Location

For detailed information about Toronto Pearson International Airport, Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, VIA Rail Canada, GO Transit (trains and buses connecting Toronto and surrounding communities), Greyhound Bus, Coach Canada, and Union-Pearson Express (UP Express), please visit City of Toronto website.

Unfortunately, a subway link from downtown Toronto to York will not be completed in time for IRSCL Congress 2017, so any delegates staying downtown will need a combination of subway and bus and at least an hour of travel time.

For detailed information about public transportation, including Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) subways and buses, GO Transit (trains and buses connecting Toronto and surrounding communities), taxis, cycling, and walking, please visit City of Toronto website.

For details on how to get to York’s Keele Campus, whether driving and parking, or by public transit, including from Pearson International Airport, please see the links on the top right of the York Maps page for “Transit and Driving Directions” and “Related Links.”

York University is the third-largest university in Canada: it has 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, 295,000 alumni, 6,200 international students from 178 countries, and 200 university partnerships around the world. York’s Keele Campus is a small city! It has many facilities of interest to IRSCL Congress 2017 delegates.

Although all delegates staying on campus have breakfast included (enhanced continental breakfast for those staying in residence; hot breakfast for those staying in the on-campus hotel) and although lunches are provided for all delegates, there are other meals that delegates may purchase on or off campus.

York Lanes (York’s indoor shopping mall) has a variety of restaurants as well as a convenience store, banks, drug store, medical centre, drycleaning, York’s Bookstore, and other services. For full information about the services available and the hours of each business, please visit York Lanes website.

For information on more than 40 on-campus food service locations “serving a wide range of healthy, wholesome and adventurous cuisine,” please see the Dining Directory.

For on- and nearby off-campus dining opportunities, please see reviews by visiting reviews for Restaurants in York University, North York, Toronto.

On Monday, July 31, the afternoon and evening are free for delegates to take advantage of the many cultural, shopping, entertainment, and dining opportunities available in and around Toronto. Each registered delegate to IRSCL Congress 2017 will receive a Presto Card, which enables everyone to take advantage of public transportation to get from York’s Keele Campus to the heart of Toronto either for self-directed explorations of Toronto and area or for attendance at two special excursions planned for that afternoon for people who sign up: 1) Toronto Public Library, Lillian H. Smith Branch, with world-class collections of children’s and young adult literature, including a tour, reception, and a roundtable of creators of children’s and YA literature; 2) “Mediated Possibilities: Young People as Creators, Producers and Audiences of Film,” a reception and roundtable of youth filmmakers at the TIFF Lightbox (Toronto International Film Festival).

The Presto Card (value $6.00) has been topped up with $10.00 of travel funds; this is included in your Congress registration fees. Presto covers travel on the subway and buses of the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) as well as travel on GO buses and trains linking Toronto with surrounding communities. Delegates may use this convenient card throughout Congress, topping it up with additional funds if extra trips are desired. Delegates will be asked to return the cards at the end of the Congress: they will be put to good use in the hands of needy students at York.

For more information about the Presto Card, please visit the Presto website.

There are many tourist sites, cultural attractions, shopping venues, entertainment offerings, and dining experiences awaiting you in Toronto: the CN Tower, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Aga Khan Museum, and many more. For things to see and lists of events, please visit Toronto Tourism website.

You can also see the Official Toronto 2017 Visitor Guide.

For delegates wishing to extend their stay in Ontario, plan a day trip to Niagara Falls, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg (50^th anniversary!), the Stratford Shakespearean Festival, or the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, or take a longer trip to Ottawa, Canada’s capital city, or even Algonquin Park for some wilderness experience. For more information about tourist sites in Ontario, please visit Official Website of Tourism in Ontario.