Toronto: Evolving capital of Ontario

Abstract

Although Toronto is the capital of Ontario, the provincial government is a relatively small component in the diversified economic base of Canada's largest city. Yet, a nineteenth-century decision to move the legislative assembly from downtown to the University of Toronto's lands gave the government a prominent site in the framework of the city's urban design. The legislature now sits at the head of University Avenue in Queen's Park, the largest open space in the downtown area.