Travel to Toronto

General information

The Government of Canada takes a way toll (called eTA “Electronic Travel Authorization” or AVE “Autorisation de voyage électronique”) of currently 7 $ Canadian from every person entering the country. Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada are exempted. For more information, visit the website http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/eta.asp or http://www.cic.gc.ca/francais/visiter/ave.asp.

Toronto can be reached by air, by train, by coach, or by car. There is currently no ferry service across Lake Ontario.

 

Air

1) Lester B. Pearson International Airport (YYZ)

Toronto Pearson is a destination of all major international airlines, with direct flights from most of the world’s major airports. (https://torontopearson.com)

From the Pearson International Airport, you have several options for getting into the city:

  • There is a taxi stand just outside of each airport terminal. Normal taxi fare from the airport to downtown is somewhere between 50 and 60 Canadian dollars, depending on the precise destination (flat rates). Be careful to insist on the normal fare when offered a minivan. “Limousines” are more expensive.
  • There is an above-ground train, the UP Express, whose station is located inside Terminal 1 and which goes to Union Station, where you can catch the subway line 1 (“Yonge line”/“University-Spadina line”). There is an intermediate stop near the subway station “Dundas St West” (line 2, “Bloor-Danforth line”). The cost of a ticket from the airport to Union Station is currently 12.35 Canadian dollars. Travel time from Pearson to Union Station: 25 mins. For the subway, you have to add 3.25 dollars.
  • Bus/subway. The public transit system is called TTC (“Toronto Transit Commission”). Bus line 192 (called “Airport Rocket”) runs from Pearson to the Kipling Subway Station. Be careful to get on a bus that runs in the right direction. From Kipling, you can take the Bloor-Danforth subway line to downtown (stops at St George, or Bay, or Bloor/Yonge). Change at St George will bring you to the conference venue (stop at Museum on the University-Spadina line) and to the Strathcona Hotel (stop at Union Station) To reach the Holiday Inn Toronto Downtown Centre and the Bond Place Hotel, change at Bloor/Yonge. The cost of a one-way TTC trip (including free transfers between the subway, busses, and street-cars) is 3.25 CAD. Count on a travel time of at least one hour for the whole trip.
  • Rental car: for driving directions, see below (“Car”).

 

 

2) Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, commonly known as City Centre Airport (YTZ). As the name shows, this is located very close to the city centre, on an island in Lake Ontario.

Serviced by Porter Airlines and Air Canada, with direct flights from most major cities in eastern Canada and the eastern and midwestern United States. (https://www.portstoronto.com/airport.aspx)

From the Billy Bishop Airport, you can either walk through the (rather long) Pedestrian Tunnel or take a ferry which runs from the island airport to the mainland every 15 minutes (free for pedestrians). Once you are on the mainland, you can take

  • the Porter Airlines Shuttle Bus (free from the mainland ferry terminal), which will take you near Union Station,
  • or the 509 Harbourfront streetcar ($3.25 for a one-way trip) to Union Station. There you will be able to transfer to the subway, on the same ticket.
  • Taxi fare from the mainland ferry terminal to downtown hotels is typically around 10 Canadian dollars.

 

 

Train

Toronto’s main train station is Union Station, serviced by direct trains from all major Canadian cities (http://www.viarail.ca/).

Getting to the university from Union Station: Outside the main entrance of Union Station, you will find the subway station; take a westward train (“University-Spadina line”, “West”, “Downsview”, “Sheppard West”, or “Vaughan”); the stop for the campus is “Museum.” In order to get to the Holiday Inn Toronto Downtown Centre or to the Bond Place Hotel, take an eastward train (“Yonge line”, “East”, or “Finch”).

 

 

Coach

Toronto Coach Terminal is located downtown at 610 Bay Street, between the subway stations St Patrick (walking distance: 0.4 km, 5 min) and Dundas (walking distance: 0.3 km, 4 min). It is serviced by Greyhound, Megabus, and Ontario Northland.

 

 

Car

If you are driving to the University of Toronto, you can approach Toronto

  • from the northeast via Highway 401. In order to enter into the city from the north, take:
    • Allen Road (west of downtown, at its end turn left and continue on Eglinton to Avenue Road),
    • or Avenue Road (which will lead you directly to the downtown campus, where it changes its name and becomes Queen’s Park),
    • or the Don Valley Parkway (east of downtown), exit at Bayview/Bloor Street. From Bloor Street, turn left on Church Street, then right on Charles Street.
  •  from the north via Highway 400, turning east onto highway 401 (then see above)
  • from the southwest via Highway 403, continuing either
    • on highway 401 (then see above)
    • or via the Queen Elizabeth Way and the Gardiner Expressway. In order to enter the city from the south, exit at York St./Bay St./Yonge St., go north through downtown on either
      • University Avenue and Queen’s Park Crescent East
      • or Bay St., and turn left onto St Joseph Street or Charles Street which end at Queen’s Park Crescent East
  •   If you are driving from the airport, follow directions for either
    • “401 East” (and then approach the city from the north, as above)
    • or “427 South” (then continue eastward on the Gardiner Expressway and enter the city   from the south, as above)

 

 

Parking

Please be aware that parking in Toronto is expensive. The best course of action is to ask for parking opportunities at your hotel.

 

Parking options near the conference venue:

  • There is street parking on Howard Street, St. George Street, Hart House Circle, and King’s College Circle.
  • Saint-Michael’s College and Victoria College offer parking options on a first-come, first-served basis; it is not possible to book spots (attention, in daytime the parking lots are often full).

 

Saint Michael’s College has a (small) parking lot off St. Joseph Street which can be used by everyone (entrance between the Muzzo Family Alumni Hall at 121 St. Joseph Street and the Toronto School of Theology at 47 Queen’s Park Crescent East; parking rates can be found under the sub-heading “Parking” at https://stmikes.utoronto.ca/maps/#Campus_Buildings_and_Street_Addresses (currently 14 dollars for daytime parking, 24 dollars for 24-hour parking).

 

Victoria College offers parking space both above ground (various locations) and underground (under Rowell Jackman Hall, 85 Charles Street West). All parking permits must be purchased at the front desk of Victoria University’s Residence Services on the ground floor of Margaret Addison Hall, 140 Charles Street West (entrance on the right-hand side of the Goldring Student Centre at 150 Charles Street West). Parking rates can be found at http://www.vicu.utoronto.ca/Assets/VICU+Digital+Assets/Victoria+University/VICU+Digital+Assets/Residence+Services/Parking+Rules+and+Regulations.pdf (currently 12 dollars for daytime parking, 22 dollars for a 24-hour pass, 85 dollars for a week pass).

 

Modified 17 February 2018