York, Upper Canada incorporated as the City of Toronto
- When
- 1834
- Where
- Town of York; City of Toronto
- Episodes
- 2
On March 6, 1834, the Town of York in Upper Canada was incorporated as the City of Toronto. The name change distinguished the settlement from New York City and other localities named York, while adopting an Indigenous name. Reformist politician William Lyon Mackenzie became the first mayor, marking a shift in municipal governance.
Episodes
- Mackenzie Becomes First Mayor
Reformist politician William Lyon Mackenzie became the first mayor of Toronto following the incorporation.
- Incorporation as City of Toronto
York was incorporated as the City of Toronto on March 6, 1834, adopting the Indigenous name to distinguish it from other Yorks.
Background and detail
Background. York served as the capital of Upper Canada from 1793 until 1834. The settlement was known as York for over four decades, sharing the name with the county. The incorporation as Toronto was driven by the need to distinguish the town from New York City and other Yorks in the province, as well as to shed the negative connotation of 'dirty Little York'.
Name Change. The town reverted to the name Toronto, an Indigenous name, upon incorporation. This change was intended to disassociate the city from the nickname 'dirty Little York' and to avoid confusion with New York City and other Yorks in Upper Canada. The adoption of the Indigenous name marked a significant cultural and administrative shift.
People involved
- William Lyon Mackenzie · First Mayor of Toronto
- William H. Draper · President of British Constitutional Society
- George Gurnett · Secretary of British Constitutional Society
Sources
- Toronto Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-30
- History of Toronto Wikipedia
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.