The Joseph Shepard Building (french: Édifice Joseph-Shepard), also known as the Joseph Shepard Federal Building or the Government of Canada Building or simply 4900 Yonge is an office complex used by the

federal government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in- ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. Located on

Yonge Street Yonge Street (; pronounced "young") is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. Once the southernmost leg of provincial H ...

in the

North York North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a po ...

neighbourhood of

Lansing Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, maki ...

, the building lies within

North York City Centre North York City Centre is a central business district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in the administrative district of North York. It is located along Yonge Street, between just south of Sheppard Avenue northward to Finch Avenue with its focus aroun ...

. Built in 1977 as a medium-sized, planned consolidation project to service residents of the former

Metropolitan Toronto The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, whic ...

districts of North York and

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...

, the building houses offices for passport services,

Service Canada Service Canada is the program operated by Employment and Social Development Canada to serve as a single-point of access for the Government of Canada's largest and most heavily used programs, such as the Social Insurance Number, the Employmen ...

Employment and Social Development Canada Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC; french: Emploi et Développement social Canada; french: EDSC, label=none)''Employment and Social Development Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is De ...

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC; french: Immigration, Réfugiés et Citoyenneté Canada)Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program since 2015; the legal title is Departm ...

, and

Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

recruiting centre in addition to other federal departments. The building was designed by Macy DuBois and is a

Classified Federal Heritage Building The Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office (FHBRO) was established in 1982 after the Government of Canada adopted an internal policy on managing heritage buildings. Today, federal heritage is incorporated into the Government of Canada's Treasury ...

. The building is named for Joseph Shepard, an early settler in North York whom acquired of land nearby and also the namesake of

Sheppard Avenue Sheppard Avenue is an east–west principal arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The street has two distinct branches near its eastern end, with the original route being a collector road leading to Pickering via a turnoff, and the main ...

. The structure, with its multi-layered design, stands out among the surrounding skyscrapers along Yonge Street, which were built during the office boom of the 1990s surrounding the diversification of North York City Centre. The building is within walking distance to Sheppard–Yonge subway station and short distance from

Ontario Highway 401 King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one, is a controlled-access 400-series highway in the Canadian provi ...

. The building is one of two buildings used by the federal government in North York, the other being the

Environment and Climate Change Canada Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC; french: Environnement et Changement climatique Canada),Environment and Climate Change Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of the Environment ...

Building near

York University Heights York University Heights, also known as Northwood Park, is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of Toronto's northernmost neighbourhoods, located along the northern boundary of Steeles Avenue in the former city of North York. The ...

. Other federal facilities in Toronto include the

Dominion Public Building The Dominion Public Building is a five-storey Beaux-Arts neoclassical office building built between 1926 and 1935 for the government of Canada at southeast corner of Front and Bay streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was designe ...

, the

Canada Centre Building The Canada Centre Building in Scarborough, Toronto, houses the offices of Service Canada, Human Resources and Social Development Canada, Passport Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency. Sandwiched between the Scarborough Civic Centre and Scarbo ...

, and the

Health Canada Health Canada (HC; french: Santé Canada, SC)Health Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Health (). is the department of the Government of Canada responsible for national health poli ...

Building; the latter two buildings located in the former city of Scarborough.

Stabbing

On March 14, 2016, two members of the

recruiting centre were stabbed by someone carrying a knife.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Joseph Sheppard Federal Building
1977 establishments in Ontario Buildings and structures in Toronto Canadian federal government buildings Classified Federal Heritage Building Government buildings completed in 1977 Modernist architecture in Canada North York Office buildings in Canada fr:Édifice du gouvernement du Canada à North York