Jewish settlement in Toronto began in the 1830s, and the city’s first synagogue was founded in 1856. Large-scale arrival from Eastern Europe followed from the 1880s, and the community grew from about 3,000 people in 1900 to 45,305 in 1931, according to The Canadian Encyclopedia. Its centre moved from St. John’s Ward to the Spadina Avenue and Kensington Market district, and after the mid-1950s northward along Bathurst Street.
The first families, 1830s to 1870s
The Ontario Jewish Archives states that Jews were in Toronto as early as the 1830s, and that by the mid-1850s the city had 18 Jewish families, mostly of English origin, some of whom had come by way of Quebec or the United States. They were craftsmen, small shopkeepers, and merchant importers. In 1856 they founded the Toronto Hebrew Congregation, which is today Holy Blossom Temple. The Canadian Encyclopedia describes it as the first synagogue in Canada West, and credits Lewis Samuel (1827 to 1887), an Orthodox wholesale metals merchant, as a leading force behind it. Samuel was the congregation’s president from 1862 to 1880.
Holy Blossom’s own history records an earlier burial ground: in 1849 Judah Joseph and Abraham Nordheimer bought land at Pape and Danforth avenues for a cemetery. The first prayer services were held in the upper floor of Coombe’s Drug Store at Yonge and Richmond streets. A synagogue near Richmond and Victoria streets opened on January 20, 1876, built to keep Orthodox ritual at Lewis Samuel’s insistence. The congregation opened a new synagogue on Bond Street in 1897, and the same history records the later move to a site on Bathurst Street near Eglinton Avenue. The congregation turned toward Reform Judaism in the early 1920s, affiliating with the Union of American Hebrew Congregations in 1921.
The wording of the “first” claim differs by source. The Ontario Jewish Archives calls the 1856 synagogue Toronto’s first, while the Canadian Encyclopedia says first in Canada West, the western part of the united province at the time.
St. John’s Ward, 1880s to the 1920s
Persecution and economic hardship in Lithuania, Russia, Poland, Austria-Hungary, and Romania sent many Jews to Canada after the 1880s. The Ontario Jewish Archives says these newcomers soon outnumbered the earlier residents. Most settled in St. John’s Ward, known as the Ward, a crowded district between Teraulay Street (now Bay Street) and University Avenue. The English Jews, by contrast, had settled east of Yonge Street.
The Archives describes the Ward as a North American shtetl, with restaurants, groceries, and sweet shops. Synagogues met in houses and storefronts, usually with a main prayer room, a women’s section, and a small kitchen. Early congregations were Orthodox and were first organized by country of origin and later by region or town. Many residents worked in garment sweatshops, the Canadian Encyclopedia notes. The Ward housed other groups as well. The Ward Museum names Toronto’s first Little Italy and first Chinatown among them, and the story of the latter is told in the history of Chinatown.
Spadina and Kensington Market
As families earned more, they moved west along the College and Dundas streetcar lines, between McCaul and Bathurst streets. By 1917 an outdoor market had developed just west of Spadina Avenue, along Kensington Avenue, Baldwin Street, and Augusta Avenue. South of Dundas Street, Spadina became a centre of the garment industry, and north of Dundas it offered stores and restaurants. By the late 1920s most Jewish residents had left the Ward for this district.
The Canadian Encyclopedia reports that Kensington was known as the Jewish Market. Many families began by selling from handcarts, then built stalls in front of their homes and turned ground floors into shops. The market allowed observant Jews, who could not work on Saturday, to earn a living without breaking the Sabbath. Live poultry was sold there until 1982. At its peak the district had more than 30 synagogues, many named for towns or provinces in Eastern Europe. Two are named in the encyclopedia’s account: the Kiever Synagogue, built from 1924 to 1927 by Ukrainian Jews from Kiev, and the Anshei Minsk Synagogue, opened in 1930. Many garment workers held left-wing views, and Spadina Avenue was a frequent site of labour demonstrations and strikes. Today’s market is described in the article on Kensington Market.
Population in numbers
| Year | Jewish population of Toronto | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 | About 3,000 | Source: The Canadian Encyclopedia |
| 1913 | Over 32,000 | Source: The Canadian Encyclopedia |
| 1931 | 45,305 | About 80 per cent lived in or around Kensington, per the same article |
The Canadian Encyclopedia’s Kensington Market article gives the three figures above and also states that the Jewish population of Kensington Market itself fell from 2,685 in 1951 to 780 in 1961. These are historical figures from the encyclopedia and the census basis is not stated there. Current figures should be taken from Statistics Canada, which publishes them by religion and by ethnic origin, two measures that give different totals.
Discrimination in the 1930s
Jewish Torontonians faced open hostility in the 1930s. The Canadian Encyclopedia describes the Christie Pits riot of August 1933 as one of the worst outbreaks of ethnic violence in Canadian history, with over 10,000 participants and spectators. It was sparked by Nazi-inspired youths flying a swastika flag at a baseball game involving the mostly Jewish Harbord Playground team. The encyclopedia gives the sequence: on August 14 youths unconnected to either team waved a homemade swastika banner at a Harbord Playground game against St. Peter’s, and the riot itself came two days later, on August 16, at the follow-up game. The riot date is given as 16 August 1933 in the encyclopedia’s opening line. The 10,000 figure is the Toronto Daily Star’s estimate of the crowd as quoted there. No hour-by-hour account is given here.
North on Bathurst Street
The Ontario Jewish Archives says the Spadina and Kensington area remained the community’s heartland until the mid-1950s. A northward move then began, mainly along Bathurst Street into Downsview and Bathurst Manor, then toward Finch Avenue and Steeles Avenue and into Thornhill, and later farther into York Region. The Archives adds that Jews never fully left downtown: in recent decades downtown congregations were revived, new Jewish schools opened, and the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre was renewed as a cultural centre.
The old Ward disappeared in the same decades. Nathan Phillips, elected mayor in 1955 and in office until 1962, was Toronto’s first Jewish mayor, the Canadian Encyclopedia says. Under his leadership council approved a plan for a new city hall and square, and the Ward Museum states that the Ward was largely torn down by 1965. The new City Hall opened on September 13, 1965, and the square carries Phillips’s name.
Frequently asked questions
When did Jews first settle in Toronto?
The Ontario Jewish Archives dates the earliest presence to the 1830s. A congregation, now Holy Blossom Temple, was founded in 1856.
What was St. John’s Ward?
It was a crowded downtown district between Bay Street and University Avenue where many Eastern European Jewish immigrants first settled. It was largely demolished by 1965, and City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square now stand on part of the land.
Why did Jewish families move to Kensington Market?
The Ward was overcrowded, and the streetcar lines on College and Dundas streets led west. The market also let observant Jews earn a living without working on the Sabbath, according to the Canadian Encyclopedia.
Where did the community move after the 1950s?
Mostly north along Bathurst Street, then to Thornhill and other parts of York Region, while a smaller downtown community continued.
Related reading
- Kensington Market and its history
- Chinatown in Toronto and the Ward
- Immigration and settlement in Toronto
- Toronto neighbourhoods from colonial roots to today
- An overview of Toronto’s history
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- Stephen Speisman, “Introduction,” Toronto’s First Synagogues, Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre (online exhibit)
- The Canadian Encyclopedia, “Kensington Market” (population figures, Jewish Market, synagogues, poultry sales)
- The Canadian Encyclopedia, “Lewis Samuel”
- The Canadian Encyclopedia, “Christie Pits Riot,” by Jamie Michaels
- The Canadian Encyclopedia, “Nathan Phillips”
- Holy Blossom Temple, “A Brief History of Holy Blossom Temple’s First 150 Years” (PDF) (PDF)
- The Ward Museum, “The Ward, Toronto”
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 25). Jewish Toronto: History of the Community. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/jewish-toronto-history
MLA: “Jewish Toronto: History of the Community.” History of Toronto, 25 Oct. 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/jewish-toronto-history. Accessed .
Chicago: History of Toronto. “Jewish Toronto: History of the Community.” Last modified October 25, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/jewish-toronto-history.
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