A Trivial Trip Through Toronto Quiz

Answer: Thunder Bay

Highway 401 travels 820 kilometers from the Canada-US border, crossing in Windsor to the Ontario-Quebec border southwest of Montreal. The highway is the world's busiest truck route and North America's busiest highway. Highway 401 was initially only a cross-Toronto highway, completed in 1956.

The rest of the highway was completed in patches, finishing in 1964. The highway is dedicated as the MacDonald-Cartier Freeway, honouring two of Canada's Fathers of Confederation, and the Trenton-Toronto sector is called the "Highway of Heroes", as this route is travelled by military convoys carrying fallen Canadian soldiers from CFB Trenton to the coroner's office in Toronto.

Answer: Lake Ontario

Lake Ontario is the easternmost of the Great Lakes, and the smallest of the five by surface area. Ontario comes from "Beautiful Great Lake" in Iroquois. The French were the first to establish a trading post where Toronto now stands, arriving on Lake Ontario in 1750.

A 32 mile (52 km) route from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Toronto has become an endurance swim challenge, first completed by 16-year old Marilyn Bell in 1956. The park in which she swam ashore in Toronto is now named in her honour.

Answer: Lester B. Pearson

Pearson International Airport is found on the northwestern border of the city of Toronto, encroaching into the neighbouring city of Mississauga. The airport's IATA code is YYZ, and is Canada's busiest airport. The airport is a hub for Air Canada and WestJet passenger carriers, and was the first international airport to offer preclearance for travellers flying to the United States.

The Union-Pearson rail link was completed in 2014, connecting travellers and tourists from the suburban airport to downtown Union Station.

Answer: Finance

Bay Street was originally called Bear Street because of the abundance of bear sightings in early Toronto. Bay Street runs perpendicular to Lake Ontario, and the headquarter towers of four of Canada's five largest banks can be found on the street corners of Bay and King Streets. North of this intersection are many tall condominium towers. Bay Street is used to refer to Canada's financial industry in much the same way as Wall Street is applied to the American banks.

Answer: Queen Elizabeth Way

The QEW connects Toronto to the USA via bridge to Buffalo, around the western edge of Lake Ontario. Along with the three cities in the question, the highway also passes through Hamilton, St. Catherines and Niagara Falls. When the highway opened in 1937, it was the first divided highway with separate grade exits in North America.

The road was dedicated in 1939 to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother when she toured with her husband King George VI. Travelling the route includes two large bridges over the Welland Canal and Hamilton Harbour in order to accommodate freighters sailing through the Great Lakes system.

Answer: York University

Steeles Avenue forms the political northern boundary of Toronto, although standing on the street you would think you're in the middle of a city. The elevation at the intersection tops off at 209 meters. York University sits on the high point of the city, one of three universities in the city limits. York has Canada's only space engineering program, along with prestigious business, law and film school.

The lowest points along Lake Ontario measure in at 75m above sea level.

Answer: Cliffs

The Bluffs stretch for 15 kilometers along Lake Ontario in the east end of Toronto. At the highest point, the Bluffs stretch 90 meters above the lake. Many parks are situated along the ridge overlooking the lake, however erosion has posed a concern to houses built close to the edge. Safety issues also arise, and many times rescues must retrieve those who overestimated the dangers of hiking the Bluffs. Brimley Park is the only park to offer beach access, along with a marina and trails.

Answer: The Hospital for Sick Children

The stretch of University Avenue just south of College Street is known as "Hospital Row" for its series of hospitals. The Toronto General Hospital was where Frederick Banting discovered insulin as a way to treat diabetes in 1922, as well as the site of the world's first successful single and double lung transplants in the 1980s.

The Hospital for Sick Children, also known as Sick Kids, is the second largest pediatric hospital in the world, and pioneered food safety and nutrition research for children.

It was founded in 1875. Mount Sinai Hospital and the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre are also found on Hospital Row.

Answer: Nobody! It's named after the Don River

The Don Valley Parkway (DVP) connects Highway 401 and 404 in Scarborough and snakes through the Don River Valley into downtown Toronto where it meets the elevated crosstown Gardiner Expressway. The route opened in 1966, and was originally built to support 60,000 cars a day. Very quickly, some areas were handling 100,000 and the surrounding geography of the river and valley walls restricted lane growth. Unlike the 400-series highways that are owned by the province of Ontario, the DVP and Gardiner are maintained by the City of Toronto, and have speed limits 10 km/h slower than the provincial highways.

Answer: Yonge Street

In Toronto, Yonge Street passes many points of interest including the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Eaton Centre, and Union Station. The street was developed by John Graves Simcoe out of fear of an American invasion during the War of the First Coalition in 1793.

In its modern day, Yonge Street is a near straight line from Lake Ontario, through Toronto up to Barrie. Without ever bearing the name Yonge Street, Highway 11 from Barrie north into northern Ontario (1780 km) was associated with Yonge Street, leading to the Guinness Book of World Records falsely proclaiming Yonge Street the longest street in the world.

Instead of over 1800 kilometers long, Yonge Street is only about 80 kilometers and there is a stretch through Barrie where neither Highway 11 or Yonge Street travel.