York Spadina * Metro Toronto Ward 9 – North York Centre South * Metro Toronto Ward 10 – North York Centre * Metro Toronto Ward 11 – Don Parkway * Metro Toronto Ward 12 – Seneca Heights

Scarborough

* Metro Toronto Ward 13 – Scarborough Bluffs * Metro Toronto Ward 14 – Scarborough Wexford * Metro Toronto Ward 15 – Scarborough City Centre * Metro Toronto Ward 16 – Scarborough Highland Creek * Metro Toronto Ward 17 – Scarborough Agincourt * Metro Toronto Ward 18 – Scarborough Malvern

Toronto

* Metro Toronto Ward 19 – High Park * Metro Toronto Ward 20 – Trinity-Spadina * Metro Toronto Ward 21 – Davenport * Metro Toronto Ward 22 – North Toronto * Metro Toronto Ward 23 – Midtown * Metro Toronto Ward 24 – Downtown * Metro Toronto Ward 25 – Don River * Metro Toronto Ward 26 – East Toronto

York

* Metro Toronto Ward 27 – York Humber * Metro Toronto Ward 28 – York Eglinton

City Hall and Metro Hall

At its inception in 1953, Metro was headquartered at a six-floor building at 67 Adelaide Street East (now home to Adelaide Resource Centre for Women). When the new

Toronto City Hall The Toronto City Hall, or New City Hall, is the seat of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the city's most distinctive landmarks. Designed by Viljo Revell and engineered by Hannskarl Bandel, the building opened ...

opened in 1965, one of its twin towers was intended for Metro Toronto offices and the other for the City of Toronto; the two councils shared the central Council Chamber. Eventually this space proved inadequate and committee facilities and councillors' offices were relocated to an office tower at the southwest corner of Bay and Richmond Street (390

Bay Street Bay Street is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Canada's financial services industry since succeeding Montreal's St. James ...

), across from City Hall; Metro Council continued to meet in the City Hall council chamber. Finally, in 1992, the Metro government moved out of Toronto City Hall altogether and into a newly constructed Metro Hall at 55 John Street, which was designed by Brisbin Brook Beynon Architects (BBB Architects). The amalgamated council chose to meet at City Hall, though it temporarily met at Metro Hall while City Hall was retrofitted for the enlarged council. Metro Hall continues to be used as office space by the City of Toronto.

Services

The following is a list of services that were funded and provided by the Metro government: * Economic Development Division * Metro Toronto Welfare and Social Services (Welfare, homes for the aged, children's services) * Metro Toronto Police (since renamed

Toronto Police Service The Toronto Police Service (TPS) is a municipal police force in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the primary agency responsible for providing law enforcement and policing services in Toronto. Established in 1834, it was the first local police ser ...

and retains Metro Toronto's coat of arms in its logo) *

Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the public transport agency that operates bus, subway, streetcar, and paratransit services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, some of which run into the Peel Region and York Region. It is the oldest and larges ...

* Metro Toronto Parks and Property (Regional parks including the

Toronto Islands The Toronto Islands are a chain of 15 small islands in Lake Ontario, south of mainland Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the only group of islands in the western part of Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands are located just offshore from the ...

, waterfront park and valley park systems) * Metro Toronto Planning (

Regional planning Regional planning deals with the efficient placement of land-use activities, infrastructure, and settlement growth across a larger area of land than an individual city or town. Regional planning is related to urban planning as it relates land ...

) * Metro Toronto Treasury * Metro Toronto Clerk * Metro Toronto Legal * Metro Toronto Personnel *

Metro Toronto Roads and Traffic Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban ...

(now

Toronto Transportation Toronto Transportation Services is the division of the City of Toronto which manages transport infrastructure within public rights of way in Toronto. With an operating budget of approximately $436.4 million in 2022 and 1,400 staff, the division m ...

) * Metro Toronto Ambulance (renamed Toronto Ambulance Service (TAS) then later Toronto EMS) *

Metro Toronto Works Metro Toronto Works was a department within the former Regional Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. The department was responsible for a variety of services: * Water filtration plants providing water to all of Metro Toronto * Sewage treatment ...

(

Sewage treatment Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding en ...

water filtration A water filter removes impurities by lowering contamination of water using a fine physical barrier, a chemical process, or a biological process. Filters cleanse water to different extents, for purposes such as: providing agricultural irrigation ...

and distribution; now split into

Toronto Water Toronto Water is the municipal division of the City of Toronto under Infrastructure and Development Services responsible for the water supply network, and stormwater and wastewater management in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, as well as parts of Peel ...

and

Toronto Solid Waste Management Toronto Solid Waste Management is the municipal service that handles the transfer and disposal of garbage as well as the processing and sale of recyclable materials collected through the blue box program in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It also coordi ...

) *

solid waste Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste, ...

disposal (but not collection, which was a lower-tier responsibility) * Social services, hostels, public housing, children's services:

Metro Toronto Community Services Metro Toronto Community Services was a department within the former Regional Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. The department was responsible for a variety of community-related services not provided by the local municipalities: * social ser ...

Metro Toronto Hostel Services Division Metro Toronto Hostel Services was a department within the former Regional Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. It was responsible for providing housing and shelters for homeless in Metro Toronto not run by non-profit organizations. It was an ...

, and Metro Toronto Housing Authority (now

Toronto Community Housing Corporation Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) is the public housing agency in Toronto, Ontario. A municipal corporation of the City of Toronto, TCHC provides approximately 60,000 units of housing to an estimated 165,000 residents, making it is the ...

) * The Metro Toronto Library (now

Toronto Public Library Toronto Public Library (TPL) (french: Bibliothèque publique de Toronto) is a public library system in Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest public library system in Canada, and in 2008 had averaged a higher circulation per capita than any other pub ...

), which directly operated the Metro Toronto Reference Library and provided coordination between the municipal public libraries within Metro * Metro Toronto Audit *

Metropolitan Toronto School Board Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a ty ...

consisted of six public secular school boards and one French entity:

, Scarborough,

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 anch ...

and the French Language Section. *

Metropolitan Separate School Board The Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB, known as English-language Separate District School Board No. 40 prior to 1999) is an English-language public-separate school board for Toronto, Ontario, Canada, headquartered in North Yo ...

operated English-language public separate schools and Les Conseil des écoles catholiques du Grand Toronto operated seven French-language Catholic schools. In addition, the following agencies were Metro government agencies: * Metro Toronto Zoo (now

Toronto Zoo The Toronto Zoo is a zoo located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Encompassing , the Toronto Zoo is the largest zoo in Canada. It is divided into seven zoogeographic regions: Indo-Malaya, Africa, Americas, Tundra Trek, Australasia, Eurasia, and the ...

) * Meridian Hall (formerly the O'Keefe Centre and the Hummingbird Centre)"Sony Centre for the Performing Arts"
''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. *

Exhibition Place Exhibition Place is a publicly owned mixed-use district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located by the shoreline of Lake Ontario, just west of downtown. The site includes exhibit, trade, and banquet centres, theatre and music buildings, monuments ...

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* * (Repealed in 2000) * (revised 1988) {{coord, 43.7072, N, 79.3805, W, display=title Urban planning in Canada Populated places established in 1953 Populated places disestablished in 1998 1953 establishments in Ontario 1998 disestablishments in Ontario