St Lawrence Market

Around the Neighbourhood

Cultural landmarks: St Lawrence Hall at King and Jarvis, the 1850s civic gathering place that still hosts events, plus Meridian Hall (the former Sony Centre) and the Gooderham “Flatiron” Building at Front and Wellington, the most photographed corner in the city.

Hot local spots: the South Market is the main event, with Carousel Bakery’s peameal bacon sandwich (new owners since 2025, same recipe) and Buster’s Sea Cove among the long-time stalls, and the rebuilt North Market reopened in 2025 for the Saturday farmers’ market and Sunday antique market.

Parks & green space: Berczy Park, with its much-loved cast-iron dog fountain, and the St James Park and gardens beside the cathedral on King East.

Your Typical Neighbour

St Lawrence skews younger and more professional than the city as a whole, which is what a dense, condo-heavy downtown neighbourhood tends to do. Lots of one-person and couple households, a healthy mix of owners and renters, and incomes that run above the Toronto average. It is not a stroller-heavy family enclave, though the original co-op and rental buildings from the 1980s keep it more mixed than the glass towers alone would suggest. Day to day it is downtown workers, empty-nesters who traded the house for the market, and a steady churn of new condo owners.

Source: City of Toronto Neighbourhood Profile, St Lawrence-East Bayfront-The Islands, 2021 Census

What We Love

The market, full stop. A proper food market at your door changes how you live, and the South building, going since 1803 in some form, is the real thing rather than a tourist set piece. Beyond it, the bones of Old Town are gorgeous: brick warehouses turned to lofts, the Flatiron, the Esplanade’s tucked-away feel. You can walk to the waterfront, to the Distillery, to the ferry docks and into the Financial District without repeating a route. And the rebuilt North Market finally gives the Saturday farmers their permanent home again.

What We Don’t Love

It is downtown, so you accept downtown. Construction is constant, the weekend crowds around the market are real, and the stretch toward Jarvis and Moss Park can feel rough at the edges. Some of the newer towers were built small and sold high, so square footage does not always match the price. And the thing that makes it special, the tourist draw of the market, is also the thing that clogs your sidewalk every sunny Saturday.

Real Estate

St Lawrence is one of Toronto’s first and best loft conversions: think hard lofts in former warehouses on Front, the Esplanade and Church, alongside a wave of newer condo towers around King and Parliament. The 1980s St Lawrence Neighbourhood, the planned mixed-income community south of Front, is the quiet star, with co-ops, rentals and owned units sitting side by side and keeping the area from becoming a pure investor play. Detached and semi houses barely exist here, so most buyers are choosing between an authentic loft with character and quirks or a newer suite with amenities. 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

There are some really great schools here that have been ingeniously nestled amongst the community buildings. The schools are popular and well respected, and benefit significantly from the mixed uses of the local community.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Market Lane Public School
Downtown Alternative School
Nelson Mandela Park Public School
Ogden Junior Public School

SENIOR SCHOOLS

Inglenook Community School

PRIVATE & CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

St. John the Evangelist Catholic School
St. Michael Catholic School
Neuchatel Jr College
Keystone School
Liberty Prep School

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

Transit

Hard to beat. Union Station, GO, the UP Express and the subway are a walk or one short streetcar away, with the 504 King and 503/504 routes plus the 514/along Front and the Esplanade buses filling in. The Gardiner and the DVP are both close for drivers, though getting onto them at rush hour tests your patience. For most people here, the car is optional.