The Best Years is a Canadian drama television series about a group of college students at Charles University, a fictional Ivy League school in Boston , Massachusetts . It stars Charity Shea as Samantha Best, an orphan who lived in the foster care system for ten years before receiving a scholarship to Charles. The show was created by Aaron Martin and produced by Wendy Grean.
118-965: The first season aired on Global in Canada and on Noggin 's teen block, The N , in the United States. The second season was shown in the United States on The N and in Canada on E! , CanWest's secondary network. The show revolves around Samantha Best ( Charity Shea ). She receives a scholarship to attend Charles University, a fictional Ivy League college in Boston , Massachusetts , after bouncing between foster homes for ten years. The first season included episodes about sensitive topics like cocaine addiction, inappropriate teacher-student relationships, and suicide . The second and final season picked up eight months after season one with several characters absent and replaced with new characters and focused romantic entanglements. The first season of The Best Years
236-501: A "killer wheat" episode and episodes set in Northern Quebec and Halifax. Series initially intended for the U.S. and international market are sometimes called "industrial" productions and largely disappeared with the collapse of the international action hour market. From the late-1990s to the mid-2000s, Global aired somewhat more identifiably Canadian entertainment programming, including the long-running finance drama Traders ,
354-755: A capital. In 1787, the British Lord Dorchester arranged for the Toronto Purchase with the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation, thereby securing more than a quarter of a million acres (1000 km ) of land in the Toronto area. Dorchester intended the location to be named Toronto. The first 25 years after the Toronto purchase were quiet, although "there were occasional independent fur traders" present in
472-657: A channel to the harbour. The peninsula was formed by longshore drift taking the sediments deposited along the Scarborough Bluffs shore and transporting them to the Islands area. The other source of sediment for the Port Lands wetland and the peninsula was the deposition of the Don River, which carved a wide valley through the sedimentary land of Toronto and deposited it in the shallow harbour. The harbour and
590-784: A common design element in many Canwest logos, was subsequently removed from other properties owned or sponsored by the company over time. On April 10, 2008, the network announced that its Toronto and Vancouver stations would start broadcasting their over-the-air signals in those markets in high definition . CIII and CHAN officially started transmitting in HD on April 18, 2008. The network has also launched digital signals at its stations in Calgary ( CICT-DT ) and Edmonton ( CITV-DT ) as of July 2009. Following Canwest seeking creditor protection in late 2009, Shaw Communications acquired Canwest's broadcasting assets on October 27, 2010, and folded them into
708-580: A financial crisis within just three months. Due to the CRTC decision, it was forced to launch at midseason. Many companies had already allocated their advertising budgets for the season and had little money left to buy time on the newly minted network, and even some of the advertisers who had booked time on the network backed out in light of the 1973 oil crisis . In addition, the short-lived American adoption of year-round daylight saving time in January 1974, and
826-459: A formal call for "third" stations in several major cities. Global Communications put forward a revised application under which the network would launch with transmitters only in Ontario , as an interim step toward the eventual buildout of the entire network originally envisioned by Soble. Because Niagara Television and CHCH were no longer involved in the proposal, the 1970 application also requested
944-531: A licence to launch a new station in Toronto as the chain's flagship. The network licence was approved by the CRTC on July 21, 1972. The group was granted a six-transmitter network in Southern Ontario , stretching from Windsor to Ottawa . They had also sought a seventh transmitter in Maxville that could reach Montreal , but were turned down because of a CRTC moratorium on new English stations in
1062-691: A main schedule, apart from news. Even before the WIC purchase, the Global stations had widely varying program lineups, and the WIC purchase only exacerbated the differences. For example, CHAN held the British Columbia rights to many shows that aired on CTV until 2001, except for The Oprah Winfrey Show . Factors influencing the stations' programming include time zone differences, local programming, and ratings for non-Global shows. Global has built its business on profitable entertainment programming produced in
1180-614: A network. Accordingly, on August 18, 1997, Canwest scrubbed all local branding from its stations and rebranded them as the "Global Television Network", the brand previously used solely by the Ontario outlet. On the same day, CKMI disaffiliated from CBC, set up rebroadcasters in Montreal and Sherbrooke , and became the Quebec outlet of the newly minted network. It also built a new studio in Montreal and moved most of its operations there, though
1298-449: A new division, Shaw Media , of which Global is the flagship. Canwest's newspaper assets had been sold off earlier in the year as Postmedia Network . On April 1, 2016, as part of a corporate re-organization (marketed as being an acquisition), Shaw Media was subsumed by Shaw's sister company Corus Entertainment . In television listings such as TV Guide , where space limitations usually require television networks to be referred to by
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#17327914577311416-399: A nightly variety series called Everything Goes , as well as a few imported American series including Chopper One , Dirty Sally and Doc Elliot . In March, the station drew a formal complaint from MP James McGrath against its airing of the 1969 Western film Heaven with a Gun , as the film featured scenes of violence which McGrath considered inappropriate. The station ran into
1534-538: A noon newscast, supper hour newscasts of between 30 and 90 minutes and a half-hour to hour-long late evening newscast. Global-owned stations in certain major markets also carry locally based public affairs programs under the Focus brand. In addition, Corus also operates several Global-branded news/talk radio stations across Canada under the Global News Radio moniker. Global does not have what can be called
1652-593: A number of new executives, all formerly of various U.S. media firms, leading to a major overhaul of Global announced in December 2005. The most obvious change was a new logo, replacing the "crescent" with a new " greater than " logo, with the Global wordmark in a new font, that was introduced on February 5, 2006 (coinciding with Global's broadcast of Super Bowl XL ). New logos and graphics were designed for news and network promotions, and several newscasts received new timeslots and formats. The crescent, which had been used as
1770-609: A population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the fourth-most populous city in North America . The city is the anchor of the Golden Horseshoe , an urban agglomeration of 9,765,188 people (as of 2021) surrounding the western end of Lake Ontario , while the Greater Toronto Area proper had a 2021 population of 6,712,341. Toronto is an international centre of business, finance, arts, sports, and culture and
1888-594: A ravine or valley and continue on the other side. Toronto has many bridges spanning the ravines. Large bridges such as the Prince Edward Viaduct were built to span broad river valleys. Despite its deep ravines, Toronto is not remarkably hilly, but its elevation does increase steadily away from the lake. Elevation differences range from 76.5 metres (251 ft) above sea level at the Lake Ontario shore to 209 m (686 ft) above sea level near
2006-548: A regular TV antenna and a digital tuner (included in most new television sets) on the following channels: The above noted transmitters were converted to digital by August 31, 2011, as part of Canada's over-the-air transition deadline in mandatory markets from analog to digital. As part of its purchase by Shaw Communications in 2011, Shaw committed to converting all of the network's over-the-air analog transmitters to digital by 2016. The Global network has long been much more decentralized than either CBC or CTV. For most programs, there
2124-557: A secondary system known as CH (rebranded as E! in 2007 in a partnership with the American channel of the same name ), although financial pressures forced Canwest to sell or fold the E! stations in 2009. Full network service is still not available over-the-air in Newfoundland and Labrador . However, CJON, having disaffiliated from CTV in 2002, now clears the vast majority of Global programming in that province, most recently adding
2242-487: A syndication deal. A considerable number of programs featured on Global's schedule were cancelled in the spring of 1974. By that fall, it was obvious that Global's original model was unsustainable, and it was forced to pick up a large amount of American programming to fill in the gaps. With American imports filling as much of the schedule as Canadian content rules would allow (60% Canadian overall, 50% Canadian in prime time), Global had effectively become "another CTV ." With
2360-804: A third national network. He started by launching CFRE-DT in Regina and CFSK-DT in Saskatoon , and winning a legal battle for CKVU-DT in Vancouver during the second half of the 1980s. He also acquired the fledgling CIHF-DT in Halifax in the early 1990s. Canwest's stations now reached seven of Canada's ten provinces. The Canwest stations purchased many of their programs collectively, and consequently had similar – although not identical – broadcast schedules. They did not share common branding, however – although stations were sometimes indicated as being part of
2478-501: A three-letter abbreviation, the abbreviations "GLO", "GLB" or "GTV" are commonly used, depending on the publication. None of these abbreviations has any standing as an official name for the network, however – the network's own shortform name for itself is always "Global". Global News is the news and current affairs division of the Global Television Network, which is based in Vancouver. National programs broadcast by
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#17327914577312596-406: Is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network . It is currently Canada's second most-watched private terrestrial television network after CTV , and has fifteen owned-and-operated stations throughout the country. Global is owned by Corus Entertainment — the media holdings of JR Shaw and other members of his family. Global has its origins in a regional television station of
2714-454: Is a prominent centre for music, theatre, motion picture production, and television production, and is home to the headquarters of Canada's major national broadcast networks and media outlets . Its varied cultural institutions , which include numerous museums and galleries , festivals and public events , entertainment districts, national historic sites , and sports activities , attract over 43 million tourists each year. Toronto
2832-517: Is its escarpments. During the last ice age , the lower part of Toronto was beneath Glacial Lake Iroquois . Today, a series of escarpments mark the lake's former boundary, known as the "Iroquois Shoreline". The escarpments are most prominent from Victoria Park Avenue to the mouth of Highland Creek , where they form the Scarborough Bluffs . Other observable sections include the area near St. Clair Avenue West between Bathurst Street and
2950-675: Is known for its many skyscrapers and high-rise buildings , in particular the CN Tower , the tallest freestanding structure on land outside of Asia. The city is home to the Toronto Stock Exchange , the headquarters of Canada's five largest banks , and the headquarters of many large Canadian and multinational corporations. Its economy is highly diversified with strengths in technology, design, financial services, life sciences, education, arts, fashion, aerospace, environmental innovation, food services, and tourism. Toronto
3068-539: Is no "network" feed per se , and in effect every commercial break is a station break. National advertising is certainly available, but such ads are seamlessly integrated into local ad blocks. In fact, it is not uncommon to see different lengths of commercial breaks from one station to the next even during identical programming. This occurs even though all Global stations have had their master control operations centralized in Calgary since fall 2006. From 2010 to 2016, with
3186-588: Is now a museum. The pre-amalgamation City of Toronto covers the downtown core and older neighbourhoods to the east, west, and north. It is the most densely populated part of the city. The Financial District contains the First Canadian Place , Toronto-Dominion Centre , Scotia Plaza , Royal Bank Plaza , Commerce Court and Brookfield Place . This area includes, among others, the neighbourhoods of St. James Town , Garden District , St. Lawrence , Corktown , and Church and Wellesley . From that point,
3304-597: Is one of the most multicultural and cosmopolitan cities in the world. Indigenous peoples have travelled through and inhabited the Toronto area, located on a broad sloping plateau interspersed with rivers, deep ravines, and urban forest , for more than 10,000 years. After the broadly disputed Toronto Purchase , when the Mississauga surrendered the area to the British Crown , the British established
3422-514: Is the third-largest tech hub in North America after Silicon Valley and New York City , and the fastest-growing hub. The word Toronto has been recorded with various spellings in French and English, including Tarento , Tarontha , Taronto , Toranto , Torento , Toronto , and Toronton . The most frequent early spelling, Taronto , referred to 'The Narrows', a channel of water through which Lake Simcoe discharges into Lake Couchiching where
3540-784: The 1987 and 1988 Stanley Cup playoffs , Global aired NHL games syndicated by Carling O'Keefe . Global was the longtime broadcaster of National Football League football games in Canada, an association that ended in 2007 when CTV outbid Global for the NFL broadcast package. The network was a long-time broadcaster of PGA Tour events. Beyond event coverage, many Global stations were well known for local late-night sports highlights shows, such as Sportsline in Ontario, Sports Page in Vancouver (later moved to former sister station CHEK-TV ), 2&7 Sports at 11 in Calgary and Sports Night in Edmonton. Most of these programs were later unified under
3658-400: The 2026 FIFA World Cup . Toronto covers an area of 630 square kilometres (243 sq mi), with a maximum north–south distance of 21 kilometres (13 mi). It has a maximum east–west distance of 43 km (27 mi), and it has a 46-kilometre (29 mi) long waterfront shoreline, on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario . The Toronto Islands and Port Lands extend out into
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3776-650: The Global Sports brand. However, due to declining audiences, by fall 2005 all but the Ontario program had been cancelled, although stations continued to cover sports in their local newscasts. Global Ontario's sports program was finally cancelled in January 2007; at that point, the station closed its sports department entirely, and for a time outsourced sports coverage to Sportsnet and The Score / Sportsnet 360 . Some Global O&Os outside of Ontario (such as CHAN Vancouver and CITV Edmonton) continue to feature locally produced sports segments on their local newscasts. On
3894-589: The Great Irish Famine ; most of them were Catholic . By 1851, the Irish-born population had become the largest single ethnic group in the city. The Scottish and English population welcomed smaller numbers of Protestant Irish immigrants, some from what is now Northern Ireland, which gave the Orange Order significant and long-lasting influence over Toronto society. Almost every mayor of Toronto
4012-524: The Jim Pattison Group , and was soon bailed out by IWC Communications, owned by broadcaster Allan Slaight , and Global Ventures Western Ltd., a syndicate which included Winnipeg movie theater owner Paul Morton and Izzy Asper , a Manitoba politician turned broadcaster. Asper's company, CanWest Capital, owned CKND-TV in Winnipeg, which was already carrying some of Global's programs under
4130-645: The Mississaugas had displaced the Iroquois, who abandoned the Toronto area at the end of the Beaver Wars , with most returning to their homeland in present-day New York state. French traders founded Fort Rouillé in 1750 (the current Exhibition grounds were later developed there), but abandoned it in 1759 during the Seven Years' War . The British defeated the French and their indigenous allies in
4248-549: The Post and other Canwest papers made frequent appearances on Global's news programs, passengers on the now-defunct serial drama Train 48 habitually read the Post , and Global programs were promoted in Canwest newspapers. However, this practice has now been largely abandoned, particularly after Canwest's breakup in 2010. In late 2004, with CTV beginning to dominate the ratings, Canwest reorganized its Canadian operations and hired
4366-630: The Sportsnet -produced Fox Soccer News . In 2015, Global broadcast coverage of the Canada West conference's university football championship, including coverage of one semi-final game, and the Hardy Cup game the following week. The telecasts were produced through Shaw TV 's Canada West Football on Shaw package. Global streams live and on-demand programming via its website and apps for mobile devices and digital media players . In 2020,
4484-626: The Toronto Blizzard soccer team and produced and aired coverage of the team's games in-house. The team was not a success on the field, in attendance or ratings, and Global sold the franchise in 1981 but continued to broadcast seven games a year until 1983. Aside from its brief experiment with soccer, the Global network has never had an in-house sports production division as do CBC, CTV/TSN, & Citytv/Sportsnet. Network sports broadcasts are either simulcast with American networks or outsourced to independent producers such as Molstar . During
4602-482: The Toronto Carrying-Place Trail , led to widespread use of the name. The pronunciation of the city is broadly / t ə ˈ r ɒ n t oʊ / tə- RONT -oh , which locals pronounce [təˈɹɒnoʊ] or [ˈtɹɒnoʊ] , leaving the second 't' silent. The site of Toronto lay at the entrance to one of the oldest routes to the northwest, a route known and used by
4720-709: The University of Toronto , and interior scenes of the campus were re-created at the Toronto Film Studios. Entertainment One has released the entire series on DVD in Region 1. According to Mediaweek, ratings the show debuted with 323,250 total viewers on Friday, June 29 at 8:30 p.m. ET, which more than doubled the time period average. Global Television Network This is an accepted version of this page The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global , or occasionally Global TV )
4838-602: The York University grounds in the city's north end at the intersection of Keele Street and Steeles Avenue. There are occasional hilly areas; in particular, midtown Toronto , as well as the Silverthorn and Fairbank neighbourhoods, have several sharply sloping hills. Lake Ontario remains occasionally visible from the peaks of these ridges as far north as Eglinton Avenue, 7 to 8 kilometres (4.3 to 5.0 mi) inland. The other major geographical feature of Toronto
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4956-431: The reality series Big Brother . Global, like all Canadian broadcast outlets, benefits from Canada's simultaneous substitution (or "simsub") regulations, which allow content owners to control programming rights for a particular show in Canada. When an American broadcast network is broadcasting the same show at the same time that Global is (such as the programs mentioned above), Canadian cable subscribers may only watch
5074-624: The "CanWest Global System" as a secondary brand, throughout the 1980s and early 1990s they each retained their own branding and continued to function as an ownership group of independent stations rather than as a fully unified network. In 1997, Canwest bought controlling interest in the CBC affiliate in Quebec City , CKMI-TV , from TVA , which retained a 49% interest until 2002. With the acquisition of CKMI, Canwest now had enough coverage of Canada that it seemed logical to rebrand its station group as
5192-593: The 1980s. As a result, Global continued its long-standing secondary affiliations in those cities on independent stations CICT-TV and CITV-TV , respectively. Similarly, Global lacked a full-time station in St. John's , where Global programming was carried by longtime CTV affiliate CJON-TV . In 2000, Canwest acquired the conventional television assets of Western International Communications (WIC). WIC's stations in Calgary, Edmonton and Lethbridge had been airing some Global programs since 1988, and those stations formally joined
5310-556: The 19th century, the city built an extensive sewage system to improve sanitation, and streets were illuminated with gas lighting as a regular service. Long-distance railway lines were constructed, including a route completed in 1854 linking Toronto with the Upper Great Lakes. The Grand Trunk Railway and the Northern Railway of Canada joined in the building of the first Union Station in downtown. The advent of
5428-511: The British-Canadian animated comedy Bob and Margaret , the police procedural drama Blue Murder , the nightly improvised drama Train 48 , the sitcom The Jane Show and the reality show My Fabulous Gay Wedding . In 2003, Global signed comedian Mike Bullard , host of the nightly Open Mike with Mike Bullard on CTV and The Comedy Network , to a multi-year contract for a new nightly talk show on Global, but that series
5546-578: The City of Toronto in 1834. Toronto hosted the 4th G20 summit during June 26–27, 2010. This included the largest security operation in Canadian history. Following large-scale protests and rioting, law enforcement arrested more than 1,000 people, the largest mass arrest in Canadian history. On July 8, 2013, severe flash flooding hit Toronto after an afternoon of slow-moving, intense thunderstorms. Toronto Hydro estimated 450,000 people were without power after
5664-487: The Don River, and north of Davenport Road from Caledonia to Spadina Road ; the Casa Loma grounds sit above this escarpment. The geography of the lakeshore has dramatically changed since the first settlement of Toronto. Much of the land on the harbour's north shore is landfill, filled in during the late 19th century. Until then, the lakefront docks (then known as wharves) were set back farther inland than today. Much of
5782-541: The Global Television broadcast, even when trying to view the American stations. This law gives them double exposure for their content and a larger share of advertising revenue, effectively blocking American border cities from access to the Canadian market. This was done to help give money to the networks to fund Canadian content development. Global is not the only Canadian broadcaster to use simsubs; nonetheless, some complaints, specific to Global, have arisen due to
5900-450: The Global apps were relaunched to include streaming for subscribers of most of Corus Entertainment's specialty channels, mirroring a similar move announced by CTV. In October 2004, Global launched a 1080i high definition simulcast feed of its Toronto station CIII-TV called Global HD and started airing select American programs in HD; some Canadian series such as Falcon Beach eventually began to be included among its HD programs. At
6018-729: The Huron had planted tree saplings to corral fish. This narrows was called tkaronto by the Mohawk , meaning 'where there are trees standing in the water', and was recorded as early as 1615 by Samuel de Champlain . The word Toronto , meaning 'plenty', also appears in a 1632 French lexicon of the Huron language , which is also an Iroquoian language. It also appears on French maps referring to various locations, including Georgian Bay, Lake Simcoe, and several rivers. A portage route from Lake Ontario to Lake Huron running through this point, known as
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#17327914577316136-593: The Huron, Iroquois, and Ojibwe . Archaeological sites show evidence of human occupation dating back thousands of years. The site was of strategic importance from the beginning of Ontario's recorded history. In the 1660s, the Iroquois established two villages within what is today Toronto, Ganatsekwyagon (Bead Hill) on the banks of the Rouge River and Teiaiagon on the banks of the Humber River . By 1701,
6254-521: The Montreal market. The transmitters would all be fed from a central studio in Toronto. The group promised a high level of Canadian content and agreed not to accept local advertising. The station's initial plan was to broadcast only during prime time hours from 5 p.m. to midnight, while leasing daytime hours to the Ontario Educational Communications Authority to broadcast educational programming. However,
6372-487: The Ontario government's refusal to follow suit, had unexpectedly forced Everything Goes , promoted as the network's flagship show, into airing directly opposite The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and thus attracting disastrous ratings. As a result of the crisis, the station quickly lost access to its line of credit. Unable to meet daily expenses, Global initially approached potential bidders including Channel Seventynine , Denison Mines , Standard Broadcasting and
6490-423: The Ontario station has always been based in Toronto, its main transmitter was licensed to Paris, Ontario; halfway between Kitchener-Waterloo and Hamilton, transmitting on Channel 6, until 2009. Repeating transmitters were originally located near Windsor, Ontario on Channel 22; Sarnia , Channel 29, Uxbridge, Ontario on Channel 22 to serve the metro Toronto area; Bancroft, on Channel 2; and Hull, Quebec to cover
6608-533: The Ontario station's branding in 1997. The network has its origins in NTV, a new network first proposed in 1966 by Hamilton media proprietor Ken Soble , the co-founder and owner of independent station CHCH-TV through his Niagara Television company. Financially backed by Power Corporation of Canada , Soble submitted a brief to the Board of Broadcast Governors in 1966 proposing a national satellite -fed network. Under
6726-454: The Ottawa area, on Channel 6. Global's original prime time schedule included Patrick Watson 's documentary series Witness to Yesterday , Pierre Berton 's political debate show The Great Debate , a Canadian edition of Bernard Braden 's British consumer affairs newsmagazine The Braden Beat , William Shatner 's film talk show Flick Flack , Sunday night Toronto Toros hockey games and
6844-695: The Progressive Conservatives' majority. North York mayor Mel Lastman became the first "megacity" mayor, and the 62nd mayor of Toronto, with his electoral victory . Lastman gained national attention after multiple snowstorms, including the January Blizzard of 1999 , dumped 118 centimetres (46 in) of snow and effectively immobilized the city. He called in the Canadian Army to aid snow removal by use of their equipment to augment police and emergency services. The move
6962-677: The Toronto Harbour), and the Rouge River at the city's eastern limits. Most of the ravines and valley lands in Toronto today are parklands and recreational trails are laid out along the ravines and valleys. The original town was laid out in a grid plan on the flat plain north of the harbour, and this plan was extended outwards as the city grew. The width and depth of several of the ravines and valleys are such that several grid streets, such as Finch Avenue , Leslie Street , Lawrence Avenue , and St. Clair Avenue , terminate on one side of
7080-622: The Toronto skyline extends northward along Yonge Street. Old Toronto is also home to many historically wealthy residential enclaves, such as Yorkville , Rosedale, The Annex, Forest Hill, Lawrence Park , Lytton Park , Deer Park , Moore Park , and Casa Loma, most stretching away from downtown to the north. East and west of downtown, neighbourhoods such as Kensington Market , Chinatown , Leslieville , Cabbagetown and Riverdale are home to bustling commercial and cultural areas as well as communities of artists with studio lofts, with many middle- and upper-class professionals. Other neighbourhoods in
7198-584: The United States and has long been criticized for not investing enough in Canadian content . Canadian programming carried on the network, such as a revival of 1960s American science fiction series The Outer Limits , or the Chicago-set drama Zoe Busiek: Wild Card , has often avoided Canadian themes, presumably to focus on sales to United States and international cable or syndication markets – although Psi Factor did include Canadian themes, including
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#17327914577317316-474: The West. Like the Irish before them, many of these migrants lived in overcrowded shanty-type slums, such as " the Ward ", which was centred on Bay Street , now the heart of the country's Financial District . As new migrants began to prosper, they moved to better housing in other areas, in what is now understood to be succession waves of settlement. Despite its fast-paced growth, by the 1920s, Toronto's population and economic importance in Canada remained second to
7434-405: The adjacent Port Lands on the harbour's east side was a wetland filled in early in the 20th century. The shoreline from the harbour west to the Humber River has been extended into the lake. Further west, landfill has been used to create extensions of land such as Humber Bay Park. The Toronto Islands were a natural peninsula until a storm in 1858 severed their connection to the mainland, creating
7552-405: The architecture of its homes, and for being one of Toronto's earliest planned communities, was designated as an Ontario Heritage Conservation district in 1985. The Casa Loma neighbourhood is named after "Casa Loma", a castle built in 1911 by Sir Henry Pellat , complete with gardens, turrets, stables, an elevator, secret passages, and a bowling alley. Spadina House is a 19th-century manor that
7670-423: The area, with the usual complaints of debauchery and drunkenness. In 1793, Governor John Graves Simcoe established the town of York on the Toronto Purchase lands, naming it after Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany . Simcoe decided to move the Upper Canada capital from Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake) to York, believing the new site would be less vulnerable to attack by the United States. The York garrison
7788-481: The capital until 1865 (two years before Canadian Confederation). Since then, the capital of Canada has remained Ottawa , Ontario. Toronto became the capital of the province of Ontario after its official creation in 1867. The seat of government of the Ontario briefly returned to the same building that hosted the Third Parliament Building of Upper Canada, before moving to the Ontario Legislative Building at Queen's Park in 1893. Because of its provincial capital status,
7906-617: The central city retain an ethnic identity, including two smaller Chinatowns, the Greektown area, Little Italy , Portugal Village , and Little India , among others. The inner suburbs are contained within the former municipalities of York and East York. These are mature and traditionally working-class areas, consisting primarily of post–World War I small, single-family homes and small apartment blocks. Neighbourhoods such as Crescent Town , Thorncliffe Park , Flemingdon Park , Weston, and Oakwood Village consist mainly of high-rise apartments, which are home to many new immigrant families. During
8024-407: The channel of the Don River have been dredged numerous times for shipping. The lower section of the Don River was straightened and channelled in the 19th century. The former mouth drained into a wetland; today, the Don River drains into the harbour through a concrete waterway, the Keating Channel . To mitigate flooding in the area, as well as to create parkland, a second more natural mouth was built to
8142-527: The city granted the operation of the transit franchise to the Toronto Railway Company . The public transit system passed into public ownership in 1921 as the Toronto Transportation Commission , later renamed the Toronto Transit Commission . The system now has the third-highest ridership of any city public transportation system in North America . The Great Toronto Fire of 1904 destroyed a large section of downtown Toronto . The fire destroyed more than 100 buildings. The fire claimed one victim, John Croft, who
8260-471: The city was also the location of Government House , the residence of the viceregal representative of the Crown in right of Ontario . Long before the Royal Military College of Canada was established in 1876, supporters of the concept proposed military colleges in Canada. Staffed by British Regulars, adult male students underwent a three-month-long military course at the School of Military Instruction in Toronto. Established by Militia General Order in 1864,
8378-414: The city was hit by a massive blackout which affected millions of Torontonians (it also affected most of Southern Ontario and parts of the United States), stranding some hundreds of people in tall buildings, knocking out traffic lights and suspending subway and streetcar service across the city during those aforementioned days. On March 6, 2009, the city celebrated the 175th anniversary of its inception as
8496-449: The city, there exist hundreds of small neighbourhoods and some larger neighbourhoods covering a few square kilometres. The many residential communities of Toronto express a character distinct from the skyscrapers in the commercial core. Victorian and Edwardian-era residential buildings can be found in enclaves such as Rosedale , Cabbagetown , The Annex , and Yorkville . The Wychwood Park neighbourhood, historically significant for
8614-409: The division include Global's flagship national newscast Global National and newsmagazine shows such as 16x9 . The network also offers various amounts of local news programming on its eleven O&Os. Local news programming on most of Global's O&Os mirror the newscast schedules of many U.S. television stations; most Global-owned stations carry a morning newscast of three or four hours in length,
8732-575: The elimination of racially based immigration policies by the late 1960s, Toronto became a destination for immigrants from all over the world. By the 1980s, Toronto had surpassed Montreal as Canada's most populous city and chief economic hub. During this time, in part owing to the political uncertainty raised by the resurgence of the Quebec sovereignty movement , many national and multinational corporations moved their head offices from Montreal to Toronto and Western Canadian cities. On January 1, 1998, Toronto
8850-403: The ensuing years were largely credited with keeping the network viable while its viewership grew. The company enhanced its senior talent pool in 1979 with the arrival of sales guru Dave Mintz, formerly of KVOS-TV , as the network's president, a post he held until his retirement in 1993, taking Global from the lowest-rated station in Toronto to the ratings leader along the way. Over several years,
8968-427: The exception of CIII-DT in Toronto, stations used sustained on-screen bugs using each station's full local brand as opposed to simply "Global". In September 2016, except for local newscasts, Global has updated its bug back to "Global" without an additional local station city below it. Toronto Toronto is the most populous city in Canada and the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario . With
9086-485: The exception of the nightly newscasts, few other Canadian-produced programs remained on the station, and the ones that did exist were largely criticized as cheaply-produced filler. John Spalding, the station's original program director, quit in 1975 after being unable to convince the station's owners to invest more money into higher-quality production. To replace him the company recruited programmer Bill Stewart away from CKCO-TV, Kitchener. Stewart's savvy program purchases in
9204-643: The first mayor of Toronto . Mackenzie would later lead the unsuccessful Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837 against the British colonial government. Toronto's population of 9,000 included some African-American slaves, some of whom had been brought by the Loyalists, and Black Loyalists , whom the Crown had freed (most of the latter were resettled in Nova Scotia). By 1834, refugee slaves from America's South were also immigrating to Toronto to gain freedom. Slavery
9322-412: The following related practices: Global cross-promotes heavily with other Corus Entertainment properties in the markets where both services operate in parallel. On June 6, 2007, the Canadian actors' union ACTRA picketed Global's fall upfronts presentation to protest the lack of Canadian content on current television network schedules. In 1979, Global – then a regional network in Ontario – purchased
9440-436: The free distribution rights the plan offered to the public television services. However, after federal communications minister Paul Hellyer announced plans to move forward with the publicly owned Anik series of broadcast satellites through Telesat Canada instead of leaving the rollout of satellite technology in the hands of private corporations, Power Corporation backed out of the application and left NTV in limbo. Bruner
9558-680: The hurricane caused more than CA$ 25 million in damage. In 1967, the seven smallest municipalities of Metropolitan Toronto were merged with larger neighbours, resulting in a six-municipality configuration that included the former city of Toronto and the surrounding municipalities of East York , Etobicoke , North York , Scarborough , and York . In the decades after World War II, refugees from war-torn Europe and Chinese job-seekers arrived, as well as construction labourers, particularly from Italy and Portugal. Toronto's population grew to more than one million in 1951 when large-scale suburbanization began and doubled to two million by 1971. Following
9676-400: The lake, allowing for a somewhat sheltered Toronto Harbour south of the downtown core. An Outer Harbour was constructed southeast of downtown during the 1950s and 1960s, and it is now used for recreation. The city's limits are formed by Lake Ontario to the south, the western boundary of Marie Curtis Park , Etobicoke Creek , Eglinton Avenue and Highway 427 to the west, Steeles Avenue to
9794-461: The licence nominally remained in Quebec City until 2009. Canwest's purchase of CKMI extended Global's footprint to eight of Canada's 10 largest markets (though Ottawa and Montreal were only served by rebroadcasters). Even so, Global was still not a fully national network, as it did not have stations in Calgary and Edmonton . The CRTC turned down bids by Canwest for stations in those cities in
9912-409: The majority of Torontonians speak English as their primary language, over 160 languages are spoken in the city. The mayor of Toronto is elected by direct popular vote to serve as the chief executive of the city. The Toronto City Council is a unicameral legislative body, comprising 25 councillors since the 2018 municipal election , representing geographical wards throughout the city. Toronto
10030-515: The much longer established Montreal , Quebec. However, by 1934, the Toronto Stock Exchange had become the largest in the country. In 1954, the City of Toronto and 12 surrounding municipalities were federated into a regional government known as Metropolitan Toronto . The postwar boom had resulted in rapid suburban development. It was believed a coordinated land-use strategy and shared services would provide greater efficiency for
10148-660: The network on September 4, 2000. The following fall, WIC's long-dominant Vancouver station CHAN-TV was brought into the fold after its existing affiliation agreement with CTV expired, setting off a massive realignment of television affiliations in southwestern British Columbia. Indeed, one main reason why Canwest bought WIC's television assets was because of CHAN's massive translator network, which covered 97% of British Columbia. Global's previous Vancouver station, CKVU-TV , as well as WIC-owned Montreal CTV affiliate CFCF-TV , were sold off. WIC's remaining stations were maintained as twinstick stations and were eventually integrated into
10266-521: The network's national newscast in mid-2009. Any remaining programs there may be accessed on cable or satellite through Global stations from other markets (most commonly Edmonton's CITV), or through the network's website. Following Canwest's purchase of Southam Newspapers (later Canwest Publishing) and the National Post from Conrad Black in 2001, their media interests were merged under a policy of cross-promotion and synergy . Journalists from
10384-682: The north and the Rouge River and the Scarborough–Pickering Townline to the east. The city is mostly flat or gentle hills, and the land gently slopes upward away from the lake. The flat land is interrupted by the Toronto ravine system , which is cut by numerous creeks and rivers of the Toronto waterway system , most notably the Humber River in the west end, the Don River east of downtown (these two rivers flanking and defining
10502-656: The offer never came to fruition, with the OECA opting instead to expand what would eventually become TVOntario by launching its own transmitters. The new Global Television Network, with the callsign CKGN-TV (now CIII-DT), launched on January 6, 1974 from studios located at a former factory in the Don Mills neighbourhood in North York (now in Toronto) at 6 p.m. local time. Global remains based there today. Although
10620-431: The original 96 transmitters would be supplemented by 43 more transmitters to distribute a separate French language service, along with provisions for the free distribution of CBC Television , Radio-Canada and a new noncommercial educational television service on the network's satellite. Transponder space would also be leased to CTV and Télé-Métropole , but as competing commercial services they would not have been granted
10738-546: The other hand, the sports segments aired during local newscasts on CIHF-DT in Saint John and CKMI-DT in Montreal are produced from CHAN's Vancouver studio, presented by that station's sports anchors. Until the discontinuation of Fox Sports World Canada , CKND-DT in Winnipeg also produced the Fox Soccer Report , which was seen on the network and Fox Soccer in the United States. It was replaced in 2012 by
10856-524: The plan after failing in a bid to acquire CTV. The original proposal was widely criticized on various grounds, including claims that it exceeded the board's concentration of media ownership limits and that it was overly ambitious and financially unsustainable. As well, it failed to include any plan for local news content on any of its individual stations beyond possibly the metropolitan Toronto , Montreal , and Vancouver markets. By 1968, NTV put forward its first official licence application, under which
10974-429: The plan, Soble's company would launch Canada's first broadcast satellite, and would use it to relay the programming of CHCH to 96 new transmitters across Canada. Soble died in December of that year; his widow Frances took over as president of Niagara Television, while former CTV executive Michael Hind-Smith and Niagara Television vice-president Al Bruner handled the network application. Soble had originally formulated
11092-652: The prime late evening newscast shifted between 10 and 11 p.m., and between 30 and 60 minutes. CKGN changed its callsign to CIII-TV in 1984, deferring to its widespread CATV distribution on Cable 3. Asper bought controlling interest in 1985, making him the first western-based owner of a major Canadian broadcaster. In 1989, Asper and Morton tried to buy each other out, a struggle which was resolved in favour of Asper and Canwest. The network continued to be limited to its six-transmitter chain in Ontario for its first decade. However, soon after Asper bought controlling interest in Global, he seemed eager to grow his chain of stations into
11210-465: The railway dramatically increased the numbers of immigrants arriving, commerce and industry, as had the Lake Ontario steamers and schooners entering port before. These enabled Toronto to become a major gateway linking the world to the interior of the North American continent. Expanding port and rail facilities brought in northern timber for export and imported Pennsylvania coal. Industry dominated
11328-514: The referendum results and did so in April when it tabled the City of Toronto Act . Both opposition parties held a filibuster in the provincial legislature, proposing more than 12,000 amendments that allowed residents on streets of the proposed megacity to take part in public hearings on the merger and adding historical designations to the streets. This only delayed the bill's inevitable passage, given
11446-468: The region. The metropolitan government began to manage services that crossed municipal boundaries, including highways, police services, water and public transit . In that year, a half-century after the Great Fire of 1904, disaster struck the city again when Hurricane Hazel brought intense winds and flash flooding. In the Toronto area, 81 people were killed, nearly 1,900 families were left homeless, and
11564-491: The same name, serving Southern Ontario , which launched in 1974. The Ontario station was soon purchased by the now-defunct CanWest Global Communications , and that company gradually expanded its national reach in the subsequent decades through both acquisitions and new station launches, building up a quasi-network of independent stations, known as the CanWest Global System , until the stations were unified under
11682-490: The school enabled officers of militia or candidates for commission or promotion in the Militia to learn military duties, drill and discipline, to command a company at Battalion Drill, to drill a company at Company Drill, the internal economy of a company, and the duties of a company's officer. The school was retained at Confederation, in 1867. In 1868, Schools of cavalry and artillery instruction were formed in Toronto. In
11800-553: The south during the first half of the 2020s, thereby creating a new island, Ookwemin Minising . Toronto encompasses an area formerly administered by several separate municipalities that were amalgamated over the years. Each developed a distinct history and identity over the years, and their names remain in common use among Torontonians. Former municipalities include East York, Etobicoke, Forest Hill , Mimico , North York, Parkdale , Scarborough, Swansea , Weston and York. Throughout
11918-409: The storm and Toronto Pearson International Airport reported 126 mm (5 in) of rain had fallen over five hours, more than during Hurricane Hazel. Within six months, from December 20 to 22, 2013, Toronto was brought to a near halt by the worst ice storm in the city's history, rivalling the severity of the 1998 Ice Storm (which mainly affected southeastern Ontario, and Quebec). At the height of
12036-575: The storm, over 300,000 Toronto Hydro customers had no electricity or heating. Toronto hosted WorldPride in June 2014, and the Pan and Parapan American Games in 2015 . The city continues to grow and attract immigrants. A 2019 study by Toronto Metropolitan University (then known as Ryerson University) showed that Toronto was the fastest-growing city in North America. The city added 77,435 people between July 2017 and July 2018. The Toronto metropolitan area
12154-413: The time, the service was only available via digital cable . On April 18, 2008, Global officially launched a digital transmitter in Toronto, making the HD simulcast of CIII-TV available over-the-air. The network also launched an HD simulcast feed of its Vancouver station ( CHAN-TV ) on the same day. Global HD is available nationally via satellite and on digital cable as well as for free over-the-air using
12272-915: The town of York in 1793 and later designated it as the capital of Upper Canada . During the War of 1812 , the town was the site of the Battle of York and suffered heavy damage by American troops . York was renamed and incorporated in 1834 as the city of Toronto . It was designated as the capital of the province of Ontario in 1867 during Canadian Confederation . The city proper has since expanded past its original limits through both annexation and amalgamation to its current area of 630.2 km (243.3 sq mi). The diverse population of Toronto reflects its current and historical role as an important destination for immigrants to Canada . About half of its residents were born outside of Canada and over 200 ethnic origins are represented among its inhabitants. While
12390-467: The town's surrender. American soldiers destroyed much of the garrison and set fire to the parliament buildings during their five-day occupation. Because of the sacking of York, British troops retaliated later in the war with the burning of Washington, D.C. York was incorporated as the City of Toronto on March 6, 1834, adopting the Indigenous name. Reformist politician William Lyon Mackenzie became
12508-616: The war, and the area became part of the British colony of Quebec in 1763. During the American Revolutionary War , an influx of British settlers arrived there as United Empire Loyalists fled for the British-controlled lands north of Lake Ontario. The Crown granted them land to compensate for their losses in the Thirteen Colonies. The new province of Upper Canada was being created and needed
12626-645: The waterfront for the next 100 years. During the late 19th century, Toronto became the largest alcohol distillation (in particular, spirits ) centre in North America. By the 1860s, the Gooderham and Worts Distillery operations became the world's largest whisky factory. A preserved section of this once dominant local industry remains in the Distillery District . The harbour allowed access to grain and sugar imports used in processing. Horse-drawn streetcars gave way to electric streetcars in 1891 when
12744-468: Was a member of the Orange Order between 1850 and 1950, and the city was sometimes referred to as the " Belfast of Canada" because of Orange influence in municipal politics and administration. For brief periods, Toronto was twice the capital of the united Province of Canada : first from 1849 to 1851, following unrest in Montreal, and later from 1855 to 1859. After this date, Quebec was designated as
12862-469: Was an explosive expert clearing the ruins from the fire. It caused CA$ 10,387,000 in damage (roughly CA$ 277,600,000 in 2020 terms). The city received new European immigrant groups from the late 19th century into the early 20th century, particularly Germans, French, Italians, and Jews. They were soon followed by Russians, Poles, and other Eastern European nations, in addition to the Chinese entering from
12980-600: Was banned outright in Upper Canada (and throughout the British Empire) in 1834. Torontonians integrated people of colour into their society. In the 1840s, an eating house at Frederick and King Streets, a place of mercantile prosperity in the early city, was operated by a black man named Bloxom. As a major destination for immigrants to Canada, the city grew rapidly through the remainder of the 19th century. The first significant wave of immigrants were Irish, fleeing
13098-435: Was built at the entrance of the town's natural harbour, sheltered by a long sand-bar peninsula. The town's settlement formed at the harbour's eastern end behind the peninsula, near the present-day intersection of Parliament Street and Front Street (in the " Old Town " area). In 1813, as part of the War of 1812 , the Battle of York ended in the town's capture and plunder by United States forces. John Strachan negotiated
13216-419: Was cancelled after 60 episodes amid poor ratings. Global purchased the rights to produce a Canadian version of the popular entertainment magazine Entertainment Tonight ; ET Canada launched on September 12, 2005. It also secured Canadian production rights to the American reality series The Apprentice , but a Canadian version of the program never came to fruition. They also produce a Canadian version of
13334-466: Was fired from Niagara Television in 1969, purportedly because his efforts to rescue the network application were leading him to neglect his other duties with the company's existing media operations. He then put together another investment team to form Global Communications, which carried the network application forward thereafter. By 1970, the Canadian Radio and Television Commission had put out
13452-493: Was first shown in Canada on Global from May 22 to August 14, 2007. In the United States, it aired on The N from June 29 to September 21, 2007, at 8:30 to 9:30 pm EST on Friday nights. The show's theme song is titled "Infinite Possibility" and was written and performed by Mark Wiebe, also known as Markattack or Sinewave. Outdoor scenes from the show were filmed on the campus of the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, as well as
13570-573: Was greatly enlarged, not through traditional annexations , but as an amalgamation of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and its six lower-tier constituent municipalities: East York, Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough, York, and the original city itself. They were dissolved by an act of the Government of Ontario and formed into a single-tier City of Toronto (colloquially dubbed the " megacity "), replacing all six governments. The merger
13688-551: Was proposed as a cost-saving measure by the Progressive Conservative provincial government under premier Mike Harris . The announcement touched off vociferous public objections. In March 1997, a referendum in all six municipalities produced a vote of more than 3:1 against amalgamation. However, municipal governments in Canada are creatures of the provincial governments, and referendums have little to no legal effect. The Harris government could thus legally ignore
13806-408: Was ridiculed by some in other parts of the country, fuelled in part by what was perceived as a frivolous use of resources. The city attracted international attention in 2003 when it became the centre of a major SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak. Public health attempts to prevent the disease from spreading elsewhere temporarily dampened the local economy. From August 14 to 17, 2003,
13924-613: Was the second-fastest-growing metropolitan area in North America, adding 125,298 persons, compared with 131,767 in the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metroplex in Texas. The large growth in the Toronto metropolitan area is attributed to international migration to Toronto. The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada first occurred in Toronto and was among the hotspots in the country . Toronto was named as one of 16 cities in North America (and one of two Canadian cities) to host matches for
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