Liberty Village

Around the Neighbourhood

Cultural landmarks: BMO Field and Exhibition Place sit right on the south edge, home to Toronto FC, the Argonauts and the CNE each summer, while the neighbourhood’s own heritage industrial buildings, like the Toy Factory Lofts (link: https://www.getwhatyouwant.ca/toronto-loft/toy-factory-lofts-43-hanna-ave), give the place its brick-and-beam character.

Hot local spots: Mildred’s Temple Kitchen on Hanna Avenue has been the brunch institution since 2008, with LOCAL Public Eatery, Craft Beer Market and the Brazen Head Irish Pub covering the patio-and-pints end of things.

Parks & green space: this is the honest weak spot… Liberty Village Park is the small central green, and the bigger fix is a short walk south to the Martin Goodman Trail and Trillium Park at Ontario Place.

Your Typical Neighbour

Liberty Village skews young, single and well paid. The pocket has a median age around 36, below the city’s, and a renter-heavy mix, partly because investors bought a lot of the early units. The typical resident is a late-20s-to-early-40s professional, often with a partner or roommate to share the rent or mortgage, who works downtown and chose convenience over space. It’s less a family neighbourhood than a launchpad… lots of people pass through on the way to their first house. 

Source: City of Toronto Neighbourhood Profile, Niagara, 2016 Census 

What We Love

The lofts. Liberty Village has some of the city’s best true post-and-beam, exposed-duct hard-loft conversions, like the Toy Factory Lofts on Hanna, alongside the more obscure original buildings now used as offices. They’re genuinely original spaces you can’t reproduce in a new build. Add a main street built specifically around its residents and a two-minute GO ride to Union, and the convenience is real.

What We Don’t Love

Green space and gridlock. For a neighbourhood with this many dogs, there’s nowhere near enough park, and that shortage comes up constantly. Getting out at rush hour, by car or crowded streetcar, is the other long-standing gripe. And some of the early adopters who loved the village when it was new now find it busier and more built-up than they signed on for.

Real Estate

Condos, condos, condos. There’s a smattering of stacked townhouses and a few rare purpose-built live/work spaces, but the market is overwhelmingly lofts and condos, hard and soft, built quickly over the last couple of decades on old factory land. Buyers and renters here generally prefer walking, cycling and transit to driving, and convenience over space. Investors hold a meaningful share of the units, so the rental pool is deep. New construction continues around the edges toward Exhibition. Buying your first place? Our guide to buying a condo in Toronto is the place to start.

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

Schools

Although there are no schools within Liberty Village proper, most of Liberty Village falls within the TDSB boundaries of excellent Givins/Shaw Jr Public. Generally speaking, though, your average LV resident isn’t concerned since dogs don’t go to school.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Queen Victoria Public School
Niagara Street Junior Public School
Charles G Fraser Junior Public School
Alpha Alternative Public School
Ogden Junior Public School
Ossington/Old Orchard Junior Public School
The Grove Community School
Parkdale Junior and Senior Public School

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

Transit

Streetcars and buses ring the neighbourhood, with King and Queen cars running into the core and Exhibition GO offering a quick hop to Union. The long-standing complaint is crowding at peak times, which is part of why some residents lean on GO, cycling or walking instead. Worth watching: the Ontario Line is under construction, with a future Exhibition station that should ease the squeeze when it opens.