They get the blue and white from the
Varsity Blues, the University of Toronto's intercollegiate sports program. Smythe had captained the hockey team to a title in 1915.
@Killion pointed out to me last week that the Toronto Argonauts, who also wear blue and white, were founded in 1873, four years earlier than the Varsity Blues, and thus may be the origin for blue becoming the main colour for Toronto's sports teams. Indeed, the
Argos' Wikipedia page implies that is the case. However, upon further research conducted... well, right now... the
University of Toronto's coat-of-arms were granted in 1857 and use the colours blue-and-white. So the colour scheme may indeed originate from UofT afterall.
Either way... blue-and-white have always been Toronto's sporting colours, despite the Raptors (lol purple) and Toronto FC (Canadian red-and-white for then the only Canadian club in the MLS) deviating from that trend. It also long predates Québec's use of blue and white
, the
Fleurdelisé flag only being adopted as late as 1948, although its origins go back to 1902.