…or just really conspicuously filmed there?
Tvtropes seems to think it is set in Toronto, but as I recall it, the train platform where it all started mentioned trains to New York, and from that point on it was a generic “the city” setting, where no one says where they are. Not really hiding the Toronto-ness of it, but allowing anyone who wanted to imagine a cooler city to go ahead and do that by not mentioning any particular place names.
Was there ever any clarification on this that I missed?
It takes place in Toronto. I don’t remember which episode, but there was a line in one of the first few episodes that Beth (and reluctantly Sarah) worked for the Toronto police force. Sarah may have been coming from New York City, since there is a real-world Amtrak train whose two end-points are Toronto and NYC.
Well, several Toronto neighborhoods are mentioned by name, the money is Canadian and the cars all sport Ontario plates. I think it is just not a focal point of the show. Or it could be that originally they wanted to set it in NYC, then shrugged their shoulders at some point and said “why not Toronto?” :). But since it is a Canadian production I assume it was always the idea to make it Canada.
Yeah, I think they attempted to make it look like New York just for the pilot, then settled on it being Toronto.
It seems to me that in the past few years, shows shot in Canada have stopped bothering to set the show in an American city. Orphan Black, Continuum, The Listener, Flashpoint…
The summer replacement show Saving Hope started as a US/Canadian venture set in an unspecified city. Once the US network (NBC?) dropped it, the newer shows allow more Canadian references.
Other than thinking Scarborough exists somewhere north of the city where Markham is, they’ve made a number of very specific Toronto residents. Felix even refered to it correctly (from a downtown residents perspective) as Scarberia.
More than that, when Sarah is pulled over on her way back from Scarborough, she says “I had to go to Bed Bath and Beyond, and no one wants to admit to that” rang true. For the longest time the only one was on the way to Scarborough, fairly far from downtown.
I’ve seen the distinctive red TTC streetcars in the background.
The university scenes, on the other hand, are supposed to be happening at the University of Minnesota, and are in actually filmed in the OISE buildings on the U of T campus.
Lost Girl.
I think it’s part of the Canadian content package. Canadian productions want to be Canadian enough to qualify because that gives them an edge in getting broadcast in Canada. But they don’t want to be too Canadian because they worry it might lose them the larger American audience. So they want to be just Canadian enough that Canadian viewers notice and American viewers don’t.
Right, and because of that I think there’s a difference between having little references that let someone who knows the area know that, BTW, this is Toronto, and actually setting the story in Toronto and making it obvious even to viewers who don’t live anywhere near there and have no idea what the layout of the suburbs is, or what the currency looks like, or that those distinctive red streetcars mean “Toronto”.
Contrast a show like “Being Erica”, or the Scott Pilgrim movie, where they come right out and say, “this is Toronto”, clarifying the setting for viewers who don’t know anything about the place.
I guess another question is, does Toronto have some well known distinctive features that just showing establishes the city to everyone in the english-speaking world (or just US and Canada and maybe UK)? Like if you show a shot of the Statue of Liberty, or mention The Bronx everyone knows you’re in NYC even if you don’t mention it otherwise. The closest thing I can think of for TO is a shot of the CN tower, and I don’t think that’s nearly as widely recognized.
The things that usually jump out at me first are the Beck’s taxis. They’re orange and green and I don’t think I’ve seen that anywhere else in the world. Bright red TTC streetcars also work, so I guess it’s usually traffic scenes for me 
I think the CN Tower is probably the best bet for non residents, I can’t think of anything else that’s visually specifically Toronto and not just generic city.
I think most Canadians would recognize the CN Tower. And it is used occasionally in establishing shots.
In the opening scene of the first episode at the rail station there is a p.a. announcement about “Next train to New York City will be departing on Platform B in ten minutes.” That is the only mention of New York in the entire show, which is very clearly set in Toronto including notable Toronto skylines, neighborhoods, et cetera. Beth’s driver’s license that Sarah looks at right after the former jumps into the train is intentionally blurred except for the name and the police cars are not marked with any city markings, so it may be that they were going to set it in Genericopolis, but it clearly is not set in New York and no attempt is made to make it seem like New York e.g. the horrible mangling of accents normally heard when British actors attempt to portray a New Yorker. (Note that the converse is also true; most American actors can’t handle any kind of British accent competently.)
Stranger
You mentioned Scott Pilgrim. That movie had a scene set at Casa Loma, which is a well-known landmark in Toronto. But I doubt most people who aren’t local would know it.
eta: Checking their website, I see they’re filming a movie there now.
Exactly. You can show Casa Loma, and locals will know “this was filmed in Toronto”, but to most of the viewing public it’s just “this weird castle in the middle of the (generic) city for some reason”. You show the Statue of Liberty, and everyone knows “New York”.
As noted, the closest thing Toronto has is the CN tower, but I think most of the US mistakes that for a generic version of the Space Needle. 
Other semi-distinctive buildings are Toronto City Hall and Roy Thomson Hall (as seen in Police Academy, sort of!), but they aren’t very notable outside of Toronto.
Is it coming back? I was starting to give up hope! AH yes, it is, Apr 19! Yay!
It appeared in a Star Trek: TNG episode. I don’t know offhand of any other contemporary buildings that have done so. Maybe the Eiffel Tower in We’ll Always Have Paris…
