Seventeen numbers that defined Toronto in 2017
Andrew Savory counts down some of the city's most notable – and numerical – moments this year

TheGlobeAndMail.com
Dec. 28, 2017
Andrew Savory

88
The Toronto Islands were closed to the public for 88 days this past spring and summer between May 4 and July 31. The closing began after an unprecedented amount of rainfall resulted in flooding and record setting water levels, with Lake Ontario rising to 75.88 metres above sea level at the end of May.

$200-million
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said no to Toronto Mayor John Tory's proposal to toll the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway. The proposal would have generated an estimated $200-million in revenue with a $2 per-trip toll, according to a city report. Ms. Wynne said she won't approve the proposal until suburban drivers have alternate options for commuting to and from downtown.

12
Google announced in October that it plans on making a big splash on Toronto's waterfront with a 12-acre "smart" district known as Quayside. The neighbourhood will be developed by Sidewalk Labs, a division of Alphabet Inc., a unit company of Google focused on urban innovation, in partnership with the government agency Waterfront Toronto.

8.6
The Toronto Transit Commission's Line 1 (formerly known as the Yonge-University-Spadina Line) grew by six subway stations, spanning 8.6-kilometres. Now known as the Toronto-York Spadina Subway, the roughly $3.2-billion expansion was officially unveiled on Dec. 17 and connects Downsview Park Station and the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre.

$827,608
The average sale price of a house in Toronto climbed as high as $827,608 between January and November, despite the market cooling below an average of $800,000 in the second half of the year. The average sale price of a home in 2016 was $729,837.

63
Toronto Paramedic Services tended to an average of 63 non-fatal and five fatal suspected opioid overdoses a week between August, 2017, and December, 2017, according to city data. Critics called for Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins to declare a public-health emergency after 2016 stats revealed a 19-per-cent increase in opioid-related deaths in Ontario. Mr. Hoskins announced in October the creation of an emergency task force to tackle the opioid crisis.

6
If you were in Toronto between July 1 and 3 and had the chance to head down to the lake, you would have been hard-pressed to not catch a glimpse of the six-storey-tall rubber duck that floated in the harbour. The yellow behemoth attracted a record 750,000 spectators to the Redpath Waterfront Festival and generated an estimated $7.6-million in return, according to a study by Enigma Research.

51.5
Canada's 2016 census reported that the majority of Torontonians identify as a visible minority after 51.5 per cent of the survey's 1.4 million respondents said they belong to a visible minority. Another 44 per cent of Toronto residents said they speak a mother tongue other than English or French. This marks the first time that Toronto has crossed the 50-per-cent mark in diversity.

31 billion
James White was honoured by the TTC as the 31 billionth customer to ride the rocket on July 12. Mr. White received a year's worth of monthly passes at a ceremony held at Osgoode Station.

47 million
Just shy of 50 million passengers travelled through Toronto Pearson International Airport in 2017, which was a record high, according to Pearson spokesperson Natalie Moncur. Aug. 18 was the busiest day in the airport's history, with 157,558 passengers moving through the airport.

4
Mississauga will introduce a 4-per-cent hotel tax next summer in hopes of bolstering its tourism industry by reinjecting tax revenue into tourism initiatives in Toronto and Mississauga. A similar tax rate is under review in Toronto and has been opposed by the Greater Toronto Hotel Association.

32,000
Uber's network of active drivers continues to grow in Toronto since its launch in September, 2014. Susie Heath, a communications officer for Uber Canada, said the ride-hailing application currently has 32,000 active drivers operating in the GTA. In comparison, a 2014 city of Toronto report said that there are 4,849 licensed taxis.

$14-million
A Toronto actress identified in court documents as "Jane Doe" is suing Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein for $14-million for two sexual assaults that allegedly took place in 2000, according to Ontario Superior Court documents. The allegations have yet to be proven in court.

27,438
A total of 340 films screened at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival over 11 days this past September, combining for 27,438 minutes of screen time. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri took home the Grolsch People's Choice Award at the 42nd annual festival.

10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The seven-hour span represents the time during which Toronto taxis are exempt from traffic restrictions on King Street, the city's busiest surface transit route. The exemption follows the King Street pilot project that prevents through traffic by private motor vehicles along the 2.6-kilometre expanse between Bathurst and Jarvis Streets. The project was approved by Toronto city council in July and will last at least one year.

700
700 new bikes along with 70 stations were added to Toronto's bike-sharing network in August. The $4-million addition, funded by the city of Toronto and the federal government, built upon an existing Bike Share Toronto system that included 2,050 bikes spread across 200 stations.

1.1
This year saw the number of available rental options in Toronto plummet to their lowest point in 16 years as the overall vacancy rate hit 1.1 per cent, according to a survey conducted by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The rate arrives alongside rising costs of rent in the GTA, where the average cost of an apartment rose to roughly $1,400 a month.