Smithfield is a neighbourhood and former village in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. Some new residents of Toronto and new immigrants to Canada are attracted to this neighbourhood, mainly because there is a large amount of affordable

public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, de ...

. It is named after the former village of Smithfield that was located at the intersection of Albion Road and Martin Grove Road. The neighbourhood is located north of the west branch of the Humber River and west of

Kipling Avenue Kipling Avenue is a street in the cities of Toronto and Vaughan in Ontario, Canada. It is a concession road, 6 concessions (12 km) west from Yonge Street, and is a major north–south arterial road. It consists of three separate sec ...

. Smithfield was established as a postal village in 1870 to serve the then-agricultural district. It started becoming urbanized after World War II as part of the development of the Rexdale district. Today, the area is fully urbanized. Originally part of Etobicoke Township, which later became the City of Etobicoke, it has been part of Toronto since 1998. Primarily residential, the west and north of the neighbourhood are small industrial areas. For social purposes, the city identifies the neighbourhood as Mount Olive-Silverstone-Jamestown, named for three streets in the area. Mount Olive is the name given to the area north of Albion Road between Kipling and Martin Grove. Jamestown is the part of the community south of Albion between Kipling and Martin Grove. Silverstone covers the area west of Martin Grove and north of Finch. The northernmost section of the neighbourhood, above the hydro right of way, is known as South Steeles. The western projection of the area running along the south side of Finch is known as Woodbine Downs.

Character

Smithfield has experienced a large influx of citizens from Eastern Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, and the Middle East. The large expanses of rowhouse developments dating to the 1970s located on Mount Olive Drive just off Kipling Ave has been home to the first newcomers especially from Somalia and the West Indies. North Albion Collegiate Institute, opened in 1962 and located on Kipling and Mount Olive, has for years held showcases for the Asian and South East Asian Communities, attracting audiences from far and wide. Directly across the street, the St. Andrews School and Father Henry Carr Secondary School reflect the Catholic tradition and culture that is shared by many resident Filipinos, and Assyrians. The Albion Centre (formerly known as "Shoppers World Albion") Is the main shopping mall in the area. Containing a variety of small boutiques and stores, the Albion Centre also contains such franchises as Pizza Pizza, Canadian Tire, and Shoppers Drug Mart. The Albion Cinemas have been operating since before 1970 and are still in operation. The cinemas, well known for their broadcasts of modern Bollywood/Indian/Asian films, have attracted many to this location. In May 2006,

Toronto Police The Toronto Police Service (TPS) is a municipal police force in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the primary agency responsible for providing law enforcement and policing services in Toronto. Established in 1834, it was the first local police ser ...

apprehended 106 members of the "Jamestown Crew" in the largest gang sweep in Toronto's history. In total, there were over 1,000 charges laid in the anti-gang offensive called ''Project XXX''. Sometimes known by the nickname Doomstown because of its reputation as a poor neighbourhood ridden with gang violence, the neighbourhood was the setting of the 2006 Canadian television movie ''

Doomstown ''Doomstown'' is a Canadian television movie, which aired in 2006 on CTV. Set in the Mount Olive-Silverstone-Jamestown neighbourhood Toronto, Ontario, the film explores the issue of gang violence in the neighbourhood of Rexdale. ''Doomstown'' was ...

''.

Institutions

Etobicoke General Hospital The Etobicoke General Hospital is a community hospital located at 101 Humber College Boulevard in the Etobicoke district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Etobicoke General Hospital serves the communities of Etobicoke, Brampton, Mississauga, Caledon, an ...

*Albion Public Library *Albion Community Centre *Albion Centre * Finch Albion Centre

Parks

* Smithfield Park * Highfield Park

Place of worship

* Kipling Baptist Church * Martingrove United Church * Rexdale Singh Sabha Religious Centre * Saint Andrew Roman Catholic Church * Sikh Spiritual Centre Toronto * Thistletown Baptist Church

Education

Two

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

s operate elementary schools and

secondary schools A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

in the neighbourhood, the

Toronto District School Board The Toronto District School Board (TDSB), formerly known as English-language Public District School Board No. 12 prior to 1999, is the English-language public-secular school board for Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The minority public-secular franco ...

(TDSB), and the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB). Two secondary schools are located in the neighbourhood,

West Humber Collegiate Institute West Humber Collegiate Institute (WHCI, West Humber) is a public high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is situated at the corner of Martin Grove Road and John Garland Blvd., just south of Finch Avenue West in the neighbourhood of Rexdale. O ...

(operated by TDSB),

Father Henry Carr Catholic Secondary School Father Henry Carr Catholic Secondary School (also referred to as Father Henry Carr, Henry Carr, FHC, FHCCSS, or Carr) is a Catholic high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is administered by the Toronto Catholic District School Board, forme ...

(operated by TCDSB). Father Henry Carr Secondary School was relocated to Smithfield in 2007, taking the space of the former

Marian Academy Marian Academy is a private Catholic pre-school, primary and secondary school, located in Georgetown, Guyana. It is situated on Carifesta Avenue in central Georgetown. History The school was opened on 14 September 1998, with 227 enrolled stude ...

.Royson, James.
Closing school dagger to heart of Rexdale
" ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and par ...

''. December 12, 2001. News p. B01. Retrieved on August 27, 2013. Elementary schools in the neighbourhood include: *

North Kipling Junior Middle School Smithfield is a neighbourhood and former village in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Some new residents of Toronto and new immigrants to Canada are attracted to this neighbourhood, mainly because there is a large amount of affordable public housing. It ...

- A school that goes from kindergarten – grade 8, includes gifted program located on 2 Rowntree Road and

which opened in 1999. At the top of the school crest visually appeals a purple cougar cup paw to represent their school. The school is also known as the "Best In The West" due to the fact that they have the most banners in their school than any other school in Rexdale area. *

Albion Heights Junior Middle School Claireville (sometimes misspelled as Clairville) is a neighbourhood and former hamlet in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the northwest corner of Toronto, in the former city of Etobicoke. Today Claireville is almost wholly in ...

* St. Dorothy's Catholic School * Beaumonde Junior Middle School - A

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

near the intersection of Albion Road and Finch Avenue. It was opened in 1959 as a Kindergarten to Grade 8 school. From 1970 until 1984, the school operated from Kindergarten to Grade 5. After 1984, it reverted to a full elementary program. * Elmbank Junior Middle Academy - A

located at 10 Pittsboro Drive, near the corner of

Martin Grove Road Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Aust ...

and Finch Avenue. It opened in 1967. * Greenholme Junior Middle School - A public

located at 10 Jamestown Crescent, close to the intersection of Albion Road and

. It overlooks the Humber River. * Highfield Junior School - A public

located at 85 Mount Olive Drive, which opened in 1963. At the top of the school crest burns the lamp of learning that has lit the way for young children for over 170 years. The three bells on the crest represent the three locations for the school since 1845 when the first log schoolhouse was erected at the southeast corner of Rexdale Blvd. and Martin Grove Road in the village of Highfield. The black iron school bell from the second Highfield school, built of brick in 1874 at the southeast corner of Rexdale Blvd and Hwy 27, hangs at the end of the new student forum, part of the extensive addition completed in 1997. In September 2006, Highfield earned the National Quality Institute's Blue Leaf Award for excellence in education. * Humberwood Downs Junior Middle Academy - A public

located at 850 Humberwood Blvd. It was opened in 1996. * Melody Village Junior School - A public

located at 520 Silverstone Drive. It was built in 1970. * Smithfield Middle School - A public

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

located at 175 Mount Olive Drive. It officially opened on October 17, 1966. * John D. Parker Junior School - A public

located at 202 Mount Olive Drive. It was opened in 1974 and was expanded in 1994 and 1996. The school was named in honour of Mr. John D. Parker, one of the original seven trustees elected to the Board of Education for the Township of Etobicoke in May 1969. He served on the Board from that time until the end of 1972. * St Angela Catholic Elementary School Humber North Campus

The North Campus of

Humber College The Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning, commonly known as Humber College, is a public College of Applied Arts and Technology in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1967, Humber has two main campuses: the Humber North c ...

, a post-secondary institution, is also in the neighbourhood. The

University of Guelph , mottoeng = "to learn the reasons of realities" , established = May 8, 1964 ()As constituents: OAC: (1874) Macdonald Institute: (1903) OVC: (1922) , type = Public university , chancellor ...

satellite campus A satellite campus or branch campus or regional campus is a campus of a university or college that is physically at a distance from the original university or college area. This branch campus may be located in a different city, state, or coun ...

, the

University of Guelph-Humber The University of Guelph-Humber (UofGH) is a collaboration between the University of Guelph and Humber College. History The university was established in 2000 by a partnership of the University of Guelph and Humber College. The official websi ...

, is on the same campus as Humber College's North Campus.

Transportation

Roads

One of the area's most high profile roads is John Garland Boulevard. The street was named for Nipissing MP and Minister of National Revenue John Richard 'Jack' Garland and fought to create housing development like Thistletown. Garland died of a heart attack in 1964 and the street was named in his honour in 1965.

References

External links

City of Toronto - Mount Olive-Silverstone-Jamestown Neighbourhood Profile
{{EngvarB, date=January 2021 Neighbourhoods in Toronto Etobicoke