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City of Toronto Directories


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

This microfilm consists of the directories for the City of Toronto (1833-1953) and Metropolitan Toronto (including East York, Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough and York) (1954-1983).

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: 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 134 Ian Macdonald Blvd., 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.
City of Toronto Directories

Date Publisher Archives of Ontario Microfilm Reference

1833-1834

Walton

B70, Reel 1 or 2 (complete copy on each reel)

1837

Home District

B70, Reel 2

1846-1847

Brown

B70, Reel 2 or 3 (complete copy on each reel)

1850-1851

Rowsell

B70, Reel 2 or 3 (complete copy on each reel)

1856

Brown

B70, Reel 4, 5, or 6 (complete copy on each reel)

1859-1860

Caverhill

B70, Reel 3 or 5 (complete copy on each reel)

1861

Brown

B70, Reel 5 or 6 (complete copy on each reel)

1862-1863

Hurchinson

B70, Reel 5 or 6 (complete copy on each reel)

1864-1865

Mitchell

B70, Reel 4, 5, or 6 (complete copy on each reel)

1866

Mitchell

B70, Reel 84

1867-1868

Sutherland

B70, Reel 7

1868-1869

McVoy (compiler)

B70, Reel 8

1870

Irwin (compiler)

B70, Reel 7

1872-1873

Irwin (compiler)

B70, Reel 3

1873

Cherrier, Kirwin, and McGown

B70, Reel 8

1874

Fisher and Taylor

B70, Reel 8

1875

Fisher and Taylor

B70, Reel 8

1876

Fisher and Taylor

B70, Reel 9

1877

Might and Taylor

B70, Reel 9

1878

Might and Taylor

B70, Reel 10

1879

Might and Taylor

B70, Reel 10

1880

Might and Taylor

B70, Reel 11

1881

Might

B70, Reel 2

1882

Might

B70, Reels 12 and 13

1883

Polk

B70, Reel 13 (Pages 7-184 are missing; directory begins with “Ayers, S”)

1884

Polk

B70, Reel 14

1885

Polk

B70, Reels 14 and 15

1886

Polk

B70, Reel 16

1887

Polk

B70, Reel 17

1888

Polk

B70, Reels 18 and 19

1889

Polk

B70, Reels 19 and 20

1889

Union Publishing Company

B70, Reel 20

1890

Polk

B70, Reels 21 and 22

1891

Union Publishing Company

B70, Reel 23

1891

Might

B70, Reels 23 and 24

1892

Might

B70, Reels 24 and 25

1893

Might

B70, Reels 25 to 26

1894

Might

B70, Reels 27 and 28

1895

Might

B70, Reels 28 and 29

1896

Might

B70, Reels 30 to 32

1897

Might

B70, Reels 32 and 33

1899

Might

B70, Reels 33 and 34

1900

Might

B70, Reels 35 and 35

1901

Might

B70, Reel 35

1902

Might

B70, Reel 36

1903

Might

B70, Reel 37

1904

Might

B70, Reel 38

1905

Might

B70, Reels 38 and 39

1906

Might

B70, Reels 39 and 40

1907

Might

B70, Reels 40 to 42

1908

Might

B70, Reels 42 and 43

1909

Might

B70, Reels 43 and 44

1910

Might

B70, Reels 44 and 45

1911

Might

B70, Reels 45 and 46

1912

Might

B70, Reels 46 and 47

1913

Might

B70, Reels 48 and 49

1914

Might

B70, Reels 49 and 50

1915

Might

B70, Reels 51 and 52

1916

Might

B70, Reels 52 and 53

1917

Might

B70, Reels 54 and 55

1918

Might

B70, Reels 55 and 56

1919

Might

B70, Reel 57

1920

Might

B70, Reels 58 and 59

1921

Might

B70, Reels 59 and 60

1922

Might

B70, Reels 61 and 62

1923

Might

B70, Reels 62 to 64

1924

Might

B70, Reels 64 to 66

1925

Might

B70, Reels 66 and 67

1926

Might

B70, Reels 67 to 69

1927

Might

B70, Reels 69 and 70

1928

Might

B70, Reels 71 and 72

1929

Might

B70, Reels 72 to 74

1930

Might

B70, Reels 74 to 76

1931

Might

B70, Reels 76 to 78

1932

Might

B70, Reels 78 to 80

1935

Might

B70, Reels 80 to 82

1936

Might

B70, Reels 82 and 83

1937

Might

B70, Reels 85 and 86

1938

Might

B70, Reels 87 and 88

1939

Might

B70, Reels 89 and 90

1940

Might

B70, Reels 91 and 92

1941

Might

B70, Reels 93 and 94

1942

Might

B70, Reels 95 and 96

1943

Might

B70, Reels 97 and 98

1944

Might

B70, Reels 99 and 100

1945

Might

B70, Reels 101 and 102

1946

Might

B70, Reels 103 and 104

1947

Might

B70, Reels 105 and 106

1948

Might

B70, Reels 107 and 108

1949

Might

B70, Reels 109 and 110

1950

Might

B70, Reels 111 to 114

1951

Might

B70, Reels 115 to 118

1952

Might

B70, Reels 119 to 122

1953

Might

B70, Reels 123 to 126

1954

Might

B70, Reels 127 to 103

1955

Might

B70, Reels 131 to 134

1956

Might

B70, Reels 135 to 138

1957

Might

B70, Reels 139 to 142

1958

Might

B70, Reels 143 to 146

1959

Might

B70, Reels 147 to 150

1960

Might

B70, Reels 151 to 154

1961

Might

B70, Reels 155 to 158

1962

Might

B70, Reels 159 to 162

1963

Might

B70, Reels 163 to 166

1964

Might

B70, Reels 167 to 170

1965

Might

B70, Reels 171 to 174

1966

Might

B70, Reels 175 to 178

1967

Might

B70, Reels 179 to 182

1968

Might

B70, Reels 183 to 186

1969

Might

B70, Reels 187 to 190

1970

Might

B70, Reels 191 to 194

1971

Might

B70, Reels 195 to 198

1972

Might

B70, Reels 199 to 202

1973

Might

B70, Reels 203 to 206

1974

Might

B70, Reels 207 to 210

1975

Might

B70, Reels 211 to 214

1976

Might

B70, Reels 215 to 218

1977

Might

B70, Reels 219 to 222

1978-1979

Might

B70, Reels 223 to 226

1980

Might

B70, Reels 227 to 230

1981-1982

Might

B70, Reels 231 to 234

1983

Might

B70, Reels 235 to 238



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