“Tommy Boy” was filmed primarily in Ontario, Canada (especially around Toronto and Newmarket), with additional scenes shot in Ohio and California in the United States.

Main filming locations

  • Ontario, Canada : Many town and street scenes were shot in and around Toronto, including University College and Hart House at the University of Toronto, plus other Ontario spots like Newmarket, Durham, Port Hope, and Brampton.
  • Ohio, USA : Marblehead and Sandusky, Ohio, were used to represent Tommy’s hometown and surrounding areas tied to Callahan Auto.
  • California, USA : Some additional material was filmed at El Mirage Dry Lake in Adelanto, California, for open-road style shots.

Quick Scoop: what the movie “pretends” vs. where it shot

  • In the story, Tommy goes to college at Marquette University in Wisconsin, but those campus scenes were actually filmed at University College and other spots on the University of Toronto’s St. George campus.
  • Sandusky, Ohio, is the fictional hub of Callahan Auto Parts, and production mixed real Ohio locations with Canadian stand-ins to create that Midwest road-trip feel.

Notable specific spots fans look for

  • The famous gas-station gag (door getting ripped off, “get a new map”) was filmed at a real gas station in Newmarket, Ontario, near Main Street and Davis Drive, though the original station has since been removed.
  • Several downtown and office exteriors, including places doubling for corporate buildings, were done in central Toronto, such as BCE Place and other nearby streets.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.