Forest Hill is a midtown Toronto neighbourhood north of St. Clair Avenue West that was an independent village from 1923 until the province folded it into the City of Toronto in 1967. It took its name from a summer house on the high ground near Eglinton Avenue. The village council banned industry in 1931 and limited new building to single-family houses designed by architects. Upper Canada College, which moved to the district’s eastern edge in 1891, is a well-known neighbour.
The name: a summer house and an older label
Before the village existed, the high ground north of St. Clair Avenue West was known as Spadina Heights. The name Forest Hill comes from the summer home of John Wickson, which stood near Eglinton Avenue and Old Forest Hill Road in the 1860s, according to the Lost Rivers project. Lost Rivers spells his surname “Wiskson”; Wikipedia gives “Wickson” and says he was the father of the Toronto architect Frank Wickson. The older label “Spadina Heights” is often traced to an Ojibwe word for a hill or sudden rise in the land. Our article on Indigenous place names looks at how such names entered Toronto’s map.
Wikipedia’s summary describes the village’s original boundaries as Bathurst Street on the west, Upper Canada College on the east, Eglinton Avenue on the north, and Lonsdale Road and part of Montclair Avenue on the south. Those lines followed an older school district, School Section 30. People today sometimes apply the name Forest Hill to streets north of Eglinton as well, and not everyone agrees.
Breaking away in 1923
The village came into being because residents wanted control over their taxes and schools. According to Lost Rivers, residents of Spadina Heights petitioned the province in 1923 for separation. They wanted better value for their taxes and wanted to keep their educational and residential standards. The Village of Forest Hill was incorporated on November 23, 1923, effective January 1, 1924. The first council met on December 21, 1923. All five members were acclaimed, led by Reeve Laurence Baldwin. As a village, Forest Hill elected a reeve rather than a mayor.
The location helped. The land was high, close to the city and lightly taxed, and Lost Rivers says it attracted many wealthy residents and had an unusually high per-person wealth. For the wider pattern of suburbs that split from the city and from York Township, see our article on that municipality.
Rules that made the village
Council decided in 1931 to remove industry and to allow only single-family houses designed by an architect. At that moment, seven industrial firms were still operating in the village. Lost Rivers names Dufferin Construction, Godson Construction, Worthington Construction, Brown’s Bread, Barber Coal, Boake Manufacturing and Myers Lumber. The policy explains why the district looks so different from the industrial streets of the Junction to the west.
Wikipedia’s summary says the southern part, called Lower Forest Hill, was fully developed by the 1930s. The northern part, Upper Forest Hill, developed more slowly. Part of it had been occupied by the old Belt Line Railway and then by industry, so houses went up mostly in the 1940s and 1950s. Wikipedia, citing census figures, gives the village’s population as 5,207 in 1931 and 23,135 in 1966. Treat those numbers as approximate until you check the census tables.
A growing Jewish community
Wikipedia’s summary says wealthy Jewish families began moving to Forest Hill in the 1930s and that the Jewish population reached about 11,000 by 1961, as families left older downtown districts. The move is part of a wider story told in Jewish Toronto, which covers the earlier settlement near Spadina Avenue and the later shift north.
Metro, expressway plans and 1967
In 1953 Forest Hill was one of the municipalities that joined the new Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. Lost Rivers says it kept a fair degree of independence. Its sewers, which had combined stormwater and waste, were converted to a separated system in this period. One of the village’s political figures, Frederick Gardiner, became the first chairman of Metro. Wikipedia’s lists show him serving on Forest Hill council and then as reeve before taking the Metro job. See Metropolitan Toronto and the Gardiner Expressway for the later story.
The Spadina Expressway shows the village’s politics at work. According to Wikipedia’s article on the road, Forest Hill objected to a route that would have demolished 276 buildings and bisected the village, and it proposed a tunnel. The Annex became the centre of opposition, and a citizens’ coalition formed in October 1969. Premier Bill Davis’s government withdrew support on June 3, 1971. Read about the neighbouring district in the Annex.
In 1967 the province reorganized Metro. Forest Hill was amalgamated into the City of Toronto that year, along with the Village of Swansea, and the neighbourhood kept its name. Wikipedia adds that residents had negotiated doorstep garbage pickup, a service that cost the city $420,000 a year in 1993, when the city ended it.
Upper Canada College and the schools
Upper Canada College is not part of the village’s story of incorporation, but it marks the old eastern boundary. The college opened in 1830 and moved in 1891 from its downtown site to a 17-hectare property in Deer Park. Our article on Upper Canada College sets out the dates. Bishop Strachan School, also nearby, is mentioned by Wikipedia as a neighbouring private school. Forest Hill Collegiate Institute is a public secondary school run by the Toronto District School Board.
Forest Hill today
The neighbourhood’s small shopping area, Forest Hill Village, sits at Spadina Road and Lonsdale Road. It has boutique shops, a small grocery and banks. The Globe and Mail reported in 2014 that the Forest Hill Barber Shop there dated from 1931 and that the 1940s strip also held a movie theatre and one of the early Loblaw grocery stores. A war memorial stands at Eglinton Avenue and Vesta Road, erected in 1980 according to Wikipedia. The City of Toronto now divides the area into two neighbourhood profiles, Forest Hill South and Forest Hill North.
Frequently asked questions
When was Forest Hill incorporated as a village?
Lost Rivers gives November 23, 1923, effective January 1, 1924, with the first council meeting on December 21, 1923. Other sources give slightly different days within the same month.
Why is it called Forest Hill?
The name comes from the summer home of John Wickson, which stood near Eglinton Avenue and Old Forest Hill Road in the 1860s. The area was earlier called Spadina Heights.
When did Forest Hill join the City of Toronto?
The province amalgamated the village into the City of Toronto in 1967, during the reorganization of Metropolitan Toronto. The neighbourhood kept the name Forest Hill.
Is Upper Canada College in Forest Hill?
It stands at the old eastern edge of the village. The college moved to its Deer Park site in 1891, which is before the village was incorporated.
Why are there no factories in Forest Hill?
In 1931 the village council decided to remove industry and to allow only single-family homes designed by architects. Seven industrial firms were operating there at the time.
Sources
- Lost Rivers project, “The Village of Forest Hill” (accessed October 2026)
- The Globe and Mail, “Forest Hill Village: A high-end community with ‘low-end stuff,’” January 17, 2014
- Wikipedia, “Forest Hill, Toronto” (accessed October 2026), used for hedged details on boundaries, population, the Jewish community and reeves
- Wikipedia, “Spadina Expressway” (accessed October 2026), used for the 1969 to 1971 timeline
- Wikipedia, “Frederick Gardiner” (accessed October 2026), used for his Forest Hill and Metro service
- Neighbourhood Guide, “Forest Hill” (accessed October 2026), checked against the other sources for the 1923 and 1967 dates
Related reading
- Upper Canada College history
- Jewish Toronto history
- Metropolitan Toronto, 1953 to 1954
- History of the Annex
- Rosedale history
- Lawrence Park and Leaside history
Last verified: October 2026
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 31). Forest Hill Toronto History: The Village That Left in 1923. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/forest-hill-toronto-history
MLA: “Forest Hill Toronto History: The Village That Left in 1923.” History of Toronto, 31 Oct 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/forest-hill-toronto-history. Accessed .
Chicago: History of Toronto. “Forest Hill Toronto History: The Village That Left in 1923.” Last modified October 31, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/forest-hill-toronto-history.
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