2025 Plaques Program Highlights

We produced 45 new plaques in 2025, and we installed 38 across the city.

Maintaining our momentum as one of the most active plaque programs in the world, we developed commemorations on a range of subjects. Last year’s plaques celebrated apartment architecture through an early-20th-century building on St. Clair that was among the first in Toronto to feature an internal telephone system.

We profiled natural heritage, like the park saved from development and named after Frank Faubert, the last mayor of Scarborough; and spotlighted the Canary Restaurant, the greasy-spoon diner which both served and defined a local neighbourhood.

To close the year, in collaboration with Councillor Parthi Kandavel’s office, we unveiled a new plaque on the Bomb Girls, the nickname given to the thousands of women employed by the General Engineering Company who operated a top-secret munitions factory in Toronto during the Second World War. These women risked their lives filling bomb fuses and bullets with gunpowder and other high explosives.

We worked with 34 groups and organizations on new plaques.

Our Plaques program relies on partnerships and community engagement. We work with architects, developers, community groups, museums, universities, and individuals to mark the history that matters in Toronto.

Last summer, with the Friends of Guild Park, we unveiled a plaque for the Guild Park Greek Theatre during Guildwood Day festival. One of Toronto’s landmark outdoor stages, it was built from salvaged marble columns and arches from the historic Bank of Toronto building in downtown Toronto.

We partnered with the North Toronto Historical Society to acknowledge the Snider Family, early Loyalist settlers who supported the rebels at Montgomery’s Tavern in the 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion and helped shape the Eglinton–Lawrence area. With the Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec, we unveiled a plaque for a once overgrown, now lovingly restored, hidden cemetery.

Many archives, museums, and universities generously gave in-kind support by providing research assistance and materials.

Of special note is our longstanding in-kind program partner, the Toronto Ironworkers Local 721, who for almost 20 years has made and supplied the metal posts used to mount our plaques.

44% of all plaques produced in 2025 were primarily about or discussed histories relevant to equity-deserving communities.

Described by one newspaper as an “equity-obsessed city charity”, we remain steadfast in our commitment to representation and diversity in the stories told by our Plaques program. We are proud of our work last year in developing four new plaques on Toronto’s Black history, including one on Cyril “Cy” George McLean, a celebrated jazz musician who broke racial barriers in live music, paving the way for future generations.

A staff highlight was a new plaque on Dewson House, a thriving hub of Black feminism and racialized LGBTQ+ activism in the 1980s and 1990s. A research project begun during the pandemic lockdown, when staff interviewed four Black queer community leaders, the work evolved into a plaque commemoration of this historic collective for queer activists.

The plaque was developed in collaboration with Councillor Alejandra Bravo, and it was our privilege to provide a special preview of a replica of the plaque to one of Dewson House’s founders last fall.

Our commemoration of a dead raccoon attracted public attention — and the ire of a few curmudgeons.

One of our perennial challenges is measuring the impact of a plaque. Last summer, we placed a QR code on a new plaque commemorating the death of Conrad the Raccoon, inviting people to pay their respects to our fallen furry friend online. The results were astounding.

Installed on the 10th anniversary of the death of a raccoon (nicknamed Conrad) who captivated the city and caused a social media sensation, the plaque marked the significance of the event — not just as a viral sensation, but as a reminder of how urban wildlife shapes our daily lives and connects Torontonians in unexpected ways.

Within a couple of days, over 400 people had scanned the code. Soon, extensive media coverage expanded public interest, so much so that Conrad the Raccoon became 2025’s sixth most visited page on the Heritage Toronto website.

This plaque shows that Torontonians are paying attention to plaques. Before local media picked up the story, at least 100 people engaged with the plaque on an average day; multiply that by over 950 plaques throughout the city and we can estimate a daily reach of 95,000 for our plaques.

We’re hoping to explore this impact in 2026, learning from the results achieved with the Conrad the Raccoon plaque.

Our 2026 plaque work will start with the city’s ancient shoreline and expand to encompass the modern city.

Last year we began work on two special projects. First, with the support of Councillor Chris Moise, the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood Association, and private donors, we designed 10 plaques that will mark the more than 10,000-year-old Lake Ontario shoreline that was located just south of Front Street in 1841.

This area of narrow stony beach once bustled with people, goods, and industry. Our shoreline markers will share some of these stories and feature cultural items and archaeological artefacts found nearby. We are looking forward to the free launch event being planned for Summer 2026, which will be open to the public.

Last year, we reviewed and standardized data across our plaque records and expanded our plaque photography to begin work on a new project: a digital resource exploring the city’s history.

We are now working with a web developer to create an information-rich and visually appealing website that will provide an easy-to-use method of exploring Heritage Toronto’s plaques through a dynamic map, launching in Fall 2026. Check back soon!