Public Health in Toronto Commemorative plaque, 2022.
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Resource ID
10065
Access
Open
Address
60 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON M5H 2M3
Credit Line
Heritage Toronto
Date of Creation
2022
Historical Themes
Program Category
Time Period
Caption
Public Health in Toronto Commemorative plaque, 2022.
Description
Toronto has faced many public health challenges in its history.
In 1832 and 1834, the city experienced two outbreaks of cholera, which spread in drinking water polluted with sewage. The epidemics killed hundreds and resulted in the creation of the city’s first Board of Health and public health bylaws.
In 1847, a major epidemic of typhus killed 863 people. Bites from infected mites, lice, and fleas allowed typhus to spread rapidly. As science revealed how diseases passed between people, Toronto built its first clean-drinking-water system, improved sewage facilities, and began to collect and dispose of garbage.
After 1900, public health officials focused on living conditions in Toronto’s poorest areas. Dr. Charles Hastings, the city’s Medical Officer of Health from 1910 to 1929, expanded Toronto’s public health department to be the largest in Canada.
In the 20th century, public health efforts looked at lifestyle and overall health, but there were still deadly outbreaks of disease: the 1918 flu pandemic and polio in 1937 and 1951. SARS followed in 2003. The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in 2020, has killed thousands in Toronto.
Marker lat / long: 43.653131, -79.381606 (WGS84)