Archives of Ontario: City of Toronto Directories

This microfilm consists of the directories for 1833-1983 for the Cities of Toronto (1834-1954), and Metropolitan Toronto (1954-1998).

The earliest directories often contained numerous details promoting the city, ranging from buildings constricted, import/export totals, and prominent events of the previous year. Most of the directories contain the following sections in this order:

Classified Index
Name Index
Street Index

Photo: View of King Street, looking east from Yonge Street, Toronto, 1878
View of King Street, looking east from
Yonge Street, Toronto, 1878
Photographer unknown
Reference Code: F 4436-0-0-0-46
Archives of Ontario, I0021849

Classified Index: This section lists the street address and telephone number of the city’s most prominent institutions, societies, and commercial operations, along with most named buildings (e.g. Madison Apartments), locations (e.g., Mayfair Square), and places of worship.

Name Index: This section lists the head of the household for most private dwellings and many apartment buildings. The information and abbreviations presented can include the name of the individual, their spouse, martial status, occupation and employer, type of dwelling (e.g., lodger, boarder, renter, homeowner) telephone number, and street address. Please note that some business and entertainment people can appear repeatedly under their personal, commercial, and company names.]

Street Index: This section alphabetically lists the city’s streets, giving the buildings, names of the occupants, and intersecting street on each side by order of their street number.

As Toronto’s population expanded, the directories covering 1950-1983 grew so massive that four reels of microfilm are required to copy them. If you are looking to use the Classified or Name Index, order the first 3 reels for the year you are interested in. If you are looking to use the Street Index, order the last 3 reels.

These records are available on microfilm reel B 70 D5 Reels 1-238. To order you may:

Consult the reel(s) in our reading room at 77 Grenville Street in Toronto.
From the Interlibrary Loan Department of your public library, order the appropriate reel(s) as determined in table below. These reels cannot leave the borrowing library, so make sure to order them from a library that has a microfilm reader.
These Microfilm reels are also available at the Toronto Reference Library.

Date	Publisher	Archives of Ontario Microfilm Reference
1833-1834	Walton	B70 D5, Reel 1 or 2 (complete copy on each reel)
1837	Home District	B70 D5, Reel 2
1846-1847	Brown	B70 D5, Reel 2 or 3 (complete copy on each reel)
1850-1851	Rowsell	B70 D5, Reel 2 or 3 (complete copy on each reel)
1856	Brown	B70 D5, Reel 4, 5, or 6 (complete copy on each reel)
1859-1860	Caverhill	B70 D5, Reel 3 or 5 (complete copy on each reel)
1861	Brown	B70 D5, Reel 5 or 6 (complete copy on each reel)
1862-1863	Hurchinson	B70 D5, Reel 5 or 6 (complete copy on each reel)
1864-1865	Mitchell	B70 D5, Reel 4, 5, or 6 (complete copy on each reel)
1866	Mitchell	B70 D5, Reel 84
1867-1868	Sutherland	B70 D5, Reel 7
1868-1869	McVoy (compiler)	B70 D5, Reel 8
1870	Irwin (compiler)	B70 D5, Reel 7
1872-1873	Irwin (compiler)	B70 D5, Reel 3
1873	Cherrier, Kirwin, and McGown	B70 D5, Reel 8
1874	Fisher and Taylor	B70 D5, Reel 8
1875	Fisher and Taylor	B70 D5, Reel 8
1876	Fisher and Taylor	B70 D5, Reel 9
1877	Might and Taylor	B70 D5, Reel 9
1878	Might and Taylor	B70 D5, Reel 10
1879	Might and Taylor	B70 D5, Reel 10
1880	Might and Taylor	B70 D5, Reel 11
1881	Might	B70 D5, Reel 2
1882	Might	B70 D5, Reels 12 and 13
1883	Polk	B70 D5, Reel 13 (Pages 7-184 are missing; directory begins with “Ayers, S”)
1884	Polk	B70 D5, Reel 14
1885	Polk	B70 D5, Reels 14 and 15
1886	Polk	B70 D5, Reel 16
1887	Polk	B70 D5, Reel 17
1888	Polk	B70 D5, Reels 18 and 19
1889	Polk	B70 D5, Reels 19 and 20
1889	Union Publishing Company	B70 D5, Reel 20
1890	Polk	B70 D5, Reels 21 and 22
1891	Union Publishing Company	B70 D5, Reel 23
1891	Might	B70 D5, Reels 23 and 24
1892	Might	B70 D5, Reels 24 and 25
1893	Might	B70 D5, Reels 25 to 26
1894	Might	B70 D5, Reels 27 and 28
1895	Might	B70 D5, Reels 28 and 29
1896	Might	B70 D5, Reels 30 to 32
1897	Might	B70 D5, Reels 32 and 33
1899	Might	B70 D5, Reels 33 and 34
1900	Might	B70 D5, Reels 35 and 35
1901	Might	B70 D5, Reel 35
1902	Might	B70 D5, Reel 36
1903	Might	B70 D5, Reel 37
1904	Might	B70 D5, Reel 38
1905	Might	B70 D5, Reels 38 and 39
1906	Might	B70 D5, Reels 39 and 40
1907	Might	B70 D5, Reels 40 to 42
1908	Might	B70 D5, Reels 42 and 43
1909	Might	B70 D5, Reels 43 and 44
1910	Might	B70 D5, Reels 44 and 45
1911	Might	B70 D5, Reels 45 and 46
1912	Might	B70 D5, Reels 46 and 47
1913	Might	B70 D5, Reels 48 and 49
1914	Might	B70 D5, Reels 49 and 50
1915	Might	B70 D5, Reels 51 and 52
1916	Might	B70 D5, Reels 52 and 53
1917	Might	B70 D5, Reels 54 and 55
1918	Might	B70 D5, Reels 55 and 56
1919	Might	B70 D5, Reel 57
1920	Might	B70 D5, Reels 58 and 59
1921	Might	B70 D5, Reels 59 and 60
1922	Might	B70 D5, Reels 61 and 62
1923	Might	B70 D5, Reels 62 to 64
1924	Might	B70 D5, Reels 64 to 66
1925	Might	B70 D5, Reels 66 and 67
1926	Might	B70 D5, Reels 67 to 69
1927	Might	B70 D5, Reels 69 and 70
1928	Might	B70 D5, Reels 71 and 72
1929	Might	B70 D5, Reels 72 to 74
1930	Might	B70 D5, Reels 74 to 76
1931	Might	B70 D5, Reels 76 to 78
1932	Might	B70 D5, Reels 78 to 80
1935	Might	B70 D5, Reels 80 to 82
1936	Might	B70 D5, Reels 82 and 83
1937	Might	B70 D5, Reels 85 and 86
1938	Might	B70 D5, Reels 87 and 88
1939	Might	B70 D5, Reels 89 and 90
1940	Might	B70 D5, Reels 91 and 92
1941	Might	B70 D5, Reels 93 and 94
1942	Might	B70 D5, Reels 95 and 96
1943	Might	B70 D5, Reels 97 and 98
1944	Might	B70 D5, Reels 99 and 100
1945	Might	B70 D5, Reels 101 and 102
1946	Might	B70 D5, Reels 103 and 104
1947	Might	B70 D5, Reels 105 and 106
1948	Might	B70 D5, Reels 107 and 108
1949	Might	B70 D5, Reels 109 and 110
1950	Might	B70 D5, Reels 111 to 114
1951	Might	B70 D5, Reels 115 to 118
1952	Might	B70 D5, Reels 119 to 122
1953	Might	B70 D5, Reels 123 to 126
1954	Might	B70 D5, Reels 127 to 103
1955	Might	B70 D5, Reels 131 to 134
1956	Might	B70 D5, Reels 135 to 138
1957	Might	B70 D5, Reels 139 to 142
1958	Might	B70 D5, Reels 143 to 146
1959	Might	B70 D5, Reels 147 to 150
1960	Might	B70 D5, Reels 151 to 154
1961	Might	B70 D5, Reels 155 to 158
1962	Might	B70 D5, Reels 159 to 162
1963	Might	B70 D5, Reels 163 to 166
1964	Might	B70 D5, Reels 167 to 170
1965	Might	B70 D5, Reels 171 to 174
1966	Might	B70 D5, Reels 175 to 178
1967	Might	B70 D5, Reels 179 to 182
1968	Might	B70 D5, Reels 183 to 186
1969	Might	B70 D5, Reels 187 to 190
1970	Might	B70 D5, Reels 191 to 194
1971	Might	B70 D5, Reels 195 to 198
1972	Might	B70 D5, Reels 199 to 202
1973	Might	B70 D5, Reels 203 to 206
1974	Might	B70 D5, Reels 207 to 210
1975	Might	B70 D5, Reels 211 to 214
1976	Might	B70 D5, Reels 215 to 218
1977	Might	B70 D5, Reels 219 to 222
1978-1979	Might	B70 D5, Reels 223 to 226
1980	Might	B70 D5, Reels 227 to 230
1981-1982	Might	B70 D5, Reels 231 to 234
1983	Might	B70 D5, Reels 235 to 238

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