Steeles
L'Amoreaux Community Recreation Centre
2000 McNicoll Avenue
The L'Amoreaux Community Recreation Centre is attached to the south side of the Mary Ward Catholic High School, which it shares a gym with. In addition, the centre has a fitness/weight room, sauna, kitchen, lounge, multipurpose room, and preschool room. This fully accessible centre has free programs for children, youth, adults, and seniors.
L'Amoreaux North Park
1900 McNicoll Avenue
With 1.5 kilometres of trails for visitors to explore, L'Amoreaux North Park is known for its accessible paved trails, peaceful ponds, and wooded areas. Parking can be found at the L'Amoreaux Community Recreation Centre on the southeast side of the park at the McNicoll Avenue and Kennedy Road intersection.
The Alexandra Site
1900 McNicoll Avenue (inside the park)
In 2001, during the construction of a subdivision, a Wendat Village was discovered beneath the construction site. Estimated to have existed 600 years ago and roughly four acres in size, this village now known as the Alexandra Site was home to approximately one thousand Wendat people. The archeological dig that followed the discovery of this village found twenty thousand artifacts, including stone axes, bone beads, a woven mat, and pottery fragments. Some of these artifacts are housed at the University of Toronto. Sixteen Longhouses once stood on this land, as well as several sweat lodges. The Wendat who lived here were farmers. Evidence of a three sisters garden of squash, beans, and corn were found at the site along with sunflower tubers and wild berries. The village's proximity to the now diverted Highland Creek would have provided access to fresh fish, drinking water, and a direct connection to Lake Ontario. This canoe route to Lake Ontario would have created opportunities for these villagers to participate in a vast network of Indigenous trade and commerce. In 2008, two plaques were installed to commemorate this village in L'Amoreaux Park which is adjacent to Mary Ward Secondary School in Scarborough.
Fundy Bay Park
190 Fundy Bay Boulevard
Fundy Bay Park is a 2.6-hectare park that features a ball diamond, a multipurpose sports field, a skate park, and a children's playground.
Terry Fox Park
300 Bamburgh Circle
Terry Fox Park is a 6.8-hectare park that features four multipurpose sports fields, a running track, and a children's playground. The park is named after prominent Canadian athlete, Terry Fox (1958-1981), who was known for his cross-Canada Marathon of Hope run in 1980 to raise money and awareness for cancer research. Although he couldn't complete the quest as he planned, the Terry Fox Run was created in his legacy. The run is still held annually all over the world to this day.
Bamburgh Gardens Shopping Plaza and Toronto Public Library - Steeles Branch
375 Bamburgh Circle
Built over 30 years ago, Bamburgh Gardens Shopping Plaza is the biggest shopping centre in the neighbourhood and one of the oldest in north Scarborough. This collection of eateries and miscellaneous shops is a remnant of a very specific era of Toronto suburbia when strip malls began popping up across the residential landscape. It is also home to the Steeles branch of the Toronto Public Library, which contains a notably large collection of Chinese books.
Glendinning House
28 Crayford Drive
*Note: Private property. Please observe the house from the sidewalk only. This brown brick house with white accents is a designated property of historical, heritage, and architectural value. Completed in 1870, Glendinning House is located east of Pharmacy Avenue and north of Glendinning Avenue. The house is an excellent example of the eclectic Upper Canada Vernacular style, and its design shows influences of Gothic Revival, Georgian and Victorian traditions.
Coptic Museum of Canada
41 Glendinning Avenue
Established in 1996, the Coptic Museum of Canada aims to educate visitors about the Coptic civilizations and celebrate their heritage. The Copts are a distinct ethnic group and are the largest Christian denomination in Egypt, Libya and Sudan. The museum's collection spans centuries of religious artifacts from North Africa. Their collections include religious icons, paintings, ancient manuscripts, textiles and jewellery, mashrabiya (eighteenth century wood screens), and pottery. Canada's 35,000 Copts primarily live in Toronto and the surrounding GTA. The museum was founded by the first Coptic Church, St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church, in North America.
Miluska Alcoser Artbox
Northwest Corner of Gordon Baker Road and Pharmacy Avenue
From artist Miluska Alcoser, 'I was looking to add a little bit of nature into our busy city streets, and this time I chose the Bull-headed Shrike (Lanius bucephalus), a passerine bird of eastern Asia. This bird has a harsh grating and chattering call and will also mimic other birds.'
BMO Institute For Learning
3550 Pharmacy Avenue
*Note: Private property. Please observe this building from the sidewalk only. Built in 1994, the BMO Institute for Learning (IFL) is a corporate learning facility. A distinguishing feature of the building is its soaring three-storey glass-enclosed Grand Hall, called 'The Bow' because of its unique shape (which can be seen from the outside). It cuts across the heart of the structure and links the building's three major areas. It was designed by Canadian architect Raymond Moriyama, who aimed to build an inspiring space to encourage innovation and collaboration and transform the learning community. Moriyama's IFL design received several awards, including the Ontario Hydro Award of Distinction for Outstanding Achievement in Energy-Efficient Building Design in 1993 and the Ontario Architects Association Award for Excellence in 1994/1995. Moriyama also designed the Ontario Science Centre, Bata Shoe Museum, and the Toronto Reference Library.
Devonsleigh Place
4125 Steeles Avenue East
*Note: Private property. Please observe this building from the sidewalk only. Devonsleigh Place is a designated building of historical, heritage, and architectural value. It was built in 1850, when Scarborough was still a farming hamlet, and is one of the area's oldest historic structures. Although a simple brick building, what makes it stand out is the bell-shaped European-style mansard roof, with four sloping sides getting steeper halfway down, and the pointed dormer windows that stick out from the roof, ornamented with trim. This historic building is currently occupied by a restaurant.
Explore Steeles
Now is the time for residents to experience all that tourists have been raving about for years. Discover shops, stops, places and spaces on city main streets. Stay curious, Toronto.
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Explore FREE Public Art Across the City. Toronto's Year of Public Art 2021-2022 is a year-long celebration of Toronto's exceptional public art collection and the creative community behind it.
We hope that you enjoyed exploring this Toronto neighbourhood and found many other points of interest along the way. While StrollTO highlights some of the 'hidden gems' in the neighbourhood, there may be others that could be included in a future edition. Would you like to share a point of interest that you discovered in the neighbourhood? Email us at [email protected].
Neighbourhood Stroll
Steeles is a neighbourhood in northeast Toronto. It is a suburban community of parks and homes built in the early 1980s, and is home to many diverse populations. This stroll takes you through the neighbourhood's green spaces, an historic Indigenous site, a well-loved local plaza, heritage buildings, and even a cultural museum. Fantastic local businesses await along Victoria Park Avenue, Kennedy Road, Pharmacy Avenue, and Warden Avenue.
- L'Amoreaux Community Recreation Centre
2000 McNicoll Avenue
The L'Amoreaux Community Recreation Centre is attached to the south side of the Mary Ward Catholic High School, which it shares a gym with. In addition, the centre has a fitness/weight room, sauna, kitchen, lounge, multipurpose room, and preschool room. This fully accessible centre has free programs for children, youth, adults, and seniors.
- L'Amoreaux North Park
1900 McNicoll Avenue
With 1.5 kilometres of trails for visitors to explore, L'Amoreaux North Park is known for its accessible paved trails, peaceful ponds, and wooded areas. Parking can be found at the L'Amoreaux Community Recreation Centre on the southeast side of the park at the McNicoll Avenue and Kennedy Road intersection.
- The Alexandra Site
1900 McNicoll Avenue (inside the park)
In 2001, during the construction of a subdivision, a Wendat Village was discovered beneath the construction site. Estimated to have existed 600 years ago and roughly four acres in size, this village now known as the Alexandra Site was home to approximately one thousand Wendat people. The archeological dig that followed the discovery of this village found twenty thousand artifacts, including stone axes, bone beads, a woven mat, and pottery fragments. Some of these artifacts are housed at the University of Toronto. Sixteen Longhouses once stood on this land, as well as several sweat lodges. The Wendat who lived here were farmers. Evidence of a three sisters garden of squash, beans, and corn were found at the site along with sunflower tubers and wild berries. The village's proximity to the now diverted Highland Creek would have provided access to fresh fish, drinking water, and a direct connection to Lake Ontario. This canoe route to Lake Ontario would have created opportunities for these villagers to participate in a vast network of Indigenous trade and commerce. In 2008, two plaques were installed to commemorate this village in L'Amoreaux Park which is adjacent to Mary Ward Secondary School in Scarborough.
- Fundy Bay Park
190 Fundy Bay Boulevard
Fundy Bay Park is a 2.6-hectare park that features a ball diamond, a multipurpose sports field, a skate park, and a children's playground.
- Terry Fox Park
300 Bamburgh Circle
Terry Fox Park is a 6.8-hectare park that features four multipurpose sports fields, a running track, and a children's playground. The park is named after prominent Canadian athlete, Terry Fox (1958-1981), who was known for his cross-Canada Marathon of Hope run in 1980 to raise money and awareness for cancer research. Although he couldn't complete the quest as he planned, the Terry Fox Run was created in his legacy. The run is still held annually all over the world to this day.
- Bamburgh Gardens Shopping Plaza and Toronto Public Library - Steeles Branch
375 Bamburgh Circle
Built over 30 years ago, Bamburgh Gardens Shopping Plaza is the biggest shopping centre in the neighbourhood and one of the oldest in north Scarborough. This collection of eateries and miscellaneous shops is a remnant of a very specific era of Toronto suburbia when strip malls began popping up across the residential landscape. It is also home to the Steeles branch of the Toronto Public Library, which contains a notably large collection of Chinese books.
- Glendinning House
28 Crayford Drive
*Note: Private property. Please observe the house from the sidewalk only. This brown brick house with white accents is a designated property of historical, heritage, and architectural value. Completed in 1870, Glendinning House is located east of Pharmacy Avenue and north of Glendinning Avenue. The house is an excellent example of the eclectic Upper Canada Vernacular style, and its design shows influences of Gothic Revival, Georgian and Victorian traditions.
- Coptic Museum of Canada
41 Glendinning Avenue
Established in 1996, the Coptic Museum of Canada aims to educate visitors about the Coptic civilizations and celebrate their heritage. The Copts are a distinct ethnic group and are the largest Christian denomination in Egypt, Libya and Sudan. The museum's collection spans centuries of religious artifacts from North Africa. Their collections include religious icons, paintings, ancient manuscripts, textiles and jewellery, mashrabiya (eighteenth century wood screens), and pottery. Canada's 35,000 Copts primarily live in Toronto and the surrounding GTA. The museum was founded by the first Coptic Church, St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church, in North America.
- Miluska Alcoser Artbox
Northwest Corner of Gordon Baker Road and Pharmacy Avenue
From artist Miluska Alcoser, 'I was looking to add a little bit of nature into our busy city streets, and this time I chose the Bull-headed Shrike (Lanius bucephalus), a passerine bird of eastern Asia. This bird has a harsh grating and chattering call and will also mimic other birds.'
- BMO Institute For Learning
3550 Pharmacy Avenue
*Note: Private property. Please observe this building from the sidewalk only. Built in 1994, the BMO Institute for Learning (IFL) is a corporate learning facility. A distinguishing feature of the building is its soaring three-storey glass-enclosed Grand Hall, called 'The Bow' because of its unique shape (which can be seen from the outside). It cuts across the heart of the structure and links the building's three major areas. It was designed by Canadian architect Raymond Moriyama, who aimed to build an inspiring space to encourage innovation and collaboration and transform the learning community. Moriyama's IFL design received several awards, including the Ontario Hydro Award of Distinction for Outstanding Achievement in Energy-Efficient Building Design in 1993 and the Ontario Architects Association Award for Excellence in 1994/1995. Moriyama also designed the Ontario Science Centre, Bata Shoe Museum, and the Toronto Reference Library.
- Devonsleigh Place
4125 Steeles Avenue East
*Note: Private property. Please observe this building from the sidewalk only. Devonsleigh Place is a designated building of historical, heritage, and architectural value. It was built in 1850, when Scarborough was still a farming hamlet, and is one of the area's oldest historic structures. Although a simple brick building, what makes it stand out is the bell-shaped European-style mansard roof, with four sloping sides getting steeper halfway down, and the pointed dormer windows that stick out from the roof, ornamented with trim. This historic building is currently occupied by a restaurant.
Accessibility information: All points of interest are visible from the sidewalk, except for the Alexandra Site, which is accessible via the paved paths in L'Amoreaux North Park. There may be unpaved or uneven paths within the parks along this stroll.
The StrollTO itineraries may follow routes that do not receive winter maintenance. Please review winter safety tips and for more information contact 311.
Soundtracks of the City
From global superstars to local favourites and ones to watch, the Soundtracks of the City playlists all feature artists who have called Toronto home. Whether it’s a lyric about the neighborhood, an artist representing a cultural community, or a tie-in to the StrollTO itinerary itself, all the music reflects connections to an individual ward or the City as a whole.
Music was chosen based on an artist’s Spotify presence and each song’s broad appeal, as well as its associations with the cultures, languages and ethnicities that reflect Toronto’s neighborhoods and diverse music scene. Soundtracks of the City combines 425 songs that feature more than 500 different local artists or acts, showcasing songs in 23 different languages.