Central Toronto is a Canadian city located on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario, and is the provincial capital of Ontario. Toronto is the 5th most populous municipality (population est. 2,613,900, July 1, 2005) in North America behind Mexico City, New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Toronto is a global city, exerting significant regional and international influence, and is one of the most multicultural and ethnically diverse cities in the world. It is Canada's financial centre and economic engine, as well as one of the country's most important cultural, artistic, and health sciences centres. Toronto was named the world's most livable city in 1994 by The Economist. It was displaced in 2005 by Vancouver, but is still ranked among the top ten. [1] In January 2005, Toronto was designated by the federal government as one of Canada's cultural capitals.