Sip & Learn - I'll Drink to That: Booze in Toronto's History

Join us for an evening with Professor Craig Heron as we explore the place of alcohol in Toronto’s history, not just as a social habit, but as a window into everyday life, work, and control in the city.

This lecture will trace how drinking was woven into working-class routines, from taverns to factory floors, and how it became a focus of reform movements, employers, and the state. Through this lens, we will examine the ongoing tension between those who drank and those who sought to regulate it, revealing how alcohol became tied to broader questions of class, morality, and authority over the past two centuries.

Craig Heron is a Professor at York University and one of Canada’s leading historians of labour and working-class life. His work examines how ordinary people lived, worked, and organized, and how their daily practices were shaped and contested. He is the author of , as well as , where he explores the social worlds of workers and the structures that governed them.

5:00 PM – Doors open: find a seat (open seating!), order food & drinks, mingle.
7:25 PM – Host introduction
7:30 PM – Lecture begins, followed by Q&A
8:45 PM – Have 1:1 time with the speaker, mingle with fellow guests, and order another round
9:15 PM – Wrap up

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Host or Publisher Sip and Learn Toronto