West Humber-Clairville

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Explore West Humber-Clairville

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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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 StrollTO@toronto.ca.

Neighbourhood Stroll

This expansive, culturally diverse neighbourhood takes up a large portion of the far northwest corner of Toronto, featuring an eclectic mix of vast parklands, spectacular religious sites, entertainment facilities, and educational campuses. Residential, commercial, and industrial areas can be found throughout. Fantastic local businesses can be found on Highway 27, Rexdale Boulevard, Albion Road, and Martin Grove Road.

Main Streets: Highway 27, Rexdale Boulevard, Albion Road, Finch Avenue, Martin Grove Road

Esther Lorrie Park
50 Westhumber Boulevard
This 3.5-hectare park on Westhumber Boulevard is located between Martingrove Road and Kipling Avenue. The park is situated on the south bank of the west branch of the Humber River and offers fantastic views over the river valley. It also provides direct access to the West Humber Recreation Trail. The park features a multipurpose sports field and a ball diamond.

Fantasy Fair at Woodbine Mall
500 Rexdale Boulevard
Woodbine Mall is home to Fantasy Fair, a year-round indoor amusement park, featuring a 1911 antique carousel created by Charles I. D. Looff, a German woodcarver who moved to the United States in 1870 and was known for his hand-carved carousels. He is credited with building the first carousel at Coney Island, the famous New York amusement park, in 1876 and later opened a carousel manufacturing business, hiring other expert carvers. Woodbine Mall's carousel is just one of 13 Looff-designed carousels in operation today. The mall also features the Crystal Kaleidoscope, an impressive 50-foot-tall indoor Ferris wheel.

Woodbine Racetrack
555 Rexdale Boulevard
The history of Woodbine Racetrack goes all the way back to 1881, when the Ontario Jockey Club was founded and the very first Queen's Plate horse race was held on July 1 at a small track in the east end known as The Woodbine. After moving to a number of small facilities throughout the city in the early part of the twentieth century, this new modern and spacious current iteration of Woodbine Racetrack opened here in 1956. It immediately became one of the world's elite horse racing facilities, and plays host to the Queen's Plate each year. Queen Elizabeth the Second and Prince Philip attended the Queen's Plate at Woodbine in 1959, 1973 and 2010. Woodbine has undergone a number of renovations and upgrades over the years and, in addition to horse racing, also offers gaming and entertainment facilities.

Sharon Cemetery
580 Rexdale Boulevard
This heritage-designated cemetery dates back to the 1840s, when a church was constructed nearby to serve the small hamlet of Highfield, which used to exist near present-day Rexdale Boulevard and Highway 27. Much of the congregation of the church had moved away by the 1950s, when residential developments began popping up nearby and Woodbine Racetrack opened. The church was demolished in 1967, and the cemetery languished from neglect through much of the remainder of the twentieth century. With the help of public donations, a group of volunteers completely restored the cemetery between 2005 and 2008. The oldest stone in the cemetery is for a woman who died in 1845, and it remains the only remaining physical reminder of the hamlet of Highfield.

Ecoscope 2: 'Let's Take a Walk on the Wild Side' Mural
Highway 27 on Bridge over Humber River Between Queen's Plate Drive and Humber College Boulevard
Located above the Pan Am Path along the West Humber Valley, this mural was painted as part of the Ecoscope 2 project, developed by artist Kirsten McCrea. She was inspired by the nearby Humber Arboretum, which includes a rare part of the Carolinian Forest ecosystem. Learning about this remarkable forest and endangered native plant species, the mural raises awareness by featuring the Gattinger's agalinis, small white lady's-slipper, small-flowered lipocarpha, slender bush-clover, horsetail spike-rush, small whorled pogonia and purple twayblade.

Humber College North Campus
207 Humber College Boulevard
In 1967, the Ontario government passed legislation for Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology to be established to increase the skilled workforce. Humber College opened its northern campus in 1968. The campus was built on farmland and, when it opened, it lacked basic amenities for students. It did not have drinking water or sewage lines for toilets. There was no public transit and it was not easily accessed by paved roads. Today, Humber College has modern facilities to serve thousands of students annually, including state-of-the-art learning environments such as clinics, laboratories, recording studios and training centres for various trades. Visit the Learning Resource Commons to see rotating activations by the Humber Galleries on a large wall in the atrium. The building is adjacent to the parking lot off of Humber College Boulevard.

Humber Arboretum
205 Humber College Boulevard
The arboretum is located on one hundred hectares of parkland and features landscaped gardens, ponds and wild areas with over 1,700 species of trees and flowering plants as well as an array of wildlife. The arboretum's deciduous forest is one of the last remaining forests along the West Humber River and it is protected as an Environmentally Significant Area by the City of Toronto. Two hundred years ago much of the surrounding area was covered by forests, but the forests were cut down by European settlers to establish farmland. This loss of forest habitats impacted the local wildlife and plant species, as well as migratory birds and butterflies. Humber College works with the City of Toronto and Toronto & Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) to protect the woods from invasive species and set up fences to stop wildflowers being trampled by visitors. In 2016, as part of restoration efforts, the City of Toronto planted over four hundred new native trees in the arboretum, using only locally collected seeds.

Humber Centre for Urban Ecology
In Humber Arboretum (205 Humber College Boulevard)
The Centre for Urban Ecology is an educational facility for student groups and the public. Visitors are encouraged to explore the educational displays to learn more about the local environment. The building is positioned on the four cardinal points, with sides facing north, south, east and west. It was designed to promote eco-friendly sustainability, and was Gold Certified by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Building Rating System. The centre includes a green roof that collects rain water for non-potable water uses, such as flushing toilets and watering plants, and the roof and earthen banks along the lower level help to insulate the building to create an energy-efficient heating and cooling system.

Humberwood Community Centre
850 Humberwood Boulevard
The Humberwood Centre is an exceptional public facility due to its size and functionality. The complex was completed in 1996, in partnership with the Etobicoke Parks & Recreation Department, and houses two schools, a public library, a daycare and a community and recreation centre. The centre's facilities available to the public include a triple-sized gym and great hall, where a variety of recreation programs and services are offered. The building was designed with many green features to help control flooding of the Humber River. It uses porous pavement to absorb water while directing runoff toward naturalized wetlands where the water is naturally filtered and cleaned. The gardens around the building are watered from rainwater runoff from the roof.

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir
61 Claireville Drive
The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir opened in 2007 and was the first temple in Canada to be built following traditional Hindu architectural guidelines. It is the only place of worship in Canada for the BAPS, or Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, a Hindu sect founded in Gujarat, India. The building contains 24,000 individual pieces of hardcarved marble, limestone and pink stone. The carvings were created in India and then shipped to Canada and assembled onsite. The Mandir was constructed in 18 months by over 400 volunteers, and includes many impressive domes and pinnacles and intricately carved features. The complex includes a Heritage Museum in the Haveli, the connected building to the east of the temple, which showcases the history and culture of the Indian-Canadian diaspora. The Havili consists of intricately carved teak wood at the entrance, windows, and in the interior.

Former Claireville Toll House
2095 Codlin Crescent
*Note: Private property. Please observe the house from street only. This tollhouse is the oldest remaining building in Claireville and one of the oldest residences in Etobicoke, most likely built around 1854. It is also one of Toronto's last remaining tollhouses. When Claireville was established, it overlapped three townships: Etobicoke, Vaughan and Gore. In 1840, Jean du Petit Pont de la Haye bought one hundred acres located on the tip of northwest Etobicoke and, in 1849, registered a plan to subdivide part of the land into a village he named Claireville, after his eldest daughter. In 1846, the Albion Plank Road Company began to build a plank toll road from Weston to Bolton and included toll houses along the way to house fare collectors. Plank roads were expensive to maintain and, after a decade, the roads were gradually changed to gravel. The toll roads could not compete with railways for the transportation of goods and there were no toll keepers recorded in Claireville by 1878. By 1880, the Albion Plank Road Company had dissolved. The building now houses a transport company.

Dr. Flea's Flea Market
8 Westmore Drive
For over three decades, Dr. Flea's has remained Toronto's largest indoor and outdoor flea market. This international food court and local landmark draws over 10,000 visitors each weekend. The market gives opportunities to small and independent retailers. Dr. Flea's originally opened in 1987, and has served the area for more than 30 years.

Len Braithwaite Park
490 Silverstone Drive
In 2012, this park was named in honour of Leonard Austin Braithwaite, a lawyer and former politician who served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1963 to 1975. Braithwaite served with the Royal Canadian Air Force in the Second World War. He later became the first Black Canadian to be elected to the Ontario Legislature. During his political career, Braithwaite worked to revoke a section of the Ontario Separate Schools Act, which allowed racial segregation in public schools. He served as the Liberal Party Critic for Labour and Welfare and was also known for fighting for gender equality. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 1997 and was appointed to the Order of Ontario in 2004.

Poonam Sharma Artbox
Southeast Corner of Finch Avenue West and Silverstone Drive
Poonam Sharma painted this colourful artbox with dynamic forms and portraits that showcase the creativity and vibrancy of the neighbourhood.

Accessibility information: All points of interest on this stroll are viewable from the street or park path. Most of the party rooms and rides at Fantasy Fair at Woodbine Mall are accessible. Sharon Cemetery requires crossing grassy areas to access.

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.