York County, Ontario in the context of "Regional Municipality of York"

Queen Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street in the west to Victoria Park Avenue in the east. Queen Street was the cartographic baseline for the original east–west avenues of Toronto's and York County's grid pattern of major roads. The western section of Queen (sometimes simply referred to as "Queen West") is a centre for Canadian broadcasting, music, fashion, performance, and the visual arts.

The name of Toronto has a history distinct from that of the city itself. Originally, the term "Tkaronto" referred to a channel of water between Lake Simcoe and Lake Couchiching, at what is now the city of Orillia, on maps as early as 1675 but in time the name passed southward, and was eventually applied to a new fort at the mouth of the Humber River. Fort Toronto was the first European settlement in the area, and lent its name to what became the city of Toronto.

John Graves Simcoe identified the area as a strategic location to base a new capital for Upper Canada, believing Newark to be susceptible to American invasion. A garrison was established at Garrison Creek, on the western entrance to the docks of Toronto Harbour, in 1793; this later became Fort York. The settlement it defended was renamed York on August 26, 1793, as Simcoe favoured English names over those of First Nations languages, in honour of Prince Frederick, Duke of York. Residents petitioned to change the name back to Toronto, and in 1834 the city was incorporated with its original name. The name York lived on through the name of York County (which was later split into Metropolitan Toronto and York Region), and continues to live on through the names of several districts within the city, including Yorkville, East York, North York, and York the last three being suburbs that were formally amalgamated into the "megacity" of Toronto on January 1, 1998.

The Regional Municipality of York, also called York Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, between Lake Simcoe and Toronto. The region was established after the passing of then Bill 102, An Act to Establish The Regional Municipality of York, in 1970. It replaced the former York County in 1971, and is part of the Greater Toronto Area and the inner ring of the Golden Horseshoe. The regional government is headquartered in Newmarket.

As of the 2021 census, York Region's population was 1,173,334, with a growth rate of 5.7% from 2016. The Government of Ontario expects its population to surpass 1.5 million residents by 2031. The three largest cities in York Region are Markham, Vaughan and Richmond Hill.

Old Toronto is the part of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that corresponds to the boundaries of the City of Toronto prior to 1998. It was incorporated as a city in 1834, after being known as the town of York, and being part of York County. Toronto periodically grew in size by annexing adjacent land and municipalities.

In 1954, the City of Toronto and the surrounding suburban towns and townships of York County were joined in a federation known as the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto (Metro). Later, the lower-tier city annexed two towns until it reached its final boundaries in 1967. In 1998, the municipalities of Metro Toronto were amalgamated into the present-day single-tier City of Toronto, which continues legally from the predecessor City of Toronto, although the by-laws of each municipality remained in force.

James Durand (1775 – 22 March 1833) was a businessman and political figure in Upper Canada.

He was born in Abergavenny, Wales in 1775 and came to Upper Canada in 1802 to deal with delinquent accounts on behalf of a group of London merchants. Having seized the Bridgewater Works at Chippawa, Durand purchased the operation from his employers. He also established a trading depot near Long Point. In 1810, he sold the operation at Chippawa due to a downturn in the produce market. He served in the Lincoln Militia during the War of 1812. In 1815, he became the representative for West York in the 6th Parliament of Upper Canada in a by-election after Abraham Markle joined the Americans. Durand criticized the introduction of martial law during the war. With John Willson, he drafted the Common Schools Act of 1816, which introduced public support of elementary schools. He also helped establish the Gore District with Hamilton as the district town. In 1817, he was elected in the riding of Wentworth and served until 1820. He was a partner in the Desjardins Canal Company, expanded his land holdings and built sawmills to process his timber holdings.