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Metropolitan area in Southern Ontario, Canada
Photo: Sikander Iqbal, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is centred on the city of Toronto, in Ontario's Golden Horseshoe. It is generally considered to extend west to the border with Hamilton, east to the border of Port Hope, and north to the shore of Lake Simcoe. It is by far Canada's most populous urban/suburban area, with 6.7 million inhabitants (2021); nearly half of Ontario's population. The GTA is a commercial, distribution, financial and economic centre, and is the second largest financial centre in North America.
the most populous city in Canada, the centre of the country's financial sector, and an energetic, diverse destination for travellers
the eastern suburbs, and a growing technology hub
the very wealthy far western suburbs, but with a lot of land still in agricultural use
the populous near western suburbs with a combined population of 1.5 million, around the same population as the whole Edmonton metro area.
the northern suburbs, with some interesting heritage districts, and ethnic enclaves
By bus
By train
Trains serving the Greater Toronto generally use Toronto Union station as their terminus station.
By car
The entire region is connected to the rest of Ontario by modern highways and major roads. Highway 401 connects Windsor with Quebec, through Halton, Peel, Toronto and Durham.
By car
While it is expensive to park in downtown Toronto, driving remains convenient for many areas of the GTA (or necessary in the outskirts of GTA). Pay attention that Highway 407 is tolled.
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founded around a World War II munitions factory, it grew into a bedroom community for Toronto after the war
one of Canada's fastest-growing cities with a significant Sikh and Indian population
a pleasant, wealthy suburban community that is home to the amazing Royal Botanical Gardens
a growing suburban community and technology centre with several charming heritage districts, and a significant Chinese population
Toronto's largest suburb and Canada's sixth largest city
its Main Street Heritage Conservation District includes several historic sites
an affluent suburb of Toronto whose downtown has a quaint, small-town atmosphere
the home of a massive auto manufacturing facility that has been gradually closing down through the 2010s, it is trying to transition to an education and health sciences hub.
the city bordering Toronto, it is also home to the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station
a growing suburban town with a significant Chinese and Persian population.
famous as the home of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, with a significant Italian and Russian-Jewish population.
Whitby, a suburb directly west of Oshawa, is in the heart of the Durham region, 48 km (30 mi) east of Toronto, in the eastern part of the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario. It has a population of 140,000 people (2021).
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