Toronto
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At lunchtime on a wintry Wednesday afternoon, the streets of Toronto’s financial district feel like an eerie ruin.
A blizzard was blowing diagonally, the sky was lead gray and visibility was poor. Only a few mummified pedestrians in puffer coats can be seen tottering along the snowy and muddy sidewalks of Adelaide Street West, in the shadow of a monolithic office building, braving the -14 degree wind chill on the seventh floor.
Otherwise, the streets are unnervingly quiet.
A first-time visitor might mistake Canada’s largest and most populous city (also North America’s fourth-largest city) for an abandoned, quasi-dystopian concrete jungle rather than a vibrant economic engine.
That is, until they go underground.
Because when winter comes, many Torontonians who live and work in Canada’s financial capital migrate to the vast underground world known as the Path, a 30-kilometre network of labyrinthine pedestrian walkways connecting shops, restaurants, residences, office buildings, subway stations and tourist attractions.
On social media forums, users jokingly refer to thousands of downtown office workers as gnomes, gophers or “mole people” who live and work underground. Alternatively, the workers in the maze-like passages could be people who have entered the PATH, gotten lost, and can’t find their way out.
In the city’s financial district, home to Canada’s major banks, locals are easily distinguished from tourists and visitors by the notable lack of winter clothing. Financial professionals are strutting the halls in down jackets and fleece vests instead of winter coats. Sightings of the smartly dressed women wearing badges include barefoot slingbacks, sleeveless tops, crisply pressed floor-length dress pants, and no salt stains in sight.
“PATH is more than just underground shopping; it’s part of how downtown Toronto functions every day,” explains Amy Harrell, executive director of the Toronto Financial District Business Improvement Area. “It’s a weather-sheltered city within a city that brings people together to work, travel, dine and explore downtown Toronto.”
Toronto is one of several Canadian cities with climate-controlled infrastructure built in to protect pedestrians from the country’s frigid winters and harsh summer heatwaves. Montreal’s subway is RÉSO. The Edmonton Pedway and Winnipeg Skywalk are comprised of tunnels and skywalks, while Calgary’s Plus 15 network is comprised of viaducts and walkways.
In the 2000 cult Canadian indie film “The Way Downtown,” a group of young office workers bet a month’s salary on who can live the longest in Calgary’s Plus 15 without leaving the house. Needless to say, cabin fever brings about their demise.
A bustling underground network is an important part of modern urban lifestyle in Canada’s coldest metropolis, and can be both fascinating and disorienting for visitors.
For local residents, these protected walkways may eliminate the need for much paving.
When Jadiel Teofilo moved to Toronto from Brazil three years ago, it was his first experience with snow, sub-zero temperatures and a polar vortex. But strangely enough, the 28-year-old confesses that the transition has been relatively smooth.
“I didn’t spend as much time in the cold because I had PATH,” the software engineer told CNN Travel.
Teofilo lives near Scotiabank Arena and works at Scotia Plaza. Aside from being just across the street from his apartment, he spends all day indoors because his workplace is a 15-minute walk from PATH. His typical winter work attire is a light raincoat, T-shirt, and sneakers. He hasn’t bought snow boots yet.
In addition to work, Teofilo uses the pass to do his weekly grocery shopping, drug store errands, and even physical therapy for a sprained wrist.
“My first impression was that everything was very nice. It had all the shops you could want,” he says. “It’s very clean and all the buildings are well maintained. But it’s difficult to get around.”
That’s because wayfinding systems are notoriously difficult to understand. Even our own tenants say so.
“If you don’t want to get lost after eating lunch here, you can invest directly,” says a digital ad from a major Canadian bank on PATH.
Toronto’s first underground walkway was built in 1900 when the T. Eaton Company excavated a passageway connecting its main store (now the CF Toronto Eaton Center) to its bargain annex on Yonge Street downtown. The tunnel connecting Union Station to the luxurious Royal York Hotel (now the Fairmont Royal York) was also built to protect the hotel’s elite guests from downtown shenanigans, explains Laura Miller, associate professor of architecture at the University of Toronto.
“Whereas Eaton’s was intended to confine customers within a retail environment, Union Station’s Royal York Tunnel was intended to ensure continuity of classes such as the VIP line,” Miller explains.
In other words, this network was not built for the purpose of weatherizing the general public, but as a commercial strategy.
The concept of private development continues to underpin PATH’s modern growth, as each segment of today’s network is also owned by a private developer. The result is a patchwork of ad-hoc extensions that can lead to sudden dead ends and headache-inducing configurations.
After months of struggling with PATH’s wayfinding system, which guides visitors to neighborhoods and landmarks, Teófilo decided to create his own navigation app, Toronto PATH.
“For people like me, I wanted to make the most of the trails so I didn’t have to walk outside as much.”
Software engineers explored the tunnels and passageways every weekend for eight months, mapping the PATH using 3D scanning and modeling software on cell phones.
“It turned out to be definitely bigger than I expected,” he says.
Underground tunnels also connect to major attractions in the downtown core. Technically speaking, visitors can book a stay at a hotel with access to PATH (like the landmark Fairmont Royal York or InterContinental Toronto Center) and visit some of the city’s major attractions without venturing into the lively or boiling outdoors.
For example, a dry, covered, sports-focused itinerary might include shopping at the historic CF Toronto Eaton Center shopping complex or a visit to the Hockey Hall of Fame at Brookfield Place. Fans attending a Toronto Raptors or Toronto Maple Leafs hockey game at Scotiabank Arena can enjoy a pregame meal of ramen or sourdough pizza at the upscale Chef’s Hall at the Richmond Adelaide Center, or enjoy hot fried chicken sandwiches and craft beer at Union Chicken in Union Station.
A more upscale, indoor Toronto experience will also include fine dining at Bymark, led by local celebrity chef and restaurateur Mark McEwan, and dining in a canoe overlooking the city from the top of TD Center’s 54th floor, followed by a concert at Roy Thomson Hall.
Toronto has long boasted the world’s largest pedestrian subway network. Travel websites and content creators continue to refer to PATH today as the world’s largest underground shopping complex. But in November 2023, Guinness World Records quietly updated its guide, handing the official title to Toronto’s friendly rival Montreal.
In an email to CNN, a Guinness World Records spokesperson confirmed that Toronto was the previous title holder until 2023, when Montreal’s underground network RÉSO overtook it by a distance of 32 kilometers.
“There’s more diversity connected to our network than there is in Toronto. Toronto has more culture, housing and universities, while Toronto has more finance and commerce,” says Danny Pavlopoulos, founder of Spade & Palacio, which runs walking tours in both cities.
In fact, Montreal’s underground city is connected to attractions such as the Museum of Fine Arts, the Place des Arts and the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art, and is home to the 18th annual underground art festival, Art Sterain, held every April and May.
Founder Frederick Lowery said the art show’s goal has always been to democratize the contemporary art scene and meet people where they are, whether on their way to work or on their daily errands.
“I realized that contemporary art was still an art form that was very exclusive and closed off to itself. There was no renewal of the audience,” Lowry says. “Art Souterrain aims to change access and make art more universal and democratic.”
But when told that Montreal was the new official Guinness title holder, Pavlopoulos expressed cold indifference, noting that there are important differences between the two cities’ stories.
“I love Toronto and go there all the time. But in Montreal, I don’t care about that. It’s a very Toronto thing to try something different.”
Toronto’s PATH is no longer the record holder, but it is showing signs of growth and resurgence.
During busy weekday lunchtimes, Toronto’s basement food courts are packed with office workers. It’s a strong sign of recovery after the pandemic shuttered businesses and turned underground cities into ghost towns.
Harrell said 60 new businesses and facilities have opened in the past 18 months, including Pilates and yoga learning, an indoor golf simulator, and event space for DIY painting and art. The arrival of new experiential businesses also fits in with PATH’s evolving role as a third space outside of work and home in the post-pandemic winter.
Recognizing the underground’s potential as a third space, Toronto resident Adam Chen has been organizing free walks through PATH since last winter. Every Saturday morning at 8 a.m., Mr. Chen meets with about 20 strangers who have signed up for his Happy Town Walk, which begins at the CF Toronto Eaton Center and takes in landmarks such as the Metro Toronto Convention Center and Roy Thomson Hall.
This walk is not intended to be a guided tour, but rather as a warm, dry, safe space where strangers can share friendly conversation and community during the long, cold winter months.
By 9:30 a.m., participants had completed 10,000 steps. The only rule is no talking about work.
Because of the harsh weather, “winter is pretty harsh for a lot of people downtown,” Chen said.
“Connection can be empty and people can feel isolated. This is a time when people need to come together the most, and perhaps the best place to do so right now is PATH, which is filled with open spaces where people can sit and connect.”
