page_title: Financial District, Toronto
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Financial District, Toronto / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Original caption: “Business Section of Toronto from an Aeroplane.”
context_page_description: The Financial District is the central business district of Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was originally planned as New Town in 1796 as an extension of the Town of York. It is the main financial district in Toronto and is considered the heart of Canada's finance industry. It is bounded roughly by Queen Street West to the north, Yonge Street to the east, Front Street to the south, and University Avenue to the west, though many office towers in the downtown core have been and are being constructed outside this area, which will extend the general boundaries. Examples of this trend are the Telus Harbour, RBC Centre, and CIBC Square.
  It is the most densely built-up area of Toronto, home to banking companies, corporate headquarters, high-powered legal and accounting firms, insurance companies and stockbrokers. In turn, the presence of so many decision-makers has brought advertising agencies and marketing companies. The banks have built large office towers, much of whose space is leased to these companies.
context_section_description: The district's origins date back to the mid to late-19th century when several early banks had head offices located in Toronto. Most of these banks were regional and came and went. It was not until the second half of the 20th Century that the Big Five banks located their headquarters there.
  Of the big banks, only CIBC and Toronto-Dominion Bank (including the banks existing before mergers) had full head offices in Toronto:
  Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) (1961) — both Imperial Bank of Canada (1875) and Canadian Bank of Commerce (1867) had head offices in Toronto
  Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) (1976) — relocated corporate head offices from Montreal; maintains legal head office in Montreal
  Bank of Montreal (BMO) (1975) — relocated corporate head offices from Montreal; maintains legal head office in Montreal
  Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) (1955) — previous Bank of Toronto (1855) and The Dominion Bank (1869) had head offices in Toronto
  Scotiabank (1931) — relocated corporate head office from Halifax; maintains legal head office in Halifax
  The Toronto Financial District Business Improvement Area was later retained order to represent all commercial businesses within the district. The organization engages in streetscape improvements, addressing key issues that impact the area, and promoting the area's businesses online.
  With much business activity and demand, there are new residential and condominium/towers built inside and around the edges, many of them are connected to the PATH system. In the southeast of the financial district, a new tunnel is under construction from Union Station to connect to Backstage Condo on Yonge and The-Esplanade.
caption: The Financial District from the air, 1920.
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