McLaughlin (Oshawa)

Around the Neighbourhood

Cultural landmarks: Parkwood National Historic Site, the McLaughlin family’s 1917 mansion and 12 acres of formal gardens; Lakeridge Health Oshawa, the region’s main hospital; and the Oshawa Centre, the largest shopping mall in Durham Region.

Parks & green space: the Oshawa Creek valley and its trail, which runs north-south through the west of the city, plus the formal gardens at Parkwood and neighbourhood parks along the ravine.

Your Typical Neighbourhood

McLaughlin draws a settled, central mix: long-time owners, hospital and health-sector workers given the proximity to Lakeridge Health, and families who want to be close to everything. Community-level census figures aren’t broken out cleanly, so we’re using municipal numbers: Oshawa’s population reached 175,383 in 2021, up 10 percent from 2016, with a median age around 39 and a median household income near $86,000. Expect McLaughlin to sit near the city median, with pricier pockets near Parkwood.

Source: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census Profile, Oshawa (City)

What We Love

Location does the heavy lifting. You’re minutes from Lakeridge Health, the Oshawa Centre and the 401, with the Oshawa Creek valley giving you real green space and trail through the west end. Parkwood Estate is a genuine landmark to have on your doorstep, and the housing near it is some of the more characterful stock in the city. For buyers who value being central over being new, McLaughlin is hard to beat in Oshawa.

What We Don't

Be honest: much of the housing is older and central, so lot sizes and finishes vary a lot block to block, and busy arterials like Stevenson Road and King Street cut through the area with the traffic to match. Living near a major hospital means ambulance routes and parking pressure on some streets. And like the rest of Oshawa, the commute to Toronto is a drive to the GO and an hour-plus ride, so this isn’t a transit-at-your-door neighbourhood.

Real Estate

McLaughlin is a mixed, established market: post-war bungalows and two-storeys across much of the area, larger and more characterful homes near Parkwood, and pockets of townhomes and condos. Prices land in Oshawa’s mid-to-upper range, reflecting the central location and the appeal of the older, larger lots. 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.)

Transit

McLaughlin’s central location keeps trips short, with Durham Region Transit routes running along the main arterials and a transit hub at the nearby Oshawa Centre. For Toronto, Oshawa GO on the Lakeshore East line is a short drive south, running roughly 65 to 70 minutes to Union, with Highway 401 minutes away and the 407 to the north.

Schools

McLaughlin is served by the Durham District School Board and the Durham Catholic District School Board, with public options including College Hill Public School and Sunset Heights Public School, secondary schools such as R.S. McLaughlin Collegiate and Vocational Institute, and Durham Catholic schools including Monsignor Paul Dwyer Catholic High School. Confirm exact catchments before you count on a specific school. For school rankings and Fraser Institute scores, see our interactive Durham Region School Map.