Dufferin Grove

Around the Neighbourhood

Cultural landmarks: Dufferin Grove Park itself is the institution, home to communal wood-fired bread ovens and Toronto’s oldest organic farmers’ market, which runs year-round on Thursday afternoons.

Hot local spots: Giulietta and Sugo bring serious Italian to the College Street edge, Antler Kitchen & Bar does Canadian game on Dundas West, and La Bella Managua keeps a long-running Nicaraguan kitchen nearby.

Parks & green space: the namesake park is the main event, with its rink, playground and gardens, and the smaller McCormick Park adds a second green just to the west.

Your Typical Neighbour

Dufferin Grove draws a mix of long-settled Portuguese and Italian families and a younger, community-minded crowd of professionals and families who bought in for the park and the location. It leans more owner-occupied than the apartment strips nearby, with a strong civic streak… this is a neighbourhood where people show up to run the market and the rink. 

Source: City of Toronto Neighbourhood Profile, Dufferin Grove (Neighbourhood 83), 2021 Census

What We Love

The park, full stop. There’s nowhere else in the city quite like Dufferin Grove Park, with its bread ovens, its year-round market and a community that genuinely runs the place. Add College Street’s restaurants a block south, Bloor’s transit a block north and the Dufferin Mall for everything boring you actually need, and you have a small neighbourhood that punches well above its size. The houses are handsome, the streets are quiet, and the sense of community is real.

What We Don’t Love

The Dufferin Mall and the traffic around Dufferin and Bloor are not the prettiest edge to live beside, and the 29 Dufferin bus is one of the busiest, most crowded routes in the city. The neighbourhood is small and tightly held, so listings are scarce and competition is stiff when a good house comes up. And like the rest of the west end, the lots are narrow and parking takes planning.

Real Estate

Dufferin Grove is a house neighbourhood at heart, Victorian and Edwardian semis and row houses on narrow lots under mature trees, with a handful of detached homes and some newer infill condos along College and Bloor. It’s a small, tightly held pocket, so well-renovated houses near the park draw real competition. Buyers here are typically choosing community and green space over square footage. New to the market? Start with our First-Time Buyer guide , or compare neighbouring Little Italy.

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

Schools

Lots of schools nearby will expose the kids to wide class structure from an expansive multicultural background.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Ossington Old Orchard Public School
Dewson Street Public School
Brock Public School
Montrose Junior Public School

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

St. Luke Catholic School
Pope Francis Catholic School
St. Mary’s Catholic School

PRIVATE SCHOOLS

The Orchard Montessori School
Westside Montessori School

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

Transit

Dufferin station on the Bloor-Danforth subway sits at the north edge, the 506 College and 505 Dundas streetcars run just south, and the 29 Dufferin bus links them all (crowded as it is). Downtown is roughly 20 to 25 minutes, and drivers reach the Gardiner via Dufferin. Between the subway and the streetcars, a car is optional here.