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Conference location
The conference will be held at Ryerson University in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Ryerson also has a very nice campus map. The conference rooms are in the Rogers Communications Centre (RCC), and registration on Friday will be in the International Living Learning Centre (ILC). They're nearby each other, at the eastern end of the campus.
The real map gives you all the correct detail, but we have also prepared a not-to-scale diagram of the area, in case you like those sorts of things:
Accommodation
Ryerson is offering two different kinds of accommodation to conference attendees:
- The International Living Learning Centre offers hotel-style single- and double-occupancy rooms at $79.00 (plus taxes) per night. These rooms have a queen-size bed and a pull-out sofa (no two-bed rooms).
- The Pitman Hall residence offers dorm-style rooms at $52.75 (plus taxes) per person per night. Continental breakfast is included.
For those who would prefer to stay off campus, Ryerson has arranged a community rate with the following hotels:
- Comfort Suites City Centre Toronto
- The Comfort Suites are a short (five minutes, including the light) walk from the conference site, at 200 Dundas Street East. It offers rooms from $135.00 per night, plus taxes. Their reservation number is +1 877 316 9951.
- The Grand Hotel & Suites Toronto
- The Grand is right across the street from the Comfort Suites (above), at 225 Jarvis Street. Rooms start at $179.00 per night, exclusive of taxes. Their reservation number is +1 877 324 7263.
- Courtyard by Marriott Downtown Toronto
- The Courtyard is slightly farther away from Ryerson, just north of the University, but it is closer to the subway, at 475 Yonge Street. It is perhaps a 15 minute walk from the conference location. Rooms start at $149.00 per night, plus taxes. The reservation number is +1 800 847 5075
The rates above are as quoted on the Ryerson web site, using the Ryerson Community Rate, so you'll want to mention that rate program when making your reservations.
All these rates are in Canadian dollars.
Important: Please reserve your accomodations as soon as possible. There are several other events in Toronto that weekend and rooms may quickly become unavailable.
Toronto
Toronto is Canada's largest city, and the capital of the Province of Ontario, so there's lots to do during the summer. Tourism Toronto has an extensive site of all that is going on in the city, including a nifty event calendar. While you're here, why not take the time to explore the city a little?
Getting here
Air
Toronto's main airport is Lester B. Pearson International Airport. It is run by the Greater Toronto Airports Authority. They provide a facility where you can look for airlines that fly to here.
The airport is some distance from downtown, so if you are arriving by plane, you'll need to arrange to get downtown somehow. There is a flat-rate taxi charge for authorised taxis leaving the airport; Ryerson is in the area bound by Bathurst, Bloor, and Bayview/Cherry Streets on the rate map (currently $46.00).
There is a privately-run shuttle bus service that runs regularly from all the airport terminals to downtown; you get a discount if you buy your ticket online (it's currently $16.45 one way). The last stop is the Delta Chelsea hotel, close to the University.
The Toronto Transit Commission's service to the airport is a mixture of bus, subway, and (from Ryerson, if you like) streetcar. At $2.75 for a single-fare cash ride, it is the cheapest option. There's more on using the TTC below.
Train
Toronto is served by VIA Rail, which arrives at Union station in downtown Toronto. A taxi ride from Union should be in the area of $10.00. You can also transfer easily to the TTC. Passenger train service in Canada isn't that frequent, but WiFi is available on the trains now.
There is also some GO Transit train service to Toronto. See below.
Bus
Intercity bus service to Toronto is primarily provided by Greyhound. The Toronto Coach Terminal is a short walk or streetcar ride from Ryerson. Head east on Dundas Street. If you are taking the streetcar, take the 505. Even heavily laden, it's a 15 or 20 minute walk tops.
GO Transit
The GO is a regional public transportation system serving Southern Ontario -- primarily the Greater Toronto Area. Route information is all online.
Public Transit: TTC
Toronto's public transit system is run by the Toronto Transit Commission. Just about everything about TTC routes is on the TTC website, but that can be a little hard to navigate. So here are some tips for people who are visiting town, and want to "Ride the Rocket".
Note that whatever you do, because of a street festival on Yonge Street that weekend, the Dundas subway station that serves Ryerson will be busy.
From the airport
If you are taking the TTC from the airport, take the 192 Airport Rocket bus to Kipling subway station. If you plan to transfer to the streetcar later in this trip, make sure you get a transfer. (You can also get a transfer later, in Kipling or Bloor-Yonge subway stations.) Get on the train heading eastbound -- there's only one way to go from Kipling -- and ride it to Yonge station (it's called the Bloor-Yonge station in all the literature. On the Bloor trains, the signs on the wall say Yonge, and on the Yonge trains, the signs on the walls say Bloor). Go upstairs to transfer to the Yonge southbound train. Keep an eye on the signs: some stairs and elevators take you to the northbound platform, and some take you to the southbound platform. Ride the Yonge train southbound to Dundas station. The least bewildering exit is on the right as you come out of the turnstiles. When you climb the stairs, you will come out at the north-west corner of Dundas Street and Yonge Street, facing west on Dundas. If you want to transfer to a streetcar, you must cross to the south side of Dundas Street.
If you are using a wheelchair, the subway route is accessible all the way from the airport, but some of the elevators can be tricky to spot. Also, Bloor-Yonge has a reputation for being hard to use with a wheelchair. The following is a slightly longer trip, but might be easier. Once you board at Kipling, take the train eastbound, but get out at St George station. Transfer to the Yonge-University-Spadina line headed southbound. Ride it to Dundas station. The train becomes the Yonge line at the bottom of the "U" at Union station, and turns northbound from there, so you will arrive in Dundas station heading north. The elevator from the platform puts you out on the south-east corner of Dundas (headed E-W) and Yonge (N-S). You cannot board the streetcar in a wheelchair, because they are not accessible vehicles.
From the train
The VIA and GO trains arrive in Union Station, which is attached to the TTC Union station. Follow the signs for the subway. If you are planning to transfer to a streetcar later, make sure you get a transfer from inside Union subway station.
Boarding at Union can be confusing to new riders, because both trains are northbound. The train you want is the Yonge line, northbound to Finch; the next station is King. Hint: if you see "St Andrew" at the next stop, you have boarded the wrong train. Get out and get on the next train heading the other way.
Take the subway to Dundas station. As you come through the turnstiles, there are stairs to the street on your left. Take them, and you will emerge onto Dundas Street facing east, on the north side. Yonge Street is behind you. The easiest way into Ryerson is to walk straight along Dundas for half a block, and turn left at Victoria Street. Turn left (north), follow that to Gould, and you are in Ryerson. If you want to take a streetcar instead, go to the southwest corner of Yonge and Dundas. The driver will ask to see your transfer.
Union station is wheelchair accesible, and so is Dundas station. At Dundas, the elevator will let you out on the southeast corner of Yonge and Dundas. Note that streetcars are not currently accessible to people using wheelchairs.
From the bus
The Greyhound bus station is close enough to Ryerson that it is probably more work to get on the TTC than to walk, but if you want to take a streetcar, head south out of the bus station and walk down to Dundas. You want to be on the south side of the street, where the eastbound traffic is. Take the 505 car eastbound.
If you arrive on a GO bus at Union station, the route is exactly the same as it is for the train.
If you arrive on a GO bus at York Mills, then take the Yonge line southbound to Dundas station. Exit via the stairs to the right of the turnstiles; you will come out at the north-west corner of Dundas Street and Yonge Street, facing west on Dundas. If you want to transfer to a streetcar, you must cross to the south side of Dundas Street.
Note that York Mills subway station is not currently accessible to people using wheelchairs. There is an elevator being built there now, but it is not clear whether it will be open before the conference. Check the TTC accessibility site for updates.
From out of town
If you are driving from out of town but want to avoid driving and parking in downtown Toronto (or don't want to deal with the traffic that will come from the Molson Grand Prix, running the same day), you might like to park in one of the TTC's outlying lots, and take the subway the rest of the way. To get to Ryerson, ride the subway to Dundas station. You may have to switch trains to do it: you can plan your route with the subway map.
General TTC notes
If you're going to be visiting the city for a vacation along with the conference, and are sticking around for a few days, the TTC is a good way to get around. One-way cash fares are $2.75 for adults, and $0.70 for children under 12. (Children under 2 ride free.) If you have to switch routes to get where you are going, get a transfer when you pay your fare. Note that the transfer is only good at the intersection where the two routes intersect: drivers won't let you on if you're not at a transfer point. Surface route drivers also will not take transfers from the same subway station where you are boarding: you are supposed to get your transfer when you pay your fare.
If you are going to get on and off the TTC a lot, a pass can be helpful. The TTC sells multi-rider day passes for $8.50, and a transferrable weekly pass for $30.00.
The TTC is only partly wheelchair-accessible. None of the streetcars are modern "low floor" varieties, so they are not accesible, unfortunately. Many buses are accessible, however (look for the blue lights around the route sign), and 25 of the subway stations. The TTC has more on this topic.
Driving
Ryerson is in downtown Toronto, bounded by Gerrard (north), Dundas (south), Jarvis (east), and Yonge (west) Streets. But don't use Yonge: it will be closed at several intersections on the days of the conference.
The main routes into Toronto are the 401, the QEW/Gardiner Expressway, and the Don Valley Parkway. If you're eastbound on the 401, don't take the Yonge Street exit: stay on a little longer and take the Don Valley Parkway south instead -- it will probably be faster. If you are already far enough west, take the 427 to the QEW/Gardiner Expressway.
Note that the weekend of the conference is also the weekend of a car race on the Lakeshore Boulevard, which is the alternate route to the Gardiner Expressway, so plan for the traffic.
If you are travelling on the Gardiner, do not take the Yonge Street exit, even though the Ryerson web site suggests that. Yonge Street will be closed at Dundas Street the weekend of the conference, and you'll be in detour pain. Instead, take the Jarvis Street exit (which is the next one after Yonge when headed eastbound), and head north. Turn left onto Dundas or Gerrard Streets.
If you are travelling on the Don Valley Parkway, take the Bayview/Bloor exit. Keep right, and take the ramp to Bayview southbound. Exit Bayview at River Street. At the lights at the top of the ramp, turn right on Gerrard Street (you're heading west now). Ryerson starts on the west side of Jarvis Street.
IMPORTANT NOTE TO OUT-OF-TOWN DRIVERS: If you have not driven in Toronto before, there are some things you should be aware of.
First, Toronto has streetcars. They share the roadway with you. You have to yield to them. In particular, if one stops, you must yield to disembarking passengers. You pass streetcars on their right, which means that you are in the lane where passengers get out. You don't want to be right beside them on a right-hand turn, either, because they can't go anywhere except where the rails are. Also, they move quite fast, and they can't stop on a dime. Be careful!
Also, Toronto streets include crosswalks at places other than stoplights. If you see the yellow flashers going on overhead, that means someone is going to cross. You must stop.
Both of these are features of the area where Ryerson is located, so be prepared for them.
Saturday night dinner
If you're going to dinner Saturday night, then you will have to get there. The dinner is a buffet-style social event sponsored by Sun, to be held at Fionn MacCools. Walking and subway-taking groups will be departing from Pittman Hall on the Ryerson campus at 6:30pm on Saturday. If for some reason you need to get there by yourself, here's directions.
Walking
The walk down is by no means arduous, although it is not just a block or two. It will take about half an hour at an easy pace, but if you're an habitual city walker you can do it much faster. The easiest way is to walk south on Church Street, until you get to the Esplanade. Turn right (west). The pub is right on the north-west corner of Church and Esplanade.
Subway
The pub is not directly on any handy transit runs, but it's not far from the subway. From the university, go west to the Dundas station, at Yonge Street and Dundas Street. Take the second stairs down into the subway, on the west side of Yonge Street. You want the southbound train. The Dundas subway platform is split, and if you enter the first stairs, you'll be on the northbound platform (you can go downstars and under the subway to get to the other platform, if you need to. If you accidentally pay your fare first, take a transfer before you leave the platform, so you don't need to pay again). Note: If you are using a wheelchair or need an elevator, use the elevator in the Eaton Centre. It's the shopping mall on the south-west side of Yonge Street. Level 1 is the level you want to get to the platform.
Board the train southbound. Ride it to Union station. Exit the station to Front Street on the south side. It is more difficult to get to the north side of Front, but just in case: when you are standing on Front street, the block-long giant pile of stone building is Union Station. The somewhat taller but narrower pile of stone building across the street is the Royal York Hotel (it's a Fairmont hotel, and "Fairmont" is in giant letters on its face). Union Station is on the south side of Front, and the Royal York is on the north.
Head east. The first street you cross will be Bay, followed by Yonge. Proceed until you reach Church Street. Turn right (south), and walk the short block down to the Esplanade. The pub is the building on the north-west corner of Church and Esplanade.
Google provides an accurate map. If you prefer schematic diagrams, here is one:
Driving
With an event on Yonge Street, parking is going to be very tricky to come by in the area of the restaurant. That said, if you want to drive, your best bet is to drive south on Jarvis, and turn right on either Front or the Esplanade. There is a parking lot on the south side of the Esplanade in the general area of Fionn MacCools, but it is often very busy on Saturday evenings. There may also be parking south of the St Lawrence Market building, which is the big barn-like building on the west side of Jarvis St between Front Street and the Esplanade.
Emergency contact information
While in Toronto (as elsewhere in North America), all emergency services are reachable by dialling 9-1-1 from any land-line telephone. This is a free call: no need to find a quarter. If you have a life-threatening emergency, call that.
If you need help, but it is not life-threatening, try calling Andrew Sullivan at 416 673 4110. Toronto has ten-digit dialling: you must include the "416" area code. Andrew has his phone with him all the time, so you should get a response very quickly. If you don't get through, leave a message so that he can try to solve your problem.