Since the Second World War, Toronto's image as a rather staid, predominantly British community, has been transformed through massive immigration into what has been aptly described as a "salad bowl" of identifiable ethnic communities with their characteristic languages, neighbourhoods, shops, newspapers, radio programs and sporting events.
Thomas Maxwell holds a M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Toronto and the M.Th. from Princeton Theological Seminary. As researcher for the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism he was in charge of the Toronto project. He was consultant to and appears as commentator in the film, The Invisible French. He has taught at the University of Toronto; during several years spent in Guyana, he served as Professor of Theology, Principal of Bethel Theological College, and Superintendent of Berbic County C.M. Schools. Currently he is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Wilfrid Laurier University.