June 2025

TOURS

Explore new stories and see Toronto differently

Our 2025 Tours season starts today. This year, we explore our city's identity, grounded in Indigenous roots, and strengthened by waves of newcomers. Gathering visitors and residents together, our Tours program highlights what sets Toronto apart: from the shifting shoreline to midtown storefronts and businesses, from rebellion landmarks to aviation milestones.

Why join us? On our tours, you’ll connect with the city, its stories, and the people who care about them. You’ll hear from new voices with different perspectives and see familiar places in an entirely new light.

Running from June to October, this year's program features 60 paid and free experiences, including walks, community events, bike and bus tours. Spots are limited and registration is required, so don’t wait too long!

Canary District: Movement and Migration

NEW FOR 2025

$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)

Start: 409 Front Street East (southeast corner of Cherry Street and Front Street East)

SOLD OUT

How have movement and migration shaped the Canary District? Hear stories of connection and transition as we discover this developing community, once a bustling hub for Irish immigrants, railway workers, and travelers. On this walk, you'll visit the famous Palace Street School turned Cherry Hotel turned Canary Restaurant and other area landmarks.

Ghost Signs of Toronto

NEW FOR 2025



$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)

Start: Sorauren Avenue Fieldhouse (50 Wabash Avenue)

Become a ghost sign hunter! Join us for a guided adventure through Toronto’s fading walls. These ghost signs offer a glimpse into early Canadian marketing, where typography, imagery, and emotion helped build a national identity one brushstroke at a time. Learn how to spot these fading relics, many of which are tucked into alleys or slowly vanishing under layers of development.

Rivers, Cabbages, and Doctors

NEW FOR 2025

$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)

Start: Riverdale Park West (corner of Winchester and Sumach Streets)

Cabbagetown’s tree-lined streets and stately homes may steal the spotlight, but its history tells a broader story of immigration, public health, and civic life in Toronto. Join us as we explore how the neighbourhood helped shape the city’s social landscape. Discover early institutions, stories of newcomers drawn by work opportunities, and Cabbagetown’s contributions to the growth of the city.

Making Change at Honest Ed's

$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)

Start: Honest Ed’s original location (581 Bloor Street West)

Honest Ed’s once lit up the corner of Bloor and Bathurst, but the neighbourhood’s history runs even deeper. On this walk, we’ll uncover the neighbourhood’s legacy as a hub of Black community, creativity, and resilience. Visit the site of Beverly Mascoll’s pioneering Black hair care business, the former offices of Contrast newspaper, and Honest Ed’s itself—a space that welcomed newcomers and helped shape a changing Toronto.

Institutional Brutalism at U Of T

NEW FOR 2025

$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)

Start: Spadina Subway Station (West side of Spadina Road)

Love it or loathe it, Brutalism makes a statement. Join urban photographer Vik Pahwa for a tour of the University of Toronto’s boldest institutional buildings—designed in the divisive, often misunderstood style of Brutalism. Together, we’ll explore how these raw concrete forms became lightning rods for criticism and debate.

Baby Point Uncovered

$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)

Start: Étienne Brûlé Park (10 Catherine Avenue)

Step back into the layered history of Baby Point, where traces of Indigenous presence shape the area. Led by archaeologists, this tour follows a section of the ancient Carrying Place trail along the Humber River and visits the former site of Teiaiagon, a 17th-century Seneca village. Learn how colonization reshaped the land and how a garden-style suburb rose in its place.

Resistance and Reconciliation

NEW FOR 2025

$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)

Start: David Crombie Park Basketball Court (115 Scadding Avenue)

June is Indigenous History Month, a time to honour the histories, experiences, and ongoing contributions of Indigenous peoples in Toronto. On this walk, learn about life before colonization, the impacts of the Indian Act and residential schools, how Indigenous art and storytelling became a form of resistance, and the enduring strength of Indigenous activism. 

It Takes a Village

$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)

Start: Barbara Hall Park (519 Church Street)

This Pride Month, join us to explore the powerful legacy of Toronto’s 2SLGBTQ+ community. From the resilience shown during the Bathhouse Raids and the AIDS epidemic to the joy and connection found at spaces like the Buddies in Bad Times Theatre and the St. Charles Tavern, this tour traces the landmarks of both struggle and celebration.

Being Black on King

$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)

Start: Inglenook Community School (19 Sackville Street)

Discover the Black history that spans King Street East—from the first Underground Railroad site excavated in Canada, to one of Toronto’s first soul food restaurants, where the name, design, and atmosphere reflected the legacy of slavery in both the U.S. and Canada. Along the way, celebrate the community leaders who risked everything in the pursuit of freedom and justice.

Creating Toronto

$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)

Start: 149 King Street East (south end of Market Lane Park)

Take a journey through Toronto’s earliest days in the historic St. Lawrence Neighbourhood—once the heart of the old Town of York. On this walk, we’ll connect present-day streetscapes with stories of early settlers, commerce, and governance. Discover how this area laid the groundwork for the modern city, and how its legacy lives on in the architecture and layout of Toronto as we know it today.

Flying with Billy Bishop

$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)

Start: Southwest corner of Queens Quay West and Eireann Quay (659R Queens Quay West)

Buckle up, because we’re cleared for takeoff! Soar through 85 years of sky-high stories at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. On this tour, we’ll walk down memory lane and explore how the island airport connected Toronto to the skies, supported military efforts, and carved out a unique place in the city’s history. No boarding pass required!

Visualizing the Junction Triangle: Our Corner of the World

$18.37 FEE ($16.00 ticket + $2.37 Eventbrite transaction fee)

Start: Perth Square Park (350 Perth Avenue)

Join us as we walk through the Junction Triangle—where industrial roots, rapid gentrification, and rich local histories collide. Learn about the area's churches, boxing legends, and infamous infrastructure. Afterwards, step into the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto for a guided tour of Margaux Williamson’s Shoes, books, hands, buildings, and cars, an exhibit influenced by Toronto’s scenery and city life.

How the Americans Ruined Dinner

NEW FOR 2025

$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)

Start: Fort Rouillé Monument

What happens when war crashes a dinner party? Walk with us as we explore historic American aggression through the War of 1812. In 1813, American troops stormed the Town of York. Discover the reasons for the invasion, the state of York’s defences, and why it ruined Elizabeth Powell’s dinner party. We’ll also take a look at how the American occupation helped shape early Toronto’s development and identity.

Taste the Culture

NEW FOR 2025

$116.00 FEE($100.00 ticket + $16.00 Eventbrite transaction fee)

Start: Toronto Bicycle Tours (124 St. Patrick Street)

Hop on a bike with Toronto Bicycle Tours for this cycling and culinary adventure exploring the city’s rich and vibrant food scene. Ride through Toronto’s tastiest stories, from the modern spice trade to hidden gems in local kitchens. You’ll pedal, taste, and connect with the city in a whole new way. Appetite required.

Greektown on the Danforth

$9.85 FEE($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)

Start: Pape Subway Station (743 Pape Avenue)

Take a stroll through the heart of Toronto’s Greektown and discover the community spirit that built it. This tour explores the postwar roots of Toronto’s Greek community, from places of worship to family-run restaurants, and celebrates how traditions like Flaming Opa Cheese and festivals helped make the Danforth a lively cultural destination.

Big Stories in Little India

COMMUNITY EVENT

FREE

Location: Leslieville Farmers' Market (150 Greenwood Ave)

Gerrard Street East wasn’t always a hub of colour, flavour, and celebration. Once an industrial brickyard, this vibrant strip became home to Toronto’s South Asian community in the 1970s and 1980s. Join us for free walking tours and community stories at our tent at the Leslieville Farmers’ Market, and learn how Bollywood cinemas, spice shops, and cultural pride transformed this area into the iconic “Little India” we know today.

This year's tours are made possible by the generous support of our event sponsors and partners:

PLAQUES

Guild Park's Greek Theatre

FREE

Location: 201 Guildwood Pkwy, Scarborough, ON M1E, Canada

Join us and the Friends of Guild Park as we unveil a new plaque for the Guild Park’s Greek Theatre. Travel back in time to when Greek columns adorned the Bank of Toronto at King and Bay. Torn down to make way for the TD Centre, a modern masterpiece, these remnants soon found new life as fantastical architecture in the heart of nature. They now form the Greek Theatre, built in 1982, itself celebrated as the host of arts festivals, events, and film shoots!

HERITAGE TORONTO AWARDS

Nominations open!

DEADLINE: Sunday, July 13 | 11:59 PM

Nominations are now open for the 50th Annual Heritage Toronto Awards! This year, we’re celebrating five decades of championing the people, places, and projects that bring Toronto’s heritage to life.

Do you know a book or project that deserves the spotlight? Help us honour the storytellers, city-builders, and history-makers who make Toronto what it is. 

Submit your nomination in one of three categories: Book, Built Heritage, and Public History.

Image Credits

Big Stories in Little India tour, Greenwood Park, May 19, 2024. Image by Hammad Khalil.    

Former T. A. Lytle & Co. / Scythes and Co. Ltd. factory building, built 1908, March 20, 2021  

Participants at Riverdale Park, Cabbagetown tour, July 6, 2017. Image by Emily Macrae.

Riverdale Farm, Cabbagetown, circa 1980-1995. Courtesy of City of Toronto Archives. 

Markham Street, Mirvish Village, 1960s. Courtesy of the City of Toronto Archives.  

Exterior of John M. Kelly Library, University of Toronto, 2025. Image by Vik Pahwa.

Tour participants, Baby Point Uncovered, July 29, 2023. Image by Oscar Akamine. 

Tour participants, Indigenous Art & Nature, September 17, 2023. Image by Johnny Wu.  

Tour group, It Takes a Village, Church Street, August 6, 2022. Image by Ashley Duffus.

Tour participants at the Enoch Turner Schoolhouse, Being Black on King, July 22, 2023. Image by Johnny Wu. 

Creating Toronto Walking Tour, Cathedral Church of St. James, June 15, 2024.  

Tour participants, Flying with Billy Bishop, September 8, 2024. Image by Hammad Khalil.

Workers building the Bloor Street West Subway line, looking east of the Canadian Pacific Railway line in the Junction Triangle, July 29, 1925. Image by Alfred Pearson. Courtesy of the City of Toronto Archives.

Bird's-eye view of the Battle of York (1813) looking northeast, Town of York, circa 1914. Illustration by Owen Staples. Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.  

Cyclists on Pedalling the Parks tour, August 7, 2022. Image by Agnes Manivit.  

Tour participants, St. Irene Chrysovalantou Greek Orthodox Church, July 16, 2022. Image by Ashley Duffus.

Tour participants sample local cuisine from MotiMahal, Big Stories in Little India, May 19, 2024. Image by Hammad Khalil.

Remnants & Relics bus tour, September 22, 2019. Image by Herman Custodio  

Nick Green (playwright) accepting the Public History Award for Casey and Diana, October 28, 2024. Image by Herman Custodio.