From 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., friends, family, city councillors and members of the community are expected to flood into the North York Civic Centre, located at 5095 Yonge St., near Yonge Street and Sheppard Ave. W, to mourn the lives lost.

«We really want this to be a time for the community to come together in these difficult times,» said Bijan Ahmadi, the executive director of the Institute for Peace and Diplomacy, who is helping organize the event.

«It’s a very difficult time.»

The vigil is being organized by the Iranian student associations at both York University and the University of Toronto, as well as the Iranian Canadian congress.

«We invite everyone to attend,» Ahmadi said. «This is not only an Iranian-Canadian tragedy, this is a Canadian tragedy.»

The crash sent shock waves across Toronto or «Tehranto,» a name dubbed by many people of Iranian descent living in the city.

About 100,000 Iranians live in the GTA. It is the second largest Iranian community outside Iran, surpassed only by Los Angeles.

More GTA victims identified

The Ukrainian airliner crashed in Iran on Wednesday, killing 63 Canadians. It was one of the biggest, single death tolls involving Canadian citizens in recent times.

CBC Toronto is still working to confirm the identities of other victims believed to have connections to the GTA.

CBC News learned Thursday that four members of the same family, including a 5-year-old girl, died in the crash.

Vahid Emami identified his daughter Sophie Emami, 5, his wife Sahand Sadeghi, 39, as among those who died. The three lived together in their North York home.

His brother-in-law Alvand Sadeghi and sister-in-law Negar Borghei, both in their late 20s, were also killed in the crash. The pair resided in Toronto, but Borghei was studying in Montreal.

‘I cannot stop crying’

A close friend of a North York mother and her two children also told CBC Toronto Thursday that all three died in the crash.

Mahdieh Ghassemi, 38, and her two children Arsan Niazi, 11, and Arnica Niazi, 8, were confirmed to be among the dead.

Reihaneh Vahedi told CBC Toronto Thursday morning that she and Ghassemi, an architect, had been friends for 12 years.

«Arsan was a gifted boy. He was talking [in] three languages and he liked airplanes,» Vahedi said. «Arnica was really kind and gifted too … She loved dancing, singing, acting and drawing.»

Vahedi says she spoke to Ghassemi on the phone the day before the family’s flight.

«We [were] close friends, we talked on the phone every day,» she said.

«I cannot stop crying.»

A full list of victims with ties to the GTA is available here.

U of T vigil held Wednesday

Another young family of three and numerous professionals from across the GTA are among the 138 victims headed for Canada.

A number of dentists were killed, including Dr. Farhad Niknam, who worked in the Toronto-area.

«Words cannot describe how sad and heartbroken we all are. May they rest in peace,» the Iranian Ontario Dental Association said in a statement.

«We would like to extend our most heartfelt condolences to their families and loved ones.»

Many victims in the Toronto-area were also students travelling back to Canada after the winter break, according to a spokesperson for the Iranian Canadian Congress.

The community and many Canadians remains in mourning on Thursday.

A vigil was held Wednesday night at U of T to honour the victims. Several of the school’s students were identified as among the dead.

‘I feel this incredible sadness’

Among them was Zeynab Asadi-Lari, who was studying health sciences at University of Toronto Mississauga.

Fiona Rawle, an associate professor at U of T who taught biology to Asadi-Lari, remembers her as a kind, diligent student who was always seeking further opportunities and pushing to get better.

«As a professor, one of my greatest joys is watching students pursue their dreams, and I feel this incredible sadness that Zeynab won’t get the chance to do that,» she said.

«What I can say to her parents and family is what we can do is just try not to forget.»

Tawle says Asadi-Lari still stuck out in a biology class of about 1,000 students — both for her questions and her diligence in seeking extra guidance during Tawle’s office hours.

Asadi-Lari was also the president of the school’s newly-formed STEM fellowship club, which pushed for increased learning opportunities for students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

«From what I saw, Zeynab was this incredible mix of [being] fiercely competitive with herself and driving hard in school, but then incredibly collaborative with other people,» she said.

The university issued a statement saying it was deeply saddened to see its students’ names on the plane’s manifest.

«The university’s three campuses are united in mourning the loss of the victims and offering sympathy and condolences to their families and friends,» said a U of T statement, noting it would provide more information in the coming days.

Another vigil is expected to take place tomorrow at the office of the Iranian Women’s Organization of Ontario, located at their office near Sheppard Avenue East and Don Mills Road.