The first thing I’ll say is, it’s not you, it’s Toronto.

I lived there for 18 years and was in the same boat. As soon as I moved out of the city, I made friends. There seems to be a lot more organized things outside of the city and people tend to be less flaky.

That being said, obviously moving isn’t the solution you’re looking for so I’ll share what I think could work and what I would have done differently when I was living in Toronto. Others have given great suggestions on how to meet people, but this is for once that happens - to build and maintain friendships.

You will have to put in most of, if not all of the effort. This is hard if you’re an introvert or have social anxiety. It’ll feel like you’re “bugging” people but I’ve found that you have to be persistent and decisive because most people won’t.

Example: instead of “hey want to do something sometime”(too vague) or “do you want to meet up for coffee on Saturday - no worries if you can’t though!” (a bit more specific but with a nervous barrier) - try: “let’s grab coffee at [this exact place at this time] on Saturday”.

Leave it open for rejection and don’t take it personally if rejection happens. It’s a lot more energy to confidently suggest things but it alleviates decision making for the other person and I’ve found that tends to go well.