St. James Town is a high-rise neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, bounded by Bloor Street East, Parliament Street, Wellesley Street East, and Sherbourne Street. The City of Toronto says it began to be developed in the 1870s and was rebuilt after the mid-1950s with apartment towers put up between the early 1960s and the mid-1970s. Heritage Toronto calls it the most densely populated high-rise community in Canada, and sources give its population as anywhere from more than 18,000 to about 26,000 depending on the boundary used.
A Victorian neighbourhood
Heritage Toronto notes that Victorian houses stood scattered across the area in the 1880s, among them the homes of wealthy and well-known Torontonians. The City’s 2018 planning report describes the 1870s as the start of development. The popular name St. James Town came into use in the 1960s and 1970s, and Heritage Toronto says it likely comes from the nearby cemetery and mortuary chapel of St. James-the-Less. That cemetery opened in 1844 after the city’s first burial ground, at King and Church streets, became overcrowded. The City’s own exhibits sometimes spell the name “St. Jamestown”, and the Canadian Encyclopedia uses “St James Town”.
The area also lies within the lands of the Toronto Purchase, treaty land purchased from the Mississaugas of the Credit; see the article on the Toronto Purchase 1787. The adjoining Victorian district is described in the Cabbagetown article.
Urban renewal and the towers
According to the City, developers began assembling properties in the mid-1950s, which led to redevelopment at much higher densities and the removal of the street grid. In the early 1960s Howard Investments Ltd. proposed a $50 million apartment complex of five high-rise buildings for up to 16,000 residents, a plan that promised to replace the area’s derelict Victorian boarding houses. Heritage Toronto reports that the Board of Control approved the project in February 1965, citing a Globe and Mail story of February 11, 1965.
The design followed Le Corbusier’s “Towers in the Park” model: large apartment towers surrounded by open space. Heritage Toronto names two 14-storey buildings, the “Quebec” at 730 Ontario Street and “St. John’s” at 700 Ontario Street, as the first high-rises completed, with more than 1,000 apartments between them. Three more buildings, at 99 Howard Street, 670 Parliament Street, and 135 Rose Avenue, added 711 units.
Counting the towers and the people
| Item | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Residential towers | 18 buildings, 14 to 32 storeys, built early 1960s to mid-1970s | City of Toronto, 2018 report |
| Residential towers | 21 towers (four public, 17 private) within about 32 acres | Heritage Toronto |
| Population | More than 18,000 | Heritage Toronto |
| Population | Around 26,000 for the St. James Town neighbourhood as defined in the TOcore study | City of Toronto, 2018 report |
| Density | Described as 18 times that of the rest of Toronto | Canadian Encyclopedia (Toronto Feature, 2013, edited 2015) |
| Renters | 82 percent | City of Toronto, 2018 report |
The differing counts reflect different boundaries and dates, and no single figure is given here as definitive. The City adds that the 2016 Census tract covering most of the area was among the most densely populated in Canada.
The singles years and after
The towers were marketed in the late 1960s to young professionals. Heritage Toronto lists amenities such as parties, a ski club, and basement communal television rooms, and some advertisements promised an “adults only” community. The Canadian Encyclopedia quotes a May 1969 Toronto Life description of about 50 acres of massive apartment buildings.
The City report says the population later shifted toward lower-income residents, new immigrants, and families with young children, and that population grew through the 1980s without new development. Heritage Toronto says the layout of tall buildings amid open space isolated the neighbourhood, left many streets as dead ends without pedestrian routes, and that by the late 1980s residents complained about poor maintenance and a lack of community space, while crime had increased as the area lost appeal.
A neighbourhood of newcomers
The City’s 2018 report calls St. James Town one of the most diverse neighbourhoods in Toronto, with the highest presence of immigrants in the downtown, most recently from the Philippines, Nepal, and India. Heritage Toronto states that approximately 64 percent of the population are considered newcomers to Canada. The report also finds the area has the highest number of children aged nine and under in the downtown core and the highest percentage of residents 65 and older. For the larger story of how newcomers arrived, see the immigration history article.
Public space and planning
Most interior streets are private, with the exceptions of Howard Street and Bleecker Street. The City report identifies St. James Town West Park, a 4,048 square metre (about one acre) leased park, as the only public park in the study area in 2018, and it lies above an underground garage. The report is part of the St. James Town Connects framework, which sets priorities for safer and more usable open space. Across the downtown east, a different approach to mid-century housing is described in the Regent Park article.
Frequently asked questions
Why is it called St. James Town?
Heritage Toronto says the name likely comes from the St. James-the-Less cemetery and chapel nearby. It became popular in the 1960s and 1970s.
How many people live in St. James Town?
Heritage Toronto gives more than 18,000. The City’s 2018 report gives around 26,000 for the wider TOcore neighbourhood. The figures use different boundaries.
When were the towers built?
The City says the 18 high-rise buildings were built between the early 1960s and the mid-1970s. The Board of Control approved the first project in February 1965.
Who proposed the first apartment complex?
Heritage Toronto names Howard Investments Ltd. as the developer that proposed the $50 million complex in the early 1960s. The sources read for this page do not name the developers of the later towers.
Sources
- Heritage Toronto: St. James Town: World Within a Block, including the “Towers in the Park” and “Cemetery Treaties” pages
- City of Toronto, “St. James Town Connects Framework” staff report (2018)
- The Canadian Encyclopedia, “Toronto Feature: St James Town” by Jamie Bradburn
- City of Toronto Archives, web exhibit “Your Home Our City: Highrise Living”
Related reading
- Regent Park: history of the neighbourhood
- Cabbagetown: history of the Victorian neighbourhood
- Immigration and communities in Toronto’s history
- Yorkville: from village to district
- Toronto neighbourhoods: how the districts grew
Last verified: October 2026
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 23). St. James Town: From Victorian Streets to Tower District. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/st-james-town-history
MLA: “St. James Town: From Victorian Streets to Tower District.” History of Toronto, 23 Oct. 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/st-james-town-history. Accessed .
Chicago: History of Toronto. “St. James Town: From Victorian Streets to Tower District.” Last modified October 23, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/st-james-town-history.
The pages have no named author, so the site is given as the author. Add the date you read the page if your style asks for it.