Toronto (Ontario Canada)

Toronto is a Lake Ontario cruise port and city in Canada's Ontario Province. By population (over 2,7 million, metro around 5,5 million) the city is ranked Canada's largest (followed by Montreal). Midway between Toronto and Montreal is Kingston ON (on Lake Ontario/St Lawrence Seaway).

The city is a major center for art (music, theatre, movie and TV productions) and culture (museums, galleries, festivals, entertainment and sports events, historic sites). Here are headquartered major Canadian TV networks and media, finance (Toronto Stock Exchange), large Canadian banks, multinational corporations. The city's economy is based on technology, finances, sciences, education, arts, design, fashion, food services, tourism.

Toronto is one of Canada's most popular tourism travel destinations. Data for 2017 showed that the city received 43,7 million tourists (including 10,4 million domestic and 2,97 million from the USA), who spent USD 8,84 billion. Among the best-known tourist attractions are 25 museums, including Royal Ontario Museum (country's largest, Bata Shoe Museum (shoes from around the world and different time periods), Hockey Hall of Fame, Aga Khan Museum, Ceramic Art Museum, Ukraine Museum, Police Museum, Textile Museum, Inuit Art Museum, Oral History Museum.

Toronto Zoo (Canada's largest) has over 5000 animals from about 500 different species. High Park Zoo is visited by 1+ million people every year. Ripley's Aquarium (downtown Toronto) is Canada's largest, consisting of 5.7 million liters of water. CN Tower is visited by nearly 2 million people annually. It also features many indoor attractions, including Glass Floor, Skypod, 360-degree restaurant, Edgewalk (full circle walking platform encircling tower's top, 1168 ft above the ground).

Major annual sporting events are Canadian Open (tennis tournament July-August), Honda Indy Toronto (car race), sports clubs (Granite Club, Royal Canadian Yacht Club, Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club, Argonaut Rowing Club, Toronto Lawn Tennis Club, Badminton and Racquet Club).

City's Financial District houses Canada's largest banks and brokerage firms, as well as Toronto Stock Exchange (ranked world's 7th-largest). In or near the city are headquartered Bell Media, Rogers Communications, Torstar, Magna International, Celestica, Manulife, Sun Life Financial, Hudson's Bay Company, large hotel and resort companies (including Four Seasons and Fairmont).

Via bus tours from Toronto are accessed the Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake (Ontario), Thousand Islands (Mille-Iles/St Lawrence River), Ottawa (Ontario), and Quebec (Montebello, Montreal, Quebec City). On small-ship and riverboat cruises, Niagara Falls are accessed via Port Colborne. The distance between Toronto and Niagara Falls is approx 130 km (80 mi / ~1,5 hours drive) via QEW highway (Queen Elizabeth Way).

Port Toronto

PortsToronto agency (formerly Toronto Harbour Commission) manages Port Toronto, as well as the international Billy Bishop Airport and Billy Bishop Aerodrome (serving floatplanes). Port Toronto (locode CATOR) includes two cargo terminals (berths 51 & 52), a Passenger Cruise Ship terminal, and the Outer Harbour Marina.

Toronto Harbour is sized 3,2x1,6 km (2x1 mi) and is a deepwater harbor waterway well sheltered by offshore islands. Port facilities include Marine Terminal 51, Warehouse 52, a 5 km (3 mi) long wharf area (serving bulk carriers), approx 560 m2 (6000 ft2) docking space (for general cargo ships), cruise ship terminal (International Marine Passenger Terminal).

Outer Harbour Marina (on Leslie Street Spit) provides direct access to Lake Ontario and Inner Harbour, and has boating capacity 636 slips. Toronto harbour's northeastern corner was redeveloped into East Bayfront (residential district).

As cruise port, Toronto had its ever-biggest season in 2019 (extended through October 22) when were handled 36 ship calls and ~12,000 tourists. 2019 was a record year for the seaport, with 20% increase in cargo vessels (213 ships, moved 2,297 million tonnes of cargo) and 112% increase in cruise vessels (36) over 2018.