Updated and fact-checked: 2026-09-18
Toronto’s PATH can connect downtown transit with indoor stops, but start by choosing the building you want to reach and the entrance you need to leave through. It is not one centrally managed underground mall, and it cannot guarantee a sheltered trip between any two attractions. For a first visit, consider a short walk from Union Station to a nearby building before extending the route. This is planning advice, not an account of a personally tested walk.
The City of Toronto’s PATH page describes a network longer than 30 kilometres connecting more than 75 buildings, with shops, restaurants and transit connections. The page was last modified on January 21, 2025: these are the City’s published scale figures, not a new count made in 2026. Its listed connections include Union Station, the Hockey Hall of Fame, Scotiabank Arena, Roy Thomson Hall, CF Toronto Eaton Centre and City Hall.
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The City also explains that each section is controlled by the owner of the property it passes through. Most of the network is underground, but it includes different levels and above-ground connections. A connection on the map does not mean every door is always open, or that the entire trip is climate-controlled and step-free. If catching a train, pushing a stroller or using a wheelchair matters to your plan, check entrances and changes of level as well as distance.
| Situation | How to plan | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| A short walk in rain or snow | Choose buildings with confirmed connections and keep a street-level alternative | Connecting passages and the final exit may have different access conditions; not every section is indoors |
| Eating or shopping | Identify the business’s building before finding its PATH connection | Business hours and passage opening hours may differ |
| Union to the Eaton Centre | Split the walk into sections; compare the subway if time is tight | Directions, levels and usable entrances on each section; underground is not automatically faster |
| Evenings, weekends or step-free travel | Ask the relevant property managers and retain an alternative route | Elevator status, entrance hours and a route that avoids stairs when needed |
Navigate by buildings and destinations
The earlier claim that the entire signage system was replaced in 2024 needs correcting. The City dates the new system’s design to 2016–2017 and its installation throughout the network to spring 2018. The Financial District BIA’s explanation also dates the update to 2018 and describes coloured routes, wall maps and destination signs: Waterfront, for example, points towards the lake. Its 2024 reference concerns a new tunnel between Simcoe Place at 200 Front Street West and 160 Front Street West, not a network-wide signage replacement.
Download the City’s PATH map and check its version and key. Although the official file’s URL contains older dates, the copy retrieved for this review is marked v.2026.01 and uses the names Sankofa Square and TMU station. Main routes, connecting routes, stairs, elevators and alternative accessible routes convey different information. A line between two points is not proof of a direct wheelchair route. This is a network diagram, not a live register of which doors are open.
Around Union, first identify the buildings on either side of Bay Street. The TTC’s Union station entrance information lists Royal Bank Plaza at 200 Bay Street on the west side and Brookfield Place at 181 Bay Street on the east side. Both provide access to the PATH near Union subway station, with elevators, escalators and stairs that are not operated by the TTC. Matching the building, address and equipment you need is more useful than looking for a generic underground-city entrance. These are different entrance options, not one compulsory route for everyone.
For a short introduction, choose Union and Brookfield Place as your endpoints and confirm your destination at the next junction. For the Hockey Hall of Fame, locate it beside Brookfield Place on the official map, then check admission arrangements separately: using a connecting public passage does not give you an attraction ticket. If the next section is unclear, note the building you are in or ask its staff. There is no need to keep circling simply to stay underground.
For CF Toronto Eaton Centre, think in sections: Union, the Financial District and the shopping centre. A memorized sequence of turns without floor information is less useful. The centre’s visitor information lists street-level walking, the subway and PATH as options from Union. Use the official map to identify your connection into the Financial District, then check the next section towards the centre and Queen station. This article does not turn that diagram into a route whose every door has been verified open. For the square at the north end, check the final street exit separately.
Check hours and accessibility section by section
Union Station’s official FAQ currently gives general hours of 05:30 to 00:45 the following day. It also lists an exception for the western doors in the centre of the plaza leading to the Great Hall: 05:00 to 02:00 the following day, with access outside general station hours reserved for people using UP Express. This does not mean the whole PATH stays open until 02:00 or that every station entrance is available. For a late arrival or early departure, confirm access for the transport service you are actually taking.
The Eaton Centre visitor page currently lists regular shopping-centre hours as Monday–Saturday 10:00–21:00 and Sunday 11:00–19:00, with separate holiday hours. These are the centre’s hours, not a common timetable for every property between Union and the mall. Individual businesses may have their own schedules. Before planning to return through PATH after dinner, check the passages on the return route; your destination being open does not establish that all intervening doors are open. These are hours observed during this review, not a guarantee for a future date.
For a wheelchair or stroller, locate the map’s accessible alternatives and elevators, then check the equipment’s status. The TTC lists Union as accessible, with elevators between the concourse and the platforms for the two subway directions. Elevators inside the Bay Street properties leading to PATH fall under different management. Check TTC elevator notices and ask the relevant buildings about private elevators and exits. An accessible Union subway station does not make every PATH journey step-free.
The centre’s visitor page also retains a notice for a multi-year escalator project starting January 15, 2024, with alternative routes signposted during work. That supports checking for diversions on arrival; it does not establish which equipment is unavailable today. If the route differs from your downloaded map, follow the site’s official closure signs and staff directions. An escalator diversion is not necessarily a wheelchair route.
Treat PATH as an optional transport segment in your day: confirm the starting point, next building, destination exit and return hours before adding shops or attractions. You still need to prepare for outdoor weather. For a waterfront extension, plan it separately using our Toronto waterfront walking guide. This article does not carry forward expired 2026 World Cup transport measures or crowd forecasts; everyday journeys depend on that day’s building access and transit arrangements.