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Notes from SOC470 - Toronto the changing city
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SOC470 – Toronto the changing cityJanuary 17 - Lecture
Why do we study Toronto? Because it’s the largest city in Canada, it’s a global city, it’s full of immigrants, it’s the
commercial and financial center of the country, it has a strong central city and large suburbs, it’s an emerging tech hub,
and it has a high-income, healthy, and spatial disparity.
Sociology is the systematic and patterned study of human society. A society consists of people who interact in a defined
territory and shared culture.
The field of sociology came up by studying cities, it’s important to study them. Cities have consequences on how
individuals relate to each other.
Some definitions:
- City: a large and densely populated urban area, it includes an administrative center/body responsible for
taxation, etc.
- Urbanization: the process by which a society is transformed from one organized around rural activity to one
organized around an urban activity
- The distinction between macro and micro issues is about policies and phenomena vs what impacts the
individuals itself
,January 24 – Lecture
There are 2 forms of colonialism: Toronto and the relationship with the British government, and Toronto and the
relationship with Indigenous peoples (settler colonialism).
Various clans of Indigenous peoples have been in this area for about 10.000 years and they were very familiar with the
waterways due to their hunting and fishing practices (a famous one is the Toronto Passage going from Lake Ontario and
what is currently known as Toronto to Georgian Bay). When the first European arrives (Etienne Brule in 1615, France) in
what is currently known as Montreal they keep going all the way to what we now call Southern Ontario. The French
were interested in setting up trade deals with locals, especially the Hurons due to their knowledge of the Toronto
Passage and the area. Even if the intentions were good, just by being here they brought diseases, Christian missionaries,
and guns. This ultimately leads to violence and a reduction of the population of Indigenous people. in 1688 the
Mississaguas are the dominant group, so the French stay here only for about 40 years. The British want to settle here
and not just trade like the French. This is influenced by:
- the America Revolution (this is because the people on the side of the British in the Revolution have been pushed
out and go north in what we now call Toronto; so, it was a military location also because of the physical division
between the USA is the Great Lakes.)
- The Toronto Purchase in 1787. This is the agreement signed between the British and the Mississaugas that made
the British acquire about 10 km of land along Lake Ontario. The Indigenous community did not think it was
something permanent because they had no understanding of the concept of owning land.
In Britain, they think that it’s important to bring someone to govern and develop. John Simcoe comes and starts calling
this place the town of York in 1793. Toronto is still a small city going from the harbourfront to King and from Yonge to
Parliament. They build a parliament building, a church, and St. Lawrence market. Most of the people (240) share a lot:
British and Protestant.
The population starts to grow after the war of 1812 even if it happened in Europe. Mostly Irish Catholics and other
smaller groups. As diversity comes in, there are tensions between the British, Irish, Catholics, Protestants, etc. The
Orange Order is an organization that furthers the interests of British Protestants, and it’s brought here. This closed
opportunities for Irish Catholics who were seen as the lower class.
By 1834 this city becomes the City of Toronto. First Major: William Lion McKenzie. Now it’s about Bathurst to
Parliament, and south of Dundas.
In terms of industrialization, economy, and growth:
In 1851 they started building a railway system, which gives an alternative to the waterway that is frozen in the winter. It
allows competing with Montreal as a location where to live and have businesses. Toronto becomes a center of trade for
natural resources By 1867 (when Canada becomes a country) it important administrative and commercial center and
more people want to settle there.
Industrialization (1851 – 1914) happens in 2 stages. This is helped by the railway system. The first stage is when to get
people to buy things they start producing better quality things. This increases the demand. The second stage is to
increase the supply and therefore hire more. Mostly production of clothing, printing, and beer (even during prohibition).
With the selling of labor, there is a change in the class system. Capitalists become the elite. This is different from Britain
because their people were born into that class.
Toronto expands geographically with a process called Annexation (englobing small villages surrounding such as Parkdale,
Riverdale, North York, etc.). With this greater geographical area, there is a separation of residential and housing spaces
northern to stay in nonpolluted areas such as Rosedale, Forest Hill, etc.; Downtown is for lower-income people and
immigrants because of factories, here it’s very populated and it has a kind of stigma. Later on, in the early 1900s, there is
, a transit expansion with street cars and which allows better commutes, UofT was established, and there are better
services. Also, cultural museums start appearing.
The majority of the people are still British but there are other groups such as German, Italians, and free slaves.
During the WWs many Torontonian men went to war and so women started working and getting an education.
During the depression after WW1, there is an economic crisis and people couldn’t afford their big Victorian houses so
they started creating apartments and renting rooms. Therefore, there is a mix of classes, especially in Parkdale and
Dundas, and Jarvis.
After WW2 to avoid another depression the Federal Government introduced unemployment insurance, family
allowance, subsidized healthcare, etc. to avoid poverty.
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