The Joseph Shepard Building (), also known as the Joseph Shepard Federal Building, Government of Canada Building, or simply 4900 Yonge, is an office complex used by the

federal government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes ministers of the Crown ( ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. Located on

Yonge Street Yonge Street ( ') is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Great Lakes#Geography, Upper Great Lakes. Ontario's first colonial administrator, ...

in the

North York North York is a former township and city and is now one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the northern area of Toronto, centred around Yonge Street, north of Ontario Highway 401. It is bounded by ...

neighbourhood of

Lansing Lansing () is the capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. It is the sixth-most populous city in Michigan with a popul ...

, the building lies within

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 ...

. Built in 1977 as a medium-sized, planned consolidation project to service residents of the former

Metropolitan Toronto The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, whic ...

districts of North York and

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district and former city within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west end, Etobicoke is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the east by the Humber River (Ontario), Humber River, on the ...

, the building houses offices for passport services,

Service Canada Service Canada is the program operated by Employment and Social Development Canada to serve as a single-point of access for the Government of Canada's largest and most heavily used programs, such as the social insurance number, the Employment I ...

Employment and Social Development Canada Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC; ; )''Employment and Social Development Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Employment and Social Development (). is a department of ...

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC; )Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program since 2015; the legal title is Department of Citizenship and Immigration (). is the Ministry ...

, Shared Services Canada and

Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

recruiting centre in addition to other federal departments. The building was designed by

Macy DuBois Gazell Macy DuBois Master of Architecture, M. Arch, Professional Engineer, P. Eng, PP-Fellow, FRoyal Architectural Institute of Canada, RAIC, PP-Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, RCA, FAIA (hon) (20 December 1929 – 9 November 2007) was an Americ ...

and is a Classified Federal Heritage Building. The building is named for Joseph Shepard, an early settler in North York whom acquired of land nearby and also the namesake of

Sheppard Avenue Sheppard Avenue is an east–west principal arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The street has two distinct branches near its eastern end, with the original route being a collector road leading to Pickering, Ontario, Pickering via a turno ...

. 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 North York City Centre. The building is within walking distance to Sheppard–Yonge subway station and short distance from

Ontario Highway 401 King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one, is a Controlled-access highway, controlled-access 400-series hig ...

. The building is one of two buildings used by the federal government in North York, the other being the

Environment and Climate Change Canada Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC; )Environment and Climate Change Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of the Environment (). is the department of the Government of Canada res ...

Building near York University Heights. Other federal facilities in Toronto include the

Dominion Public Building The Dominion Public Building is a five-storey Beaux-Arts neoclassical office building built between 1926 and 1935 for the government of Canada at southeast corner of Front and Bay streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was designe ...

, the Canada Centre Building, and the

Health Canada Health Canada (HC; )Health Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Health (). is the Structure of the Canadian federal government#Departments, with subsidiary units, department of the Gove ...

Building; the latter two buildings located in the former city of

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

Stabbing

On March 14, 2016, two members of the

recruiting centre were stabbed by someone carrying a knife.

References

External links

Joseph Sheppard Federal Building
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310203436/http://www.urbandb.com/canada/ontario/toronto/joseph_sheppard_fed_bldg/ , date=2007-03-10 1977 establishments in Ontario Classified Federal Heritage Building Government buildings completed in 1977 Modernist architecture in Canada North York Office buildings in Toronto fr:Édifice du gouvernement du Canada à North York Federal government buildings in Ontario