[2][3] Since its completion in 2002, the square has hosted many public events, performances and art displays, establishing itself as a prominent landmark in Toronto and one of the city's prime tourist attractions.

[5][6][7] Surrounding the square are other major landmarks, including the Toronto Eaton Centre, Ed Mirvish Theatre, and the Citytv building.

[8][9] In 1998, as part of its Yonge Street Regeneration Project, Toronto City Council approved the expropriation and demolition of the buildings on the site and the construction of Yonge–Dundas Square.

Ron Soskolne was retained in 1995 to head up the planning of the regeneration project, and went on to become the chair of the Board of Management for the first decade of the square's operation.

The next year, Architecture magazine commended the square as a new form of urban space with great presence ... pushes the limits of invention and originality.

[14] In the wake of the George Floyd race protests and social unrest, controversy arose over the namesake of Dundas Street, Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, whose amendments to Wilberforce's abolitionist parliamentary motions ensured the support required in both the House of Commons and House of Lords for the British Empire to ultimately vote to abolish slavery with the Slave Trade Act 1807.

It is made with modular raised square textured 35.125 by 35.125 inches (892.2 by 892.2 mm) granite slabs (each slab costing approximately $1,500: $1,000 materials plus $500 labour), features a diagonally running zinc canopy along the northern hypotenuse of the "square", a movable plinth which serves as a stage for concerts and other performances, a row of lighted fountains set directly into the pavement, a row of small trees along the southern edge, a transparent canopy over the plinth, and a new entrance to Dundas subway station below.

A series of low, circular stone planters was added to the western side of the square in the summer of 2005.

This angled northeastern side of the square is known as the hypotenuse, which features a structure supported by 11 round concrete pillars.

The surface of Yonge–Dundas Square is not level; it is sloped upward away from Yonge Street to allow enough height to provide clearance for the Toronto Parking Authority garage entrance.

According to facility administrator Christine MacLean, the granite that was chosen for the entire space has non-slip properties for the safety of those running through or playing in the fountains.

Three curved lighting masts along the south edge of the square, made of hollow structural steel, have a high-gloss white finish that contrasts with the rough non-slip texture of the black granite, and each support six mercury vapour arc lamps that create evening light that comes from approximately the same directions as natural sunlight does during the day (i.e., from various southerly directions).

Architects Brown and Storey, fountain creator Dan Euser, the firm that initiated the bidding, former Councillor Kyle Rae, and the management of Yonge–Dundas Square have all confirmed that waterplay was one of the intended uses of the space.

On October 22, 2007, Rogers Media announced that it would buy this building as a new home for its Citytv and Omni Television stations.

A "media tower" – a scaffold for billboards, operated by Branded Cities – has been constructed on the northwest corner of Yonge and Dundas.

The building that was home to the Hard Rock Cafe (now a Shoppers Drug Mart) on the southwest corner of the square originally features a series of billboards, but these were replaced by a large video screen in 2017.

The introduction of the imposing media tower, screens, and brightly illuminated advertising billboards has been too great a sacrifice for some area residents, who feel a loss of the neighbourhood's identity and character (see "Controversy", below).

[24] In 2019, an existing smaller screen and two billboards were replaced by a massive curved video display on the corner of the building facing Yonge and Dundas.