Santa Claus is coming to town, but he’ll be coming from a different direction this year.
On Nov. 17, the 115th annual Toronto Santa Claus parade will be starting in the east end of the city at Bloor and Parliament streets. The parade will head west on Bloor Street before turning south on University Avenue.
In previous years, the parade started at Christie and Bloor streets and travelled east.
"That area is under construction now and just wouldn’t work for us to host all the thousands of families who line up on the side of the street," CEO Peter Beresford told reporters at a press conference Tuesday. "So we’re going the other way from University."
The parade will then head east on Wellington Street before heading south on Yonge Street and then east on Front Street.
It will end at St. Lawrence Market.
The Toronto Santa Claus Parade was first started by Canadian department store Eaton, and Santa made his first appearance in 1905. It has been a not-for-profit charity since 1982.
The 2019 parade will kick off at 12:30 p.m.
You can watch the parade on Nov. 17 at 4:30 p.m. on CTV.
Road closures
Between 6 a.m. and around 3:30 p.m. there will be rolling road closures in effect on the following streets.
- Bloor Street East, from Parliament Street to Broadview Avenue
- Bloor Street East, from Sherbourne Street to Parliament Street
- Bloor Street West/East, from St George Street to Sherbourne Stree
- Avenue Road/Queen’s Park, from Davenport Road to College Street
- University Avenue, from College Street to Dundas Street
- University Avenue, from Dundas Street to Front Street
- Wellington Street, from University Avenue to Jarvis Street
- Front Street, from Bay Street to Jarvis Street
- Front Street, from Jarvis Street to Sherbourne Street
Toronto Police will be towing any vehicles parked along the route as of 6 a.m.
