Exhibition City: A Walking Tour of the CNE Grounds​

Discover the Stories Behind a “City Within a City”​

Explore the hidden history and architectural legacy of the CNE grounds with the Exhibition City Walking Tour—an immersive, hour-long journey through a space once viewed as a fully functioning city in its own right. From majestic exhibition halls to everyday amenities like banks, a post office, news department, and even a hospital and social housing, the grounds once featured everything a thriving urban centre required. Art galleries, public gathering spaces, and key civic institutions including fire hall and police station, reflected the fair’s broader role in shaping Canadian identity.​

The tour also highlights iconic landmarks like the Princes’ Gates, which, much like the ceremonial city gates of old, were designed to welcome guests and dignitaries into a space of celebration and possibility. Whether you’re revisiting familiar ground or discovering these stories for the first time, this tour offers a unique look at why the CNE has long been known as Exhibition City—a place where innovation, culture, and community met under one skyline.​