City of Toronto

The City of Toronto (Website) is an extremely ethnically diverse metropolitan center. Although there does not seem to exist a research body that can unequivocally say Toronto is the most ethnically diverse city in the world, it is easily one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the world.  The incredible diversity of Toronto , combined with the fact that it is the largest city in a country that has a unique receptivity to newcomers, demands that we as Christ-followers take notice.

Throughout the Bible is inbedded the recurring central theme that God wants every person from every people group on earth to be given an invitation to be a part of his eternal Kingdom.

So, what do you think God might be up to when he brings millions of people from hundreds of nations to settle in a city with a historic Christian presence like Toronto?

A huge opportunity and challenge is before us. What will we do with the reality that representatives of the peoples of the world are coming to live among us?

In this demographic section we want to give you some of the quick facts to help you get a “big picture” sense of the diversity of the peoples of Toronto are. We will also direct you to some other online sites that will help you explore Toronto in more detail and from different perspectives.

Ultimately as this section of UReachToronto.com develops, we will be offering resources to you to help you do your own more detailed study of a community, a neighborhood, a people group or a population segment in the GTA that God has but a desire in your heart to understand and reach out to.

This is a work in progress. So as we keep unearthing more valuable information on the peoples of Toronto , and as others join in on this collaborative effort, we will continue make our findings available to you.

Quick Facts on Toronto :

• According to the 2006 Census, the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) had approximately 5.1 million people with approximately  2.5 million of those people within the actual city of Toronto.
• Nearly 44% of the people living in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) were born outside of Canada.
• The Golden Horseshoe (Toronto , Hamilton, Guelph , Peterborough , Barrie, Orillia , and the regions of Halton, Peel, York , Durham , Waterloo and Niagra) had a population of 8.1 million or one-quarter of Canada .
• Toronto has received 43% of the immigrants who came to Canada since 1985.
• Nearly 1 in 5 immigrants to Canada from 1996 to 2001 were Muslim raising the total Muslim population in Metropolitan Toronto to over 254,000 residents.
• Over 100 languages and dialects are spoken in Toronto proper alone , and over one third of Toronto 's residents speak a language other than English at home.
• The presence of recent immigrants is felt across the city but some residential areas receive a larger percentage (Download a colour coded map of Toronto).

Web Links

• About Toronto

  • United Way Toronto report on poverty by postal code
  • Strong Neighbourhoods: A Call to Action report
  • An excellent summary of the diversity of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA)
  • Another set of information on diversity focused more particularly on the city of Toronto
  • Ward Profiles



• Information about immigration

  • General information on immigrating to Canada and to research articles and statistics related to Canada's immigration policies
  • 2006 census report on immigration
  • Concise profiles of the people from many different cultures moving into and living in Canada.

• Statistics Canada Resources

  • A collection of the many statistical tables and summaries from Canada 's most recent official census
  • Stats Canada 2006 Community Profile engine
  • Summary of immigrant population by country of birth for Toronto and other Ontario communities
  • Download Projections of the Diversity of the Canadian Population

The goal of this document is to describe the future composition of the Canadian population, using different scenarios of population growth. Computed using a microsimulation model named Demosim, the projections emphazise on characteristics such as place of birth, generation status, visible minority group, religious denomination and mother tongue.