York University Heights, also known as Northwood Park, is a neighbourhood 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 Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. It is one of Toronto's northernmost neighbourhoods, located along the northern boundary of

Steeles Avenue Steeles Avenue is an east–west street that forms the northern city limit of Toronto and the southern limit of York Region in Ontario, Canada. It stretches across the western and central Greater Toronto Area from Appleby Line in Milton in th ...

in the former city of

North York North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a po ...

. The neighbourhood is so named because it contains the main campus of

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and sta ...

. This area is most popular with immigrants of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and Chinese descent who have established communities in the area. It is located between

Sheppard Avenue Sheppard Avenue is an east–west principal arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The street has two distinct branches near its eastern end, with the original route being a collector road leading to Pickering via a turnoff, and the main ...

and Steeles Avenue east of Black Creek ( Derrydowns Park). The neighborhood contains many private residences, many of which are

detached A stand-alone house (also called a single-detached dwelling, detached residence or detached house) is a free-standing residential building. It is sometimes referred to as a single-family home, as opposed to a multi-family residential dwelli ...

and

semi-detached A semi-detached house (often abbreviated to semi) is a single family duplex dwelling house that shares one common wall with the next house. The name distinguishes this style of house from detached houses, with no shared walls, and terraced hous ...

bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas. The first house in England that was classified as a b ...

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...

s as well as a recent

new urbanism New Urbanism is an urban design movement which promotes environmentally friendly habits by creating walkable neighbourhoods containing a wide range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, and has gradually in ...

development, the Village at York, there is also a handful of

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...

s, several lowrise apartments, and a few high rise apartments.

History

The Village at York University

The Village at York University is one of the last major new-home developments within the City of Toronto including

townhouses A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...

and

homes. First residents moved into the first phase of approximately 550 homes in the summer of 2005. A second phase, which started construction in 2007, adds about 300 more homes but includes no new townhouses. It is located just south of the York University campus, north of Finch Avenue. Characteristics of The Village: * It sits on land purchased from

by the

real estate developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re- lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to othe ...

br>Tribute Communities
within the boundaries of th

and in some ways is still considered part of the university community. First-time buyers were given no-cost memberships to York's athletic facilities and privileges at its libraries. Many residents of the Village are York students and staff. * The development's design is loosely based on what is called "

", the features of which include high density, garages opening to laneways in the back, and plenty of balconies and terraces. * The neighbourhood is served by three subway stations on

Line 1 Yonge–University Line 1 Yonge–University is a rapid transit line on the Toronto subway. It serves Toronto and the neighbouring city of Vaughan in Ontario, Canada. It is operated by the Toronto Transit Commission, has 38 stations and is in length, making it th ...

. These stations opened on December 17, 2017 when an extension of the line was completed:

Pioneer Village station Pioneer Village is a subway station on the Line 1 Yonge–University of the Toronto subway. It is located under the intersection of Northwest Gate and Steeles Avenue, at the city boundaries of Toronto and Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. A Toronto Trans ...

runs diagonally under the intersection of Steeles Avenue West and Northwest Gate. York University station is located in the York University Commons, and Finch West station is located at the corner of Finch Avenue and

Keele Street Keele Street is a north–south road in Toronto, Vaughan and King in Ontario, Canada. It stretches , running from Bloor Street in Toronto to the Holland Marsh. South of Bloor Street, the roadway is today known as Parkside Drive, but was originall ...

. * The Village, though no longer on university-owned land, is considered part of the broader university area by city planners, and is a component of the York University Secondary Plan. * A significant number of homes in The Village offer—or have been totally converted into—student housing (the Toronto Star reported in the fall of 2007 that the Village was "filled" with student

. The Village is served by a residents' group representing both renters and homeowners, which was incorporated in mid-2006.

Education

Two state school, public

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 schools in York University Heights, the separate Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB), and the

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

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). The French

first language A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother to ...

public secular school board,

Conseil scolaire Viamonde The Conseil scolaire Viamonde (CSV) is a public-secular French first language school board, and manages elementary and secondary schools in the Ontario Peninsula and the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The school board operates 41 elementary schools an ...

, and it separate counterpart, Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir also offer schooling to applicable residents of Morningside, although they do not operate a school in the neighbourhood, with CSCM/CSV students attending schools situated in other neighbourhoods in Toronto. Both TCDSB, and TDSB operate public

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 ...

s in the neighbourhood. TCDSB operates one elementary school in the neighbourhood, St. Wilfred Catholic School; whereas TDSB operate five institions that provide

primary education Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/ kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in '' primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or ...

, Derrydown Public School, Elia Middle School, Lamberton Public School, Sheppard Public School, and Stilecroft Public School. Both school boards also operate public secondary schools in the neighbourhood. TCDSB operates

James Cardinal McGuigan Catholic High School James Cardinal McGuigan Catholic High School (JCMCHS, James Cardinal McGuigan, or shortly McGuigan) is a secondary school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is named after James Charles McGuigan, a Canadian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and ...

, whereas TDSB operates

C. W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute is a semestered public secondary school in the Keele and Finch area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. History The school was founded in 1965. It was named after Charles William Jefferys, a Canadian artist whose work ...

. In addition to elementary and

secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final ph ...

institutions, the northwest portion of the neighbourhood is home to two public post-secondary institutions,

, as well as a branch of

Seneca College Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology is a multiple-campus public college in the Greater Toronto Area, and Peterborough, Ontario, Canada regions. It offers full-time and part-time programs at the baccalaureate, diploma, certificate an ...

, located at the same university campus.

Demographics

Major ethnic populations (2016): * 30.6%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

; ''12.5%

'', ''6.9%

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

'' * 18.8%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

; ''7.4% Jamaican'' * 15.2%

South Asian South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

* 9.9% Filipino * 8.4%

East Asian East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...

* 6.4%

Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-e ...

(of any race)

Transportation

Several major roadways pass through the neighbourhood including north–south

, and east–west roadways

Finch The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usua ...

and

. To the north, the neighbourhood is bounded by

Public transit

Public transportation in the neighbourhood is provided by the

Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the public transport agency that operates bus, subway, streetcar, and paratransit services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, some of which run into the Peel Region and York Region. It is the oldest and larges ...

(TTC). The TTC operates a number of public transportation services, including

bus routes A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

, and the

Toronto subway The Toronto subway is a rapid transit system serving Toronto and the neighbouring city of Vaughan in Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It is a multimodal rail network consisting of three heavy-capacity rail ...

. Three subway stations of

are located in the neighbourhood,

on Steeles Avenue, York University station, and Finch West station on Finch Avenue. Pioneer Village station also provides access to

York Region Transit York Region Transit (YRT) is the public transit operator in York Region, Ontario, Canada. Its headquarters are in Richmond Hill, at 50 High Tech Road. YRT operates 65 full-time, rush hour and limited routes, 35 school services, and six Viva bu ...

bus routes. Until March 18, 2020, the neighbourhood was also serviced by

York University GO Station York University GO Station was a train station on GO Transit's Barrie line, in the North York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The station served York University but was located in an industrial area away from the York campus; it was conne ...

, a railway station on GO Transit's

Barrie line Barrie is one of the seven train lines of the GO Transit system in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Union Station in Toronto in a generally northward direction to Barrie, and includes ten stations along its route. From ...

, located east of the university campus. The station was permanently closed due to low passenger usage.

References

External links

York University Heights neighbourhood profile
{{authority control Neighbourhoods in Toronto North York