Toronto is a city in the province of Ontario, in Canada, on the northwest shore of Lake Ontario. It is the capital of Ontario, not of Canada: the national capital is Ottawa, which was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1857. Toronto is not in the United States, it is not a province or a state, and its clocks follow Eastern Time. The City of Toronto has been a single municipality since January 1, 1998, when six local governments were merged.
Which country and province
Toronto lies in Canada, in the province of Ontario. Canada has provinces and territories, not states, so the question “is Toronto a state” has a plain answer: no. Ontario is one of the provinces, and Toronto is a city inside it. Lake Ontario forms the city’s southern edge, and the United States lies across the lake and farther south, so Toronto is near the border but entirely on the Canadian side. It is not in Quebec, which is a separate province to the east. The City of Toronto gives the location as the northwest shore of Lake Ontario, on a broad sloping plateau cut by river valleys, at about 43°39′ north latitude and 79°23′ west longitude.
Capital of Ontario, and why Ottawa is different
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario meets in the Legislative Building at Queen’s Park, 111 Wellesley Street West, in Toronto, and the Assembly’s own website names Toronto as Ontario’s capital. The federal government sits in Ottawa, where Parliament Hill is the meeting place of the House of Commons and the Senate. A person asking “Is Toronto or Ottawa the capital of Ontario?” gets two correct answers to two different questions: Toronto is the provincial capital and Ottawa is the capital of Canada. Ottawa is also in Ontario, on the border with Quebec, which is one reason the two cities are often confused.
Time zone
Toronto is in the Eastern Time zone. The National Research Council Canada, which publishes the country’s official time, lists Eastern Standard Time as UTC minus five hours and Eastern Daylight Time as UTC minus four hours. In Ontario, clocks move forward on the second Sunday in March and back on the first Sunday in November. Only the part of Ontario west of 90° west longitude is on Central Time, which is far northwest of Toronto. The National Research Council marks its time-zone page as under review, so the current rules should be confirmed with the Government of Ontario.
Currency
Money in Toronto is Canadian dollars, abbreviated CAD. The Bank of Canada describes legal tender as its bank notes and the coins of the Royal Canadian Mint. It also states that no law requires anyone to accept cash, and that buyer and seller may agree on any form of payment. Whether a shop accepts United States dollars is therefore the shop’s own decision, and the Bank of Canada page does not make US currency legal tender.
What counts as Toronto: the six former municipalities
The City of Toronto Archives traces the present boundaries to April 15, 1953, when the province created the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto from 13 municipalities. Metro took over its area on January 1, 1954. On January 1, 1967, the 13 were reduced to six. On January 1, 1998, the six municipalities were amalgamated into one City of Toronto and Metro ceased to exist.
| Former municipality (1967 to 1997) | Joined it on January 1, 1967 | Today |
|---|---|---|
| Toronto (old Toronto) | Forest Hill, Swansea | Part of the City of Toronto |
| Etobicoke | Long Branch, Mimico, New Toronto | Part of the City of Toronto |
| North York | No merger in 1967 | Part of the City of Toronto |
| Scarborough | No merger in 1967 | Part of the City of Toronto |
| York | Weston | Part of the City of Toronto |
| East York | Leaside | Part of the City of Toronto |
This answers a common set of searches. Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough, York, and East York are not separate cities beside Toronto: they are districts of the City of Toronto, and a street address in any of them is a Toronto address. The word “Toronto” is also used in a narrower way for old Toronto, the downtown core that was the municipality before 1953. The articles on neighborhoods on this site use that narrower sense where it matters.
Size and population
The City of Toronto gives its area as 641 square kilometers (about 247 square miles), and lists a land area of 630 square kilometers in its indicators table. The two figures reflect different definitions of area. In 2026 the city had an estimated 3,358,275 residents. That figure is 7.6 percent of the country’s population. The Toronto census metropolitan area, a larger unit used by Statistics Canada that includes the suburbs, had 6,202,225 people in 2021. Ontario had 14,223,942 residents and Canada had 36,991,981. The population and language data are covered in a separate article.
City, GTA, and GTHA
The Greater Toronto Area, or GTA, is a name for the City of Toronto together with the four regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York, according to provincial policy documents quoted by the Neptis Foundation. It is a planning and everyday term, not a unit of government. The Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area adds the city of Hamilton and had 7,281,694 people in the 2021 census, with the City of Toronto accounting for 38.4 percent. Because the terms differ, a statement such as “Toronto has six million people” is usually describing the census metropolitan area, not the city.
Frequently asked questions
Is Toronto in the USA?
No. Toronto is in Canada, in the province of Ontario, on the northwest shore of Lake Ontario. The United States lies across the lake.
Which province is Toronto in?
Ontario. Toronto is also the capital of Ontario, and the Legislative Assembly meets at Queen’s Park in the city.
Is Toronto the capital of Canada?
No. Ottawa is the capital of Canada. Queen Victoria chose it in 1857, according to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
Is Etobicoke part of Toronto?
Yes. Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough, York, and East York have been parts of the City of Toronto since the amalgamation of January 1, 1998.
What currency does Toronto use?
The Canadian dollar (CAD). Businesses decide for themselves whether to take other currencies.
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- City of Toronto Archives, “Resources on former municipalities”
- City of Toronto, “Toronto at a glance” (location, area, coordinates)
- Statistics Canada, 2021 Census release of February 9, 2022 (census metropolitan area, Ontario, Canada), and the City of Toronto 2021 Census backgrounder on population and dwellings (city and GTHA figures)
- Legislative Assembly of Ontario, “The Capital Cities” and Legislative Building pages
- National Research Council Canada, “Time zones and daylight saving time”
- Bank of Canada, “About legal tender”
- Neptis Foundation, terminology chapter (definition of the GTA)
Related reading
- Queen’s Park and the Ontario Legislative Building
- How Toronto districts grew
- Census figures on population and languages
- An overview of Toronto’s history
- Toronto facts: location, population, geography and weather
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 23). Where Is Toronto? Province, Boundaries and Time Zone. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/toronto-and-ontario-understanding-the-key-differences-between-the-two
MLA: “Where Is Toronto? Province, Boundaries and Time Zone.” History of Toronto, 23 Oct. 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/toronto-and-ontario-understanding-the-key-differences-between-the-two. Accessed .
Chicago: History of Toronto. “Where Is Toronto? Province, Boundaries and Time Zone.” Last modified October 23, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/toronto-and-ontario-understanding-the-key-differences-between-the-two.
The pages have no named author, so the site is given as the author. Add the date you read the page if your style asks for it.