Things to Know: in Toronto
Below are my accumulated experience from living in Toronto for 20+ years. As one of my friend, who grew up in New York State and lived in NYC for majority of his adult years, said “I’m beginning to see how great Toronto is after watching Suits and Kim’s Convenience Store”. I have not watched Kim’s Convenience Store, but I walk past where they film Pearson, Spector, Litt’s scene every day (although not sure what the final firm’s name after so many name changes).
Like the previous Things to Know about Paris edition, I have split this into: basics, culture, and how to stay clear of trouble.
Basics
Toronto, Canada is population dense in Canada but compare to most first world cities it is very sparse. Most people live in houses and most people commute via car (unless you live in the downtown area).
There is Toronto and Greater Toronto Area (GTA) are the surrounding cities (different mayor, police, school boards etc.), where most of the people live in the suburbs.
One big difference between Toronto and most cities I’ve been to, 20 km is considered a short distance (whereas anywhere else in the world wouldn’t agree). I used to commute 50 km one-way to the office everyday, and it was not considered “that bad”. Generally a long trip would be 6 to 10 hr on the highway (or freeway). The concept of space is very different.
Another example is for example local yoga studio, my studio was 30 min walk away and in many other city that would be considered far but to most people it considered close
As you may have guessed, Toronto is cold. Generally, there is very short shoulder seasons (Spring/ Autumn) and about 8 months of winter and 4 months of summer. One example is after winter (mid-April), if the weather gets to the double digits (10 degrees celsius and up) some people would start wearing shorts and t-shirts outside.
Canada is a bilingual country, but most people from Toronto speaks English. Everything legal or formal would have French as well.
Culture
Don’t pronounce the second T in Toronto, and you will be recognized immediately as a Torontonian by another Torontonian
It is one of the most multi-cultural cities in the world, and it is not a gimmick. The choice of food variety is more than anywhere I ever been to, here is a general list of all the neighbourhood and to find culinary excellence in those neighbourhoods:
Chinese: Chinatown, North York, Markham, Scarborough
Korean: K-Town, Yonge and Eglington
South Asian: Mississauga, Brampton
Greek: Greek town
Italian: Little Italy
Eastern European: Roncesvalles
Like any Canadian city, the words that are uttered the most are “thank you” and “sorry”.
We are also well known for our culture and entertainment. We have Canada’s only NBA team (NBA Champions 2019!) and MLB team (baseball). We are also typically one of the only Canadian location for musician’s world tours. There are a few artists that came out of Canadian and Toronto music scene: Alessia Cara, The Weeknd, Shawn Mendes, and of course Drake
The country is obsessed with hockey. Unfortunately, Toronto’s Maple Leafs have not won a NFL championship since the 60s.
Things to help you stay clear of trouble
Toronto only has two subway (or metro) lines, one that is a U shape and one goes across the U at some point. For most people who live outside the city, you have to take the train (which runs in a limited schedule everyday) into the city. There is the Pearson Express from the Airport to downtown Union Station which was finally finished a few years ago (I was very excited when this was built).
BlogTO is a great resource for finding things to do in the city
Tip at restaurants, typically 15% to 20% AFTER tax (13%). Generally, the staff in restaurants are not paid well but works really hard, therefore most people have no problem giving a tip. If you pay less than that it would be considered you had a really bad time at the restaurant.
We are not Americans - you would be surprised how often people tell me how different they find us from Americans.