Bay Street

Bay Street, originally known as Bear Street, is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Canada's financial industry since succeeding Montreal's St. James Street in that role in the 1970s. Within the legal profession, the term Bay Street is also used colloquially to refer to the large, full-service business law firms of Toronto, particularly the top-tier law firms known as the "Seven Sisters". The name of the street originated in 1797 from the fact that it connected Lot Street (present-day Queen Street West) to a bay at the Toronto Harbour. Prior to that it was known as Bear Street because of frequent bear sightings in the early history of...