Government of Canada Building, North York

The Government of Canada Building, also known as the Joseph Shepard Federal Building, is a Government of Canada office complex at 4900 Yonge Street in North York. Built in 1977 to service residents of the former Metropolitan Toronto boroughs of North York and Etobicoke, it houses offices for passport services, Service Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Canadian Forces recruiting centre in addition to other federal departments. The building was designed by Macy DuBois and is a Classified Federal Heritage Building.[1]

The Joseph Sheppard Federal Building in North York, Ontario.

The building is named for Joseph Shepard, an early settler in North York whom acquired 400 acres (160 ha) of land nearby and also the namesake of Sheppard Avenue.

It is one of several federal building around Toronto:

• Health Canada Building on Midland Avenue and Highway 401 in Scarborough
• Government of Canada Building on Borough Drive in Scarborough
• Dominion Public Building on Front Street West (sold to private developer in 2011)
• Dominion Public Building at 338 Keele Street
• Environment and Climate Change Canada building at 4905 Dufferin Street

The structure, with its multi-layered design, stands out among the surrounding skyscrapers along Yonge Street, which were built during the office boom of the 1990s surrounding the diversification of downtown North York.

The building is within walking distance to Sheppard–Yonge subway station and short distance from Ontario Highway 401.

Brutalist interior of Joseph Shepard Federal Building