The Numbers
The nerd page. I like data the way I like light: precise, measurable, occasionally surprising.
The tower held the record for the world's tallest free-standing structure from 1975 until 2007, when the Burj Khalifa surpassed it during construction. That's 32 years at the top — a run no other structure has matched. It's still the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere.
Quick numbers
Total height: 553.3 metres (antenna tip)
Main observation deck: 346 metres
SkyPod: 447 metres
Elevator speed: 6 m/s (roughly 22 km/h) — 58 seconds to the main deck
Lightning strikes: approximately 75 per year
Construction: 1973–1976, 40 months
Weight of concrete: 40,524 tonnes
Annual visitors: roughly 1.5 million
Towers I've shot — a comparison
I've photographed four of the world's prominent towers over the years. Here's how they compare on the numbers that matter to me as a photographer: height, deck elevation, and whether you can actually see anything useful from the observation level.
| Tower | Total height | Main deck | View radius (clear day) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto tower | 553 m | 346 m | ~160 km |
| Tokyo Skytree | 634 m | 350 m | ~100 km |
| Shanghai Oriental Pearl | 468 m | 263 m | ~80 km |
| Auckland Sky Tower | 328 m | 220 m | ~80 km |
The Tokyo Skytree is taller and its deck sits at a comparable height, but the urban density of Tokyo means you rarely see distant features. Toronto's flat geography and the lake to the south give it the longest clear-day view radius of any tower I've visited. On a crisp December morning you can see the mist from Niagara Falls, which is roughly 130 km away. That still amazes me.
The lightning thing
75 strikes a year sounds dramatic, and it is — if you're trying to photograph it. I've spent three full summers attempting to catch a lightning strike on the tower from Polson Pier. I have exactly two usable frames. Lightning photography is 98% sitting in the dark with a remote shutter release, 1% adrenaline, and 1% actually getting the shot.
The tower was designed to handle lightning. It functions as a massive lightning rod for the downtown core. The strikes are conducted harmlessly to ground through the structure. You won't feel them from the observation deck, though the thunder can rattle the windows.