Insight into what comprises the GTA, GREATER TORONTO AREA, including the History of the GTA, Geography, the Economy, Transportation, Air Travel, Demographics and Education.

The GTA is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in Canada, and welcomes approximately 80,000 new immigrants per year to its neighbourhoods.  People are attracted to the GTA , Greater Toronto Area, because of its safe communities, good education options, and strong economy.

Along with Toronto (prior to 1998, Metro Toronto), the following regional municipalities are included in describing the Greater Toronto Area:

• Regional Municipality of Durham
• Regional Municipality of Halton
• Regional Municipality of Peel
• Regional Municipality of York

The term GTA only came into formal use in the mid-1980s, after it was used in a widely discussed report on municipal governance restructuring in the region, later made official as a provincial planning area. In 2006, the term began to be supplanted in the field of spatial planning as provincial policy increasingly began to refer to either the GTHA (see below) or the still-broader "Greater Golden Horseshoe". The latter includes communities like Barrie, Guelph and the Niagara Region. The GTA continues, however, to be in official use elsewhere in the Government of Ontario, such as the Ministry of Finance.

The City of Hamilton, though possessing extensive ties with the City of Toronto and its suburbs, has been traditionally been regarded to be outside the GTA. Beginning in the late-2000s, the term Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) has been introduced by various public bodies, often in place of "GTA", reflecting the usual GTA plus the former Wentworth County. It has yet to enter colloquial usage. The population of this unofficial planning region is 6,539,700 as of 2008.

 History

The Greater Toronto Area was home to a number of First Nations groups who lived on the shore of Lake Ontario long before the first Europeans arrived in the region. At various times the Neutral, Seneca, Mohawk and Huron nations were living in the vicinity of the region. The Mississaugas arrived in the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century, driving out the occupying Iroquois. While it is unclear to who was the first European to reach the Toronto area, there is no question that it occurred in the 17th century.

The area would later become very crucial for its series of trails and water routes that led from northern and western Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Known as the "Toronto Passage", it followed the Humber River, as an important overland shortcut between Lake Ontario, Lake Simcoe and the upper Great Lakes. For this reason area became a hot spot for French fur traders. The French would later establish two trading forts, Magasin Royale in the 1720s, although abandoned within the decade and Fort Rouillé in the 1750s, which would later be burnt down and abandoned in 1759 by the French garrison, who were retreating from invading British forces.

A map of York County during the 1880s

The first large influx of European settlers to settle the region were the United Empire Loyalists arriving after the American Revolution, when various individuals petitioned the Crown for land in and around the Toronto area. In 1787, the British negotiated the purchase of more than a quarter million acres (1,000 km²) of land in the area of Toronto with the Mississaugas of New Credit.^[12] York County, would later be created by Governor John Graves Simcoe in 1792, which would at its largest size, comprise of all of what is now Halton Region, Toronto, Peel Region, York Region and parts of the current Durham Regional Municipality.^[13] The Town of York (present day Toronto) would later be attacked by American forces in the War of 1812 in what is now known as the Battle of York, in 1813.

In 1816, Wentworth County and Halton County were created from York County. York County would later serve as the setting for the beginnings of the Upper Canada Rebellion with William Lyon Mackenzie's armed march from Holland Landing towards York Township on Yonge Street, eventually leading up to the battle at Montgomery's Tavern. In 1851, Ontario County and Peel County were separated from York. In 1953, the portion of York County south of Steeles Avenue, a concession road and township boundary, was severed from the county and incorporated as the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto.^[18] With the concession of Metro Toronto, the offices of York County were moved from Toronto to Newmarket. The new Metropolitan government also held planning authority over the surrounding townships such as Vaughan, Markham, and Pickering, although these areas did not have representation on Metro Council.

Originally, the membership in Metropolitan Toronto included the Old City of Toronto and five townships: East York, Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough and York; as well as seven villages and towns, which became amalgamated into their surrounding townships in 1967. In 1971, the remaining areas of York County was replaced by the Ontario government with the Regional Municipality of York. In 1980, North York would be incorporated into a city, with York following suit in 1983 and Etobicoke and Scarborough in 1984, although still part of the Metropolitan Toronto Municipal Government. Eventually, the idea of boroughs and cities was discarded and Toronto, with the four other cities and the last remaining borough of East York, were amalgamated in 1998.

Geography

Rattlesnake Point near Milton.

The Greater Toronto Area covers a total area of 7,125 km² (2,751 sq mi). The region itself is bordered by Lake Ontario to the south, Kawartha lakes to the east, the Niagara Escarpment to the west, and Lake Simcoe to the north. The region itself creates a natural ecosystem known as the Greater Toronto Bioregion.

Vast parts of the region remain farmland and forests, making it one of the distinctive features of the geography of the GTA. Most of the urban areas in the GTA holds large urban forest. For the most part designated as parkland, the ravines are largely undeveloped. Rouge Park is also one of the largest nature park within a core of a metropolitan area. Much of these areas also constitute the Toronto ravine system, and a number of conservation areas in the region which are managed by Toronto and Region Conservation Authority.

In 2005, the Government of Ontario had also passed legislation to prevent urban development and sprawl on environmentally-sensitive land in the Greater Toronto Area, known as the Greenbelt, many of these areas including protected sections of the Oak Ridges Moraine, Rouge Park and the Niagara Escarpment. Nevertheless, low-density suburban developments continue to be built, some on or near ecologically sensitive and protected areas. The provincial government has recently attempted to address this issue through the "Places to Grow" legislation passed in 2005, which emphasizes higher-density growth in existing urban centres over the next 25 years.

 Economy

A worker at the Oakville Assembly installs a battery on a Ford Flex

The Greater Toronto Area is a commercial, distribution, financial and economic centre, being the third largest financial centre in North America. The economies of the municipalities in Greater Toronto themselves are largely intertwined with one another. The work force is made up of approximately 2.9 million people and more than 100,000 companies^[28] The Greater Toronto Area currently produces nearly 20% of the entire nation's GDP with $323 Billion, and from 1992 to 2002, has experienced an average GDP growth rate of 4.0% and a job creation rate of 2.4% (compared to the national average GDP growth rate of 3% and job creation rate of 1.6%). The Greater Toronto Area also is home to 40% of Canadian business headquarters. Currently, over 51% of the labour force in the Greater Toronto Area is employed in the service sector, with 19% in the manufacturing, 17% of the labour force employed in wholesale & retail trade, 8% of the labour force involved in transportation, communication &utilities, and 5% of the workforce is involved in construction. Despite the fact that the service industry makes up only 51% of Greater Toronto's workforce, over 72% of the region's GDP is generated by service industries.

The largest industry in the Greater Toronto Area would be the financial services in the province, accounting for an estimated 25% of the region's GDP.^[30] Notably, the five largest banks in Canada all have their operational headquarters located in Toronto's Financial District.Toronto is also where the headquarters of to the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Standard and Poor TSX Composite Index are located, with offices of the TSX Venture Exchange also located in Toronto. The TMX Group, the owners and operators of TSX Exchanges as well as the Montreal Exchange are also headquartered in Toronto. The TSX and the TSX Venture Exchange represent 3,369 companies, including more than half of the world’s publicly traded mining companies.

Markham had also attracted the highest concentration of high tech companies in Canada, and because of it, has positioned itself as Canada's High-Tech Capital. The Greater Toronto Area is currently the second largest automotive centre in North America (after Detroit). Currently, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler run six assembly plants in the area, with Honda and Toyota having assembly plants just outside of the GTA. General Motors, Ford, Honda, KIA, Mazda, Suzuki, Nissan, Volkswagen, Toyota, Hyundai, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, Subaru, Volvo, BMW, and Mitsubishi have chosen the Greater Toronto Area for their Canadian headquarters. Magna International, the world's most diversified car supplier, also has its headquarters located in Aurora. The entire automobile industry within the region accounts for roughly 10% of the region's GDP.

Transportation

Highway 401 serves as a major roadway in the Greater Toronto Area.

There are a number of public transportation operators within the Greater Toronto Area, providing services within their jurisdictions. While these operators are largely independent, provisions are being made to integrate them under Metrolinx, which manages transportation planning including public transport in both the GTA and Hamilton. GO Transit, which had recently merged with Metrolinx, is the Ontario's only intra-regional public transit service, linking the communities in the GTA and the cities of Hamilton. Implementation of a 'Presto card' by Metrolinx is currently under way, which would create a common means for all fare payments and allow for seamless connection between these and other transit operators.

A list of public transit operators in the GTA:

• Brampton Transit - Peel Region, Toronto, York Region
• Burlington Transit - Halton Region, City of Hamilton
• Durham Region Transit - Durham Region
• GO Transit - Greater Toronto Area, City of Hamilton
• Milton Transit - Town of Milton
• Mississauga Transit - Peel Region, Toronto
• Oakville Transit - Halton Region, Peel Region
• Toronto Transit Commission - Peel Region, Toronto, York Region
• York Region Transit - Peel Region, Toronto, York Region

The GTA also has the largest and busiest freeway network in Canada, consisting of the King's Highways and supplemented by municipal expressways. One of the most principal highways in the GTA, Highway 401 is also longest in Ontario and is also one of the busiest highways in the world.. Notably, segments of the highway passing through the GTA holds the distinction of being the North America's busiest highway. The GTA is laced with a number of limited-access highways, including the 400-series highways. These highways would include:

 Air travel

The Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga serves as the primary airport for the GTA.

The main airport serving the GTA is Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, which is Canada's largest and busiest airport. Toronto Pearson International Airport is operated by the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA), and could potentially be asked to help observe in the operations of the other airports in the area, but has yet to be asked to do so. John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport in nearby Hamilton also handles international flights handles some discount flights and charters and acts as an alternate to Pearson. Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport on Toronto Island is used for civil aviation, air ambulance traffic and regional scheduled airlines. YTO is a multiple airport code that works for Pearson, City Centre, and Toronto/Buttonville Municipal Airport (located in Markham). There are also a number of smaller airports which are scattered throughout the GTA.

The Greater Toronto Airport Authority has also placed a tentative proposal to develop a new airport in Pickering (which also spills over into Markham and Uxbridge). As the GTAA predicts that Toronto Pearson would be unable to indefinitely be the sole provider for the bulk of Toronto's commercial air traffic in the next 20 years, the believe that a new airport in Pickering would address the need for a regional/reliever airport east of Toronto Pearson, as well as complement the airport in Hamilton, Ontario. The GTAA also stated that the new airport would create more opportunities for economic development in the eastern region of the Greater Toronto Area.

Demographics

According to the latest census data from 2006 from Statistics Canada, the population of this area is 5,555,912. Population growth studies have projected the City of Toronto's population in 2031 to be 3,000,000 and the Greater Toronto Area's population to be 7,450,000. Statistics Canada had identified in 2001 that four major urban regions in Canada exhibited a cluster pattern of concentrated population growth among which included the Greater Golden Horseshoe Census Region, which includes all of the Greater Toronto Area (which includes Oshawa), as well as other Southern Ontario cities including Niagara, Hamilton, Guelph, Kitchener-Waterloo and Barrie. Combined, the Greater Golden Horseshoe has a population of 8,116,000 in 2006, containing approximately 25% of Canada's population.

Statistics Canada had also found that there were 31,910 aboriginal people living in the Greater Toronto Area, which represented 2.7 per cent of all aboriginal persons in Canada and 13.2 per cent of those in Ontario. The majority of which however are not registered with the Indian reserves within the Greater Toronto Area, the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation and the Mississaugas of Scugog Island.

 Education

The University of Toronto, which was established in 1827 is not only the oldest university in the Greater Toronto Area, but in the Province of Ontario.

The Greater Toronto Area is home to five post-secondary education institutions with degree-granting authority, many of which are well known and respected throughout the world. There also are eleven private institutions spread throughout the GTA with degree granting authority. The five public degree-granting institutions are:

• Ontario College of Art & Design (Toronto)
• Ryerson University (Toronto)
• University of Toronto (Toronto)
  • University of Toronto Scarborough (Toronto)
  • University of Toronto Mississauga (Mississauga)
• University of Ontario Institute of Technology (Oshawa)
• York University (Toronto)

The City of Toronto is also home to the University of Guelph-Humber, a university-college partnership between the University of Guelph (located just outside the GTA in Guelph) and Humber College. In 2009, the City of Burlington and the McMaster University (located just outside the GTA in Hamilton) have agreed upon housing an expansion campus, known as the Ron Joyce Centre.^[89][90] The campus is scheduled to be completed on September, 2010.

The Greater Toronto Area is also home to six publicly funded community colleges, which have campuses spread throughout Greater Toronto as well as outside of it. There are also a number of private career colleges spread throughout the Greater Toronto. The six publicly funded community colleges are: