The Elms is a neighbourhood in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. It is bordered by the
Humber River to the east,
Islington Avenue to the west,
Thistletown
Thistletown is a culturally diverse neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It consists of the area surrounding the intersection of Albion Road (Toronto), Albion Road and Islington Avenue. The borders of Thistletown are generally delineate ...
to the north, and
Highway 401 to the south.
Much of this area was dotted with
American Elm trees, the namesake of The Elms
golf course
A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...
, in which its links were still being played as late as 1957 when Rexdale was growing around it.
Pine Point Park is the community's main meeting place.
History
The housing development of the original section of
Rexdale, built in the early 1950s, is named for developer
Rex Heslop and his wife Delma. These are single storey and storey and a half
bungalows, bordered by streets Allenby Avenue, Burrard Road and Hadrian Drive, east of the new
Wal-Mart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...
store, formerly the site of Rexdale Plaza. Many of the residents of this neighbourhood, were employed
Avro Canada.
Heslop went on building houses west of Islington Avenue, around Clearbrooke Circle as well as an industrial section of Rexdale west of
Kipling Avenue, before going to
Georgetown, where he established the Delrex neighbourhood.
Residents of Rexdale did their shopping mostly in
Weston
Weston may refer to:
Places Australia
* Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra
* Weston, New South Wales
* Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra
* Weston Park, Canberra, a park
Canada
* Weston, Nova Scotia
* W ...
, until Rexdale Plaza was built in 1957. At the same time, the
semi-detached
A semi-detached house (often abbreviated to semi) is a single-family Duplex (building), duplex dwelling that shares one common party wall, wall with its neighbour. The name distinguishes this style of construction from detached houses, with no sh ...
houses were built along Allenby and Burrard, followed by the construction of Bungalows north of Hadrian between Burrard and Elmlea School.
Education
The
Toronto District School Board and the
Toronto Catholic District School Board operate the following
elementary schools in The Elms:
* Braeburn Junior School - A small, culturally diverse public
elementary school, located at 15 Tandridge Crescent. It is situated on the banks of the
Humber River. The name of the school comes from two Scottish words - "brae" meaning hill and "burn" meaning stream. The crest shows a green hill with a stream flowing at the foot. A golden book represents the Book of Learning. Braeburn opened in 1969 as an open concept school.
*
The Elms Junior Middle School
* Elmlea Junior School
*St Stephen Catholic Elementary School
In addition to
public schools, the neighbourhood is also home to Timothy Christian School, a
private school
A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...
.
Institutions

*Rexdale Mall
*Northern Elms Public Library
*Rexlington Park
*The Elms Park
*Summerlea Park
*Walmart Supercentre
Churches
*St Paul's Anglican Church
*St Benedict's Church
*Rexdale Presbyterian Church
*Rexdale Alliance Church
*Rexdale Gospel Hall
*Sidh Shakti Babaji Mandir
See also
*
Rexdale
External links
The Elms , History
{{authority control
Etobicoke
Neighbourhoods in Toronto