Toronto Ontario Temple

Dedication of the Toronto Ontario Temple

The Toronto Ontario Temple’s public open house — according to a general conference talk by President Thomas S. Monson, second counselor in the First Presidency — was a transcendent blessing. “How the people did come,” he explained. “First they thronged to the public open house, where reverently and quietly they viewed the interior of the temple and learned the purpose for its erection and of the blessings which the temple can provide." One visitor described the temple’s beauty with the words, "This is a center of serenity."

As one young girl was about to leave, President Monson recounted, she said, “Mommy, this is beautiful here. I don’t want to go.” One woman told an usher, “I have been so impressed with what I have seen. How do I join your church?” One attendee, having spent four years in a hospital, was wheeled into the house of the Lord in her hospital bed and expressed profound gratitude to be there.

After the open house, the Toronto Ontario Temple was dedicated in 11 sessions from Aug. 25 to Aug. 27, 1990, by President Gordon B. Hinckley, first counselor in the First Presidency. The 27 speakers at dedicatory sessions included 21 general authorities, 11 being members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. President Ezra Taft Benson, President of the Church at the time, was not in attendance due to his age and the long distances required to travel. President Monson pleaded in the dedicatory prayer for the prophet to have "gladness in his heart, comfort in his body and the assurance of our love."

Some general authorities in attendance had served as mission presidents in Canada: President Monson in Toronto from 1959 to 1962; Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the New England Mission, which included the Maritime provinces of Canada, from 1965 to 1968; and Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in Toronto from 1974 to 1976.

More than 17,000 Latter-day Saints attended a dedication session. Because of multiple nationalities of members in the temple district, the sessions were translated into six languages: French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese and Korean.

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “In this thy house will be administered those ordinances which are eternal, even as thou, our God, art eternal. These ordinances bear witness of the immortality of the human soul. Through them we are made certain that life continues beyond the veil of death. Within this sacred house a great and marvelous work of vicarious service will be performed in behalf of the dead.”

Read the dedicatory prayer of the Toronto Ontario Temple here.

A temple was announced for Toronto, Ontario, on April 7, 1984, by President Gordon B. Hinckley, second counselor in the First Presidency, with President Spencer W. Kimball as President of the Church. A groundbreaking was then held on Oct. 10, 1987, with President Thomas S. Monson, second counselor in a reorganized First Presidency, presiding.

After an open house from Aug. 2 to Aug. 18, 1990, the Toronto temple was dedicated by President Hinckley — first counselor in the First Presidency, with President Ezra Taft Benson as Church President — during 11 sessions, from Aug. 25 to Aug. 27, 1990. This house of the Lord was closed in October 2023 for nine-month renovations.

Architecture and Design of the Toronto Ontario Temple

The Toronto temple is 171 feet tall with an 11-foot statue of the angel Moroni, and it has a floor area of 57,982 square feet. The temple’s exterior is made of white cast stone, and tall arches are a prevalent theme around the building.

Above the edifice is a three-tiered tower that sits on a square base and has a spire that leads up to a point. Inside the temple are a baptistry, a celestial room, four ordinance rooms and six sealing rooms.