April 2024

BUS TOUR

Skyscrapers and Shorelines

$107.83 FEE ($100.00 ticket + $7.83 Eventbrite transaction fee)

Start: Victory Building (80 Richmond Street West)

We're launching our programming season with a great tour exploring the architectural and natural heritage of Toronto's waterfront. Spots are limited for this full-day bus tour where participants will discover the rich history and design behind the city’s changing skylines and Toronto’s evolving relationship with its rivers and waterways.

Don't miss this in-depth and immersive experience, as participants not only visit great locations like the site of the Don Mouth Naturalization and Port Lands Flood Protection project, but you'll also engage with the architects, craftspersons, and planners involved in some of the projects featured.

PLAQUES

Marching ahead with new plaques

Spring is here, and adding to the changing city streetscapes are several new plaques. Among the recent installations to visit are Southam Press Building at 19 Duncan Street and St. James Parish House (more on that plaque below).

A new plaque on the Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women, installed at 101 Jefferson Avenue, highlights the program's commitment to grow the diversity of the subjects covered. It shares the difficult and painful history of Canada's first female-only prison, which operated from 1880 to 1969. The appalling treatment of prisoners had lasting effects on those held there, their families, and their descendants. In 1964, a Grand Jury report revealed negligence, abuse, and rundown facilities. The former location of the institution, the site of the plaque, was mostly cleared in 1969.

EMERGING HISTORIANS

Grow your career with us!

We are currently hiring two roles. Working within our Equity Heritage Initiative, join our team as the Operations Assistant. This 12-month position will work across the organization and have a focus on increasing the accessibility and diversity of Heritage Toronto’s volunteer program. This posting closes April 17.

We are also hiring a Photographer contract with great professional development opportunities. The deadline for applications is April 19.

EXPLORE

The Toronto Caravan: A Festival for Everyone

Learn about Toronto's cultural diversity with a new digital story on the 35-year history of the Metro Toronto International Caravan Festival. Created in the 1960s by Zena and Leon Kossar, during a population increase driven largely by immigration, the Caravan Festival reflected and amplified Toronto's status as one of the most multicultural cities in the world.

Image Credits

Tour group, Guild Park, June 8, 2019. Image by Ali Mosleh.

Mercer Reformatory, November 1, 1948. Courtesy of the Toronto Public Library.

St. James Cathedral Centre, Church Street, March 2024.

Emerging Historians, Heritage Toronto Awards, October 30, 2023. Image by Ashley Duffus.

Festival Pageant at The Metro Toronto International Caravan, June 2002. Image by Terry Jefford. Courtesy of City of Toronto Archives.