Exploring Old Toronto

It had been nearly a decade since I last visited the St. Lawrence Market and I find it delightfully unchanged. Located on the southwest corner of lower Jarvis and Front Streets, the market is a community hub, with vendors selling everything from fresh produce and food products to handmade goods and antiques.

Bruce is waiting for me (and my four fellow tour members) outside the main doors to the market. He whisks us upstairs to a restricted area and, as we overlook the busy market, Bruce begins to weave a tale about a "tiny little town called York".

We follow along on the journey as Bruce tell us about the Indigenous people that lived on these lands for thousands of years before colonization and the early makings of the city.

"This is where it all began," he tells us, pointing out the spot that served as the original town square and the red-brick building that was the original city hall built in 1844.

The neighbourhood affectionately known as Old Town is centred around the city's original streets. Along with the famous St. Lawrence Market Complex, you'll find excellent examples of Victorian industrial architecture and cobblestone streets.

Peppered throughout the neighbourhood are plaques commemorating important historical moments in the city's history and giving much-needed historical context to places that can often be overlooked by the average city traveller.

The plaques are there thanks to Bruce and his ongoing history project.

You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone in Toronto with as much historical knowledge of the city as Bruce.

Although he was born in Sudbury, Ontario, Bruce arrived in Toronto as a young man and has spent his adult life living and working in the city's core. His apartment is mere steps away from the Market.

For decades, Bruce worked as an actor, playwright and stand-up comic (most notably at Yuk Yuks Comedy Club) and now combines his love of performing with his passion for Toronto history by giving walking tours to those looking to connect with the city. Bruce says he gets both local residents and visitors on his year-round tours.

He is a local celebrity, well known by the residents of Old Town and the vendor at the St. Lawrence Market. You'll feel like a VIP in his presence.

A tour with Bruce is like getting a behind-the-scenes peek at a movie set — and you quickly begin to appreciate what you see on a whole new level.

On his Old Town Toronto tour, you'll receive an in-depth look at the 220-year history of the St. Lawrence Market, a tour of St. Lawrence Hall and many stops in between (we toured St. James Cathedral, saw the area where the Great Fire of 1849 took place and much more).

While the neighbourhood, like all neighbourhoods, is continually changing, certain fixture can be counted on to remain constant — and thankfully Bruce is one of them.