Sankofa Square
Toronto's neon crossroads where 100,000 people a day share Canada's first pedestrian scramble.
Coming soon on iOS — be first to walk Toronto offline.
This 1-acre pentagon, completed in 2002, runs public events, performances, and art displays year-round against a wall of billboard screens bright enough to draw comparisons to Times Square and Shibuya Crossing. It is city-owned but Canada's first public square maintained through a public-private partnership — an experiment in keeping downtown alive that clearly worked.
What to look for
- The 11 round concrete pillars along the angled northeastern hypotenuse edge, supporting a structure with an industrial urban aesthetic — positioned to the north so it casts no shadow on the rest of the square
- The slight incline of the modular granite slab floor — architects Brown + Storey intended it to read as a theatrical stage
- The diagonal zinc canopy marking the southern edge, which cuts across the geometry at an odd angle
Take the subway to TMU station; the square is also connected to PATH, Toronto's underground pedestrian walkway, which links to the Toronto Eaton Centre next door.
Sankofa Square is one of 19 sights worth the detour in Toronto, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Toronto pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Toronto
- CN TowerFor 32 years, a railway company's broadcast antenna was the tallest free-standing structure on Earth.
- BMO FieldThe 2007 soccer-specific stadium that grew into Toronto's outdoor dual-sport arena — and now holds 45,736 for the 2026 FIFA World Cup under the temporary name Toronto Stadium.
- Scotiabank ArenaA 1941 postal sorting depot on Bay Street that became Canada's busiest arena — and the most photographed spot in the country on Instagram.
- Royal Ontario MuseumCanada's largest museum packs 18 million objects — Cambrian sea creatures, East Asian art, and Art Deco clothing and design objects — into 40 galleries on Bloor Street.
- Rogers CentreThe world's first fully retractable motorized roof opened here in 1989 — and 70 hotel rooms still peer straight down onto the field.
- First Canadian PlaceFor 50 years it was Canada's tallest building — until a fellow Toronto skyscraper finally beat it in June 2025.