The Annex

Around the Neighbourhood

Cultural landmarks: the Royal Ontario Museum and the Bata Shoe Museum anchor the Bloor and Avenue Road corner; Lee’s Palace has been the strip’s live-music room for 40 years; the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema (the old Bloor Cinema) is the world’s first documentary cinema; and the Royal Conservatory sits just south, with Philosopher’s Walk winding behind it into U of T.

Hot local spots: BMV Books for the second-hand stacks, Snakes & Lattes for board games and a pint, and a deep bench of restaurants running from Fat Pasha to Playa Cabana to a Future Bistro breakfast.

Parks & green space: Jean Sibelius Square for the big playground, St. Alban’s Square for a quiet bench, and Philosopher’s Walk for the prettiest shortcut to campus.

Your Typical Neighbour

The Annex is one of the most mixed neighbourhoods in the city, and one of the few wealthy ones where most people rent. Of its roughly 29,000 residents, about three-fifths are tenants, many in the older apartment blocks and converted houses near campus, while the owners tend to be long-established and well-off (a wave of Hungarian families who arrived after 1956 still hold properties along Bloor). It is highly educated and affluent, with family incomes well above the city average.

Source: City of Toronto Neighbourhood Profile, Annex, 2021 Census

What We Love

Options, and a lot of them. The Bloor strip is still independent at heart: bookshops, artisanal bakeries, health-food stores, small galleries and Parisian-style cafes, most of them cheap enough that they won’t blow your mortgage payment. U of T is on your doorstep, transit is world-class, and after years of hoarding, the old Honest Ed’s site has reopened as Mirvish Village, with spots like Book Bar (a wine bar and bookshop) and a second location of Pizzeria Badiali opening as it completes through 2026.

What We Don’t Love

The price of entry, full stop. And the more affordable listings can sit a little close to the frat and sorority houses, so do your homework on the block (they aren’t that hard to spot, and we’ll help). The upside of all that Mirvish Village construction is that it is finally winding down, but the Bloor and Bathurst corner has been a noisy work site for a long stretch.

Real Estate

The “Annex style” home is the signature here: stone arches, turrets and a moneyed, distinctly Toronto look, on some of the most attractive streets in the city. Mixed in are former mansions that now serve as U of T frat and sorority houses, dated International-style mid-rise apartments, and multi-unit homes steadily being converted back into single-family houses. For buyers the options are as varied as the buyers, but demand means first-timers are usually looking at condos or the occasional co-ownership. New to the market? Start with our First-Time Buyer guide.

(Current prices and days on market appear in the live statistics block below, updated quarterly.)

Schools

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Huron Street Public Street
Cottingham Junior Public School
École élémentaire Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau
É Élém Gabrielle-Roy
Essex Junior and Senior Public School
Palmerston Avenue Junior Public School
Jesse Ketchum Junior and Senior Public School
Huron Street Junior Public School

SENIOR SCHOOLS

Jarvis Collegiate Institute
École secondaire Toronto Ouest
Collège français secondaire
Harbord Collegiate Institute

CATHOLIC & PRIVATE SCHOOLS

City High School
Blyth Academy Global High School
Royal St George’s College
Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study Laboratory School (UofT)
Mildenhall Montessori School
Howlett Academy
McDonald International Academy – Main Campus
ÉÉC du Sacré-Coeur-Toronto
St. Bruno – St. Raymond Catholic School
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic School
ÉSC Saint-Frère-André
Holy Rosary Catholic School

For school rankings and Fraser Institute scores, see our interactive Toronto school map.

Transit

About as good as it gets in Toronto. The Annex is served by subway stations on both Line 1 and Line 2, including Spadina, St. George, Bathurst and Bay, with streetcars close by and a walk score in the mid 90s. For most residents a car is the least appealing way to get around.