The Toronto waterway system comprises a series of natural and man-made

watercourse A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

s in the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

city of

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. The city is dominated by a large river system spanning most of the city including the

Don River The Don () is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire. Its basin is betwee ...

, Etobicoke Creek, Highland Creek, Humber River,

Mimico Creek Mimico Creek is a stream that flows through Brampton, Mississauga and Toronto in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. It is long, is in the Great Lakes Basin, and is a tributary of Lake Ontario. The creek's name is derived from the comm ...

and Rouge River.

Current rivers in Toronto

List

The city has many rivers that stretch all over the city and all end up draining into

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

. Of the various watercourses that drained Toronto, the

, the Humber River, and the Rouge River have headwaters in the

Oak Ridges Moraine The Oak Ridges Moraine is an Ecology, ecologically important Geology, geological landform in the Mixedwood Plains of south-central Ontario, Canada. The moraine covers a geographic area of between Caledon, Ontario, Caledon and Rice Lake (Ontario ...

Humber River

The Humber River is a river in Southern

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It is in the

Great Lakes Basin The Great Lakes Basin consists of the Great Lakes and the surrounding lands of the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin in the United States, and the province of Ontario in Canada, whose di ...

, is a tributary of

and is one of two major rivers on either side of the city of

, the other being the

to the east. It was designated a Canadian Heritage River on September 24, 1999. The Humber collects from about 750 creeks and tributaries in a fan-shaped area north of Toronto that encompasses portions of Dufferin County, the

Regional Municipality of Peel The Regional Municipality of Peel (informally Peel Region or Region of Peel, also formerly Peel County) is a regional municipality in the Greater Toronto Area, Southern Ontario, Canada. It consists of three municipalities to the west and northwest ...

Simcoe County Simcoe County is a county and census division located in the central region of Ontario, Canada. The county is located north of the Greater Toronto Area, and forms the north western edge of the Golden Horseshoe. The county seat is located in Mi ...

, and the

Regional Municipality of York The Regional Municipality of York, also called York Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, between Lake Simcoe and Toronto. The region was established after the passing of then Bill 102, An Act to Establish The Regional ...

. The main branch runs for about 100 kilometres (60 mi) from the

Niagara Escarpment The Niagara Escarpment is an approximately discontinuous, arc-shaped but generally northward-facing escarpment, or cuesta, in Canada and the United States. The escarpment begins south of Lake Ontario and circumscribes the top of the Great Lake ...

in the northwest, while another other major branch, known as the East Humber River, starts at Lake St. George in the

near

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

to the northeast. They join north of Toronto and then flow in a generally southeasterly direction into

at what was once the far western portions of the city. The river mouth is flanked by Sir Casimir Gzowski Park and Humber Bay Park East. The Source of the River is the Huber Spring Pond and the basin is 903 km² .

Don River

The Don River is a watercourse in southern Ontario, that empties into

, at

Toronto Harbour Toronto Harbour or Toronto Bay is a natural bay on the north shore of Lake Ontario, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Today, the harbour is used primarily for recreational boating, including personal vessels and pleasure boats providing scenic or p ...

. Its mouth was just east of the street grid of the town of

York, Upper Canada York was a town and the second capital of the colony of Upper Canada. It is the predecessor to the Old Toronto, old city of Toronto (1834–1998). It was established in 1793 by Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe as a "temporary" location fo ...

, the municipality that evolved into

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. The Don is formed from two rivers, the East and West Branches, that meet about 7 kilometres (4 mi) north of

while flowing southward into the lake. The area below the confluence is known as the ''lower Don'', and the areas above as the ''upper Don''. The Don is also joined at the confluence by a third major branch, Taylor-Massey Creek. The

Toronto and Region Conservation Authority The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) is a Conservation authority (Ontario, Canada), conservation authority in southern Ontario, Canada. It owns about of land in the Toronto region, and it employs more than 400 full-time employee ...

(TRCA) is responsible for managing the river and its surrounding watershed. The Don Valley is notable because of its deep wide valley in the lower reaches due to its glacial origins. Due to the urbanized nature of the watershed, the Don River experiences low base flows interspersed with high volume floods. The river flows into Lake Ontario at the Keating Channel at

Lake Shore Boulevard Lake Shore Boulevard (often incorrectly compounded as Lakeshore Boulevard) is a major arterial road running along more than half of the Lake Ontario waterfront in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Prior to 1998, two segments of Lake Shore ...

East which is at the north east corner of the

. The Source of the River is the Oak Ridge Moraine and the basin is 360 km² . The average flow of the river is 4 m³/s.

Rouge River

The Rouge River is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in Markham, Pickering, Richmond Hill and

in the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the Toronto, City of Toronto and the regional municipality, regional municipalities of Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham, Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton, Regional ...

. The river flows from the

at the eastern border of Toronto, and is the location of Rouge Park, the only national park in Canada within a municipality. At its southern end, the Rouge River is the boundary between Toronto and southwestern Pickering in the

Regional Municipality of Durham The Regional Municipality of Durham (), informally referred to as Durham Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada. Located east of Toronto and the Regional Municipality of York, it forms the east end of the Greater Toronto A ...

. The Source of the River is the Oak Ridge Moraine and the basin is 336 km² . The average flow of the river is 1.76 m³/s.

Former rivers of Toronto

The city also has many rivers that were buried or completely removed to make way for development and the rapid expansion of the city. * Ashbridge's Creek *

Bonar Creek Bonar Creek was a creek in Mimico, Ontario, Canada. It was a tributary of the still-existing Mimico Creek, a watercourse that empties into Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north ...

* Castle Field Creek * Castle Frank Brook * Cudmore Creek * Garrison Creek * Jackson Creek * Market Steams * North Creek * Russell Creek * Small's Creek * Superior Creek *

Taddle Creek Taddle Creek is a buried stream in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that flowed a southeasterly course about six kilometres long, from St. Clair Avenue west of Bathurst Street through the present site of Wychwood Park, through the University of Toronto ...

* Tomlin's Creek * Walmsley Creek *

Wendigo Creek Wendigo Creek was a short watercourse in Toronto, Ontario, that drained into Grenadier Pond. It was spring fed, like nearby High Park#Eastern ravine, Spring Creek (Grenadier Pond). Its headwaters were north of Bloor Street, Toronto, Bloor Street ...

References

External links

*http://www.lostrivers.ca/content/centralkey.html *http://www.lostrivers.ca/ {{Toronto Waterways, state=autocollapse