An organization of family historians, some with Toronto roots, others who live in Toronto, we have ancestors around the world.

City Directories

One of the most important and easy-to-use sources for Toronto research is the city directory. The first Toronto directory was published in 1833. The next one, published in 1837, included the whole Home District, and therefore all of today’s Toronto including rural areas. Others were published in 1843, 1846, 1850, 1856 and 1859. Directories were being published annually for Toronto by 1861.

As suburban communities grew, their residents may also have been included in directories as separate listings. Check the table of contents in each volume or consult this Places in Digital Toronto City Directories finding aid created by the Toronto Public Library.

Most directories contain an alphabetical list of inhabitants (usually heads of households and others working outside the home), and a list of occupants arranged by street. Be sure to browse the advertisements, business listings and other information to get a good picture of what your ancestor’s Toronto was like.

Toronto Branch Publications has published facsimile editions of the 1846 and 1850 directories which are available in our e-Store.

Toronto directories from 1833 to 2001 can be found at the Toronto Reference Library.

From 1988, the directories were not published as a single volume and sometimes spread over a two-year publishing period. The final Toronto city directories were published in 2001.

The directories from 1833 to 2001 have been digitized by the Toronto Public Library and  Internet Archive.

Use the following chart to link directly to these digitized directories.

1833

1837

1843-4

1846-47

1850-51

1856

1859-60

1861

1862-63

1864

1865

1866

1867-68

1868-69 or 1868-9

1870

1871-72

1872-73

1873

1873-74

1874

1875

1876

1877

1878

1879

1880

1881

1882

1883

1884

1885

1886

1887

1888

1889

1890

1891

1892

1893

1894

1895

1896

1897

1898

1899

1900

1901

1902

1903

1904

1905

1906

1907

1908

1909

1910

1911

1912

1913

1914

1915

1916

1917

1918

1919

1920

1921

1922

1923

 1924

 1925

 1926

1927

 1928

1929

1930

1931

1932

1933

1934

1935

1936

1937

1938

1939

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

1945

1946

1947

1948

1949

1950

1951

1952

1953

1954

1955

1956

1957

1958

1959

1960

1961

1962

1963

1964

1965

1966

1967

1968

1969

1970

1971

1972

1973

1974

1975

1976

1977

1978/79

1980

1981/82

1983

1985/86

1988
Central
E of DVP

1989
W of Dufferin

1990
Central

1991
E of DVP
W of Dufferin

1992
Central
E of DVP

1993
Central v.1
Central v.2
W of Dufferin

1994
E of DVP v.1
E of DVP v.2

1995
W of Yonge
E of Yonge
North York
Scarborough

1996/97
W of Yonge
E of Yonge
North York

1996/97
Etobicoke
Scarborough

1998
W of Yonge
E of Yonge
North York

1998
Etobicoke
Scarborough

1999
W of Yonge
E of Yonge
North York
Etobicoke
Scarborough

2000
W of Yonge
Central/East York
North York
Etobicoke
Scarborough

2001
W of Yonge
Central/East York
North York

End of publication

©Toronto Branch OGS and Jane E. MacNamara