METROPOLITAN TORONTO Meaning and
Definition
-
Metropolitan Toronto refers to a former administrative division and a historical term used to describe the regional municipality of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and its surrounding suburban municipalities. It was created in 1954 and dissolved in 1998 when it was amalgamated into the new single-tier municipality of Toronto.
Geographically, Metropolitan Toronto encompassed the City of Toronto itself along with several adjacent suburbs, including East York, Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough, and York. These individual municipalities maintained their own local governments and services but operated under the umbrella of a larger metropolitan administration.
Metropolitan Toronto served as the governing body for the region, responsible for overseeing various shared services and regional planning, such as transportation, housing, and infrastructure development. It helped coordinate policies and programs among its member municipalities, fostering cooperation and collaboration on issues that affected the entire metropolitan area.
The dissolution of Metropolitan Toronto in 1998 was accompanied by the creation of a new single-tier municipality, also known as the City of Toronto. This amalgamation aimed to streamline government services, eliminate duplication, and create a more efficient administrative structure for the growing population and urban needs of the region.
Today, the term Metropolitan Toronto is more commonly used in historical contexts to refer to the era before the amalgamation, while the City of Toronto covers the entire urbanized area and its various neighborhoods and districts.
Etymology of METROPOLITAN TORONTO
The term "Metropolitan Toronto" refers to the former regional government and administrative entity in the Canadian province of Ontario, which existed from 1954 to 1998. The etymology of the term can be broken down as follows:
1. Metropolitan: The word "metropolitan" comes from the Greek word "metropolis", which means "mother city" or "capital". It is derived from the Greek words "meta", meaning "beyond", and "polis", meaning "city".
2. Toronto: The name "Toronto" is derived from the Mohawk word "tkaronto", which means "where there are trees standing in the water". The word refers to the Toronto Passage, a narrows of Lake Simcoe where the original settlement of Toronto was founded.
When combined, "Metropolitan Toronto" refers to the regional government and its administrative area centered around the city of Toronto, Ontario.
