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The legal drinking age in Ontario is 19. Ontario has strict laws about drinking in public: open bottles of alcohol are not allowed in public places. Fenced-off areas are set aside for selling and consuming alcohol at large events.

The two largest Canadian newspapers are produced in Toronto: The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star , along with a daily tabloid, Toronto Sun . Popular radio stations include CBC Radio One (FM 99.1) for news, CBC Radio Two (FM 92.1) for classical music, Jazz Channel Plus (FM 91.1) for jazz, CHFI (FM 98.1) for easy-listening music, CHUM (FM 104.5) and CILQ (FM 107.5) for rock music. The most popular Canadian TV stations are CBC, CTV, GLOBAL, BRAVO and CityTV, and, in Ontario, TVO.

Toronto weeklies Now and Eye are available free at cafés, bars, bookshops, libraries, and street boxes throughout the city and are the best sources for checking the happenings in the local music and art scene. The monthly magazine Toronto Life is also helpful. These listings are also online.

The Canadian unit of currency is the dollar, which is divided into 100 cents. Coins come in denominations of 1, 5, 10, and 25 cents, and 1 and 2 dollars. Bank notes (bills) come in denominations of $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, and $500. Plan to arrive with at least $50 to $100 in local currency and acquire change as soon as you can for tipping and transit.

In Canada, taxes are not included in the listed price unless specified, so when making a purchase reckon with a further 8 percent for PST (provincial sales tax) and 7 percent for GST (goods and services tax). Some taxes are refundable when you leave Canada (see Tax Refunds).

Extensive information on the city of Toronto and the province of Ontario is available on the internet.

Public telephones are often both coin and card operated. Local calls cost $0.25; directory assistance (411) is free. Post offices, most convenience stores, and specially marked Bell machines sell phone cards. Within Toronto you must prefix the local telephone number with the area code 416, or with 905 for calls to Greater Toronto. For a long-distance number in North America, dial the prefix 1 and then the city code. To dial abroad, dial 011 + country code + city code (dropping any 0).

New Year’s Day (Jan 1), Good Friday and Easter Monday (Mar or Apr), Victoria Day (usually 3rd Mon in May), Canada Day (Jul 1), civic holiday (1st Mon in Aug), Labour Day (1st Mon in Sep), Thanksgiving (2nd Mon in Oct), Christmas Day (Dec 25), Boxing Day (Dec 26). Remembrance Day (Nov 11) is a holiday for banks and government offices.

Bathrooms in many establishments in older buildings are located up or down a flight of stairs and are not easily accessible; large entertainment venues are. Toronto’s streetcars are not wheelchair accessible, but lift buses designed for people with mobility aids run on many routes, and 10 subway stations have elevators. Transit on the free city Wheel-Trans can be reserved, but you must register first.

In emergencies, your consulate may give assistance.