Greater Toronto Area
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The Greater Toronto Area (called the GTA by local residents) is the largest metropolitan area in Canada and tenth largest in North America, after Mexico City, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Baltimore-Washington, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Boston, and Dallas, although would be ranked fifth if taking the entire Greater Golden Horseshoe into account. The GTA is centred around Toronto, with an official population of 5,033,541 (2001). In addition to the City of Toronto, it includes four distinct Regional Municipalities and the Chippewas of Georgina Island Native Reserve.
The federal government also includes portions of Simcoe County and Dufferin County and excludes portions of Durham Region and Halton Region for census purposes, but all areas combined are generally thought of being part of the GTA.
On the map, the divisions that are fully within the GTA appear in red. The divisions listed above, which lie partially within the GTA, appear in pink.
Some municipalities are not within the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), but are within the Greater Toronto Area Association of Municipalities (GTAAM). Likewise, some municipalities are not part of the GTAAM but part of the Toronto CMA. Some municipalities, such as Barrie, are in neither the GTAAM nor CMA but still considered part of the GTA by local residents. Ultimately, all the below listed municipalities are thought of as being part of the Greater Toronto Area, regardless of official association.
Municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area:
The following regional governments are included in the Greater Toronto Area:
- Regional Municipality of Durham
- Regional Municipality of Halton
- Regional Municipality of Peel
- Regional Municipality of York
The City of Hamilton, Regional Municipality of Niagara and City of Guelph all have significant ties to Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area. Nonetheless, these ties aren't strong enough for them be considered part of the GTA, officially or otherwise. It is expected that with current rate of regional growth these areas will one day in the future become part of the Greater Toronto Area. In some cases the provincial government already includes Hamilton in Niagara as part of the GTA for record keeping purposes as well as for transportation planning. In 2001, Statistics Canada included a new level of census management called Census Regions, roughly equivalent to an American Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA). The Extended Golden Horseshoe Census Region includes all of the Greater Toronto Area listed above, as well as Niagara, Hamilton, Guelph and Kitchener-Waterloo. Combined, the Extended Golden Horseshoe has a population of 6.8 million people and contains roughly one quarter of Canada's population.
Toronto and the GTA are served by six distinct area codes. It is often thought that Toronto itself is area code 416, while the Greater Toronto Area is area code 905. This division by area code has become part of the local culture to the point where local media would refer to something inside Toronto as "The 416s" and outside of Toronto as "The 905s." Though for the most part this was correct, it isn't entirly true as some portions of Durham Region are area code 705, and some portions of Peel Region are area code 519. Things became even more complicated by the addition of two overlay area codes in the area with 647 being overlaid on 416 in March, 2001 and 289 on 905 in July, 2001. 10-digit telephone dialing, including the area code for local calls, is required throughout all of the GTA as well as Hamilton and Niagara.
Most of the GTA is served by GO Transit, a regional transportation authority that connects Toronto's suburban areas to its downtown.
