In the early 1980s, Toronto surpassed Montreal in population with a population of 3 million versus 2.8 million for Montreal. Several factors contributed to Toronto’s growth over Montreal, including substantial immigration, especially from Asians and African Americans, the growing auto industry in Southern Ontario after the Auto Pact was signed with the US in 1965, a calmer political environment, lower personal income taxes than in Quebec (Quebec experienced two referendums on separation during these years, one in 1980 and one in 1995). Most Canadian companies have their head offices in Toronto, which also became the corporate capital of Canada.
During the 1980s, manufacturing jobs in Toronto had become more specialized (e.g., electronics), and the significant shift was to service jobs as Toronto became a major financial, administration, real estate, insurance, educational, wholesale, retailing, and tourism destination. Five of the six national banks were located in the city, making it the nation’s financial capital. Consequently, the town saw high-density core development and suburbanization, which increased the need for public transportation.
Here are some stunning vintage photos that will take you back to the 1980s in Toronto. It seems like the 1980s were not too distant from today, but they were different. It was a large city, but it still felt like a small town. The environment seemed safe, clean, and endlessly exciting.
Great photo selection
Was just telling my wife today about how i miss fountains in malls. Seeing the balloon fountain at stc really just hit home how much worse malls are now.
Better or not, I’d love to live through it all over again.
It was better. And I would do the same
Yup it ain’t nostalgia, things were that much better
This photo album is curated well, but there are no photo credits at all and no archives accession numbers (for which a great many were sourced, and a few of which I’ve held the actual slides and negatives at the City Archives).
I know a few hail from from the city’s urban design department, whereas a few of the early ’80s shots come from the Harvey Naylor fonds (whose photo work ended around the time of the 1984 visit of the Queen). I have no idea where the photos with French captions came from, but I would have wanted to know.
That absence of metadata, set to a click-oriented listicle format, is the one thing which takes away from an otherwise excellent variety of bygone scenes around the city.
Unbelievable, I did not see a single piece of trash anywhere. What happened between then and now?
The population quadrupled while the city’s budget hasn’t been able to keep up.