Toronto · intersection

Charles & St Nicholas

Charles St W & St Nicholas St · Toronto, Ontario · Bay-Cloverhill · Ward 11, University-Rosedale · Bloor-Yorkville BIA

In Bay-Cloverhill, in central Toronto, Charles & St Nicholas is a quiet local crossing, with more people on foot than in cars and a well-used cycling route through it. It has Bloor Station and parks at the corner. Its serious-injury record over the last decade is clean.

Traffic volume
4,166
vehicles · 14-hour count, Nov 25, 2025
7,670 pedestrians · 331 cyclists · #2063 busiest
Collisions
20
police-reported, any severity · 2016–2025
2 with an injury · 14 property damage · #3448 of 5,508
KSI collisions
0
killed or seriously injured · 2016–2025
none in the window
Red-light camera
None
not on the City's camera list
Transit
Bloor Station
subway station within 250 m
1 streetcar route · 7 bus routes within 1 km
Cycling
No bikeway
nothing on the City cycling network here
Bike Share: 72 docks within 150 m

The latest City count averages about 300 vehicles an hour over its 14-hour span, 26% of the median counted intersection. Pedestrians outnumber vehicles 1.8 to 1 — rare for a Toronto intersection, where the median is one pedestrian for every 13 vehicles. Cyclists were 7.9% of vehicle volume, about 10× the typical share. That comes with about 2 reported collisions a year, 2016–2025 — 4.8 per 10,000 counted vehicles, in line with the median rate for counted intersections. Collisions fell 18%, from 11 in 2016–2020 to 9 in 2021–2025. None of them involved a death or serious injury.

Map

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Charles & St Nicholas

Getting here

Transit within 1 km, cycling at the corner, and what's within a 1.5 km walk

Transit & cycling

Subway
Bloor Station (Line 1)214 m; Yonge Station (Line 2)279 m; Bay Station (Line 2)302 m; Wellesley Station (Line 1)375 m; Museum Station (Line 1)529 m; Rosedale Station (Line 1)838 m; College Station (Line 1)851 m; St George Station (Line 1, Line 2)871 m; Queen's Park Station (Line 1)936 m; Sherbourne Station (Line 2)1 km
Streetcar
506 nearest 443 m
TTC bus
97199413267582 nearest 71 m
Blue Night
306320300
Nearest stops
14 surface stops within 300 m — Yonge St at Charles St West; Yonge St at Charles St East
Cycling
no bikeway on the City cycling network touches this intersection
Bike Share
Charles St W / Balmuto St - SMART 20 m · 24 docks · 47 stations, 983 docks within 1 km

Straight-line distances to the nearest stop or station entrance in each agency's current schedule feed, including temporary diversions.

Within walking distance 1.5 km

Schools (47)
  • Humber College - International Graduate SchoolCollege · 289 m
  • Rosedale Day SchoolPrivate · 430 m
  • St Joseph's College SchoolEnglish Separate · 480 m
  • The Abelard Centre For EducationPrivate · 490 m
  • Toronto School of Theology - U of T, Bldg 434University · 514 m
  • Career Quest - TorontoPrivate · 563 m
  • and 41 more
Community centres
Parks (54)
  • St. Mary Street Parkette76 m
  • George Hislop Park173 m
  • Norman Jewison Park246 m
  • Clover Hill Park292 m
  • James Canning Gardens337 m
  • Town Hall Square401 m
  • and 48 more
Library
  • Toronto Public Library Toronto Reference Library branch379 m
  • Toronto Public Library Yorkville branch396 m
  • Toronto Public Library St. James Town branch1 km
Places of interest
  • CAA Theatre (formerly Panasonic Theatre)Performing Arts · 122 m
  • The Japan FoundationMuseum · 254 m
  • Toronto Reference LibraryLandmark · 361 m
  • Village of Yorkville ParkNature/ Park · 406 m
  • Isabel Bader TheatrePerforming Arts · 464 m
  • Gardiner MuseumMuseum · 493 m
  • Royal Ontario MuseumMuseum · 629 m
  • Buddies in Bad Times TheatrePerforming Arts · 665 m

Around the corner

Food premises, public washrooms, child care and emergency services — distances are straight-line from the node

Restaurants & food

There are 133 restaurants, cafés and takeouts within 300 m of the corner, plus 15 grocery and convenience stores, and 370 eating places within a kilometre — 5.1× the median for a Toronto intersection. The nearest is 8 Mile Pizza, 20 m away, which passed its last DineSafe inspection in February 2026 with 1 infraction noted.

Restaurants & cafés133 within 300 m · 370 within 1 km
Grocery & convenience15 within 300 m · 30 within 1 km
Nearest food premisesDistanceLatest DineSafe inspection
8 Mile Pizza · 9 Charles St W20 mPassed, Feb 2026 · 1 infraction
8mile Detroit Style Pizza · 9 Charles St W21 mPassed, Aug 2026 · 1 infraction
Joumak · 11 Charles St W21 mPassed, Mar 2026 · 1 infraction
7 West Cafe · 7 Charles St W30 mPassed, Jun 2026
Bingz Crispy Burger · 730 Yonge St 638 mPassed, Mar 2026 · 2 infractions
Viet Hut Express - Charles · 25 Charles St W38 mPassed, Aug 2026
Dollarama · 730 Yonge Stgrocery38 mPassed, Dec 2025
Pearl Yorkville Chinese Cuisine · 730 Yonge St Unit-538 mPassed, Apr 2026 · 1 infraction

Every establishment Toronto Public Health inspects under DineSafe, screened by name to leave out kitchens inside schools, care homes and offices. A conditional pass means infractions had to be fixed by a follow-up visit, not that the premises is closed.

Washrooms & water

The nearest public washroom is Ramsden Park Outdoor Rink Washroom, 946 m away, open 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. A drinking fountain is 77 m away at St. Mary Street Parkette.

  • Ramsden Park Outdoor Rink Washroom · 1020 Yonge St
    9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
    946 m
Drinking water
St. Mary Street Parkette drinking fountain · 77 m; George Hislop Park drinking fountain · 150 m

Park washrooms, washrooms in City buildings and automated street toilets, with hours and status as the City publishes them (park washrooms are seasonal). Malls, shops and TTC stations are not included.

Child care

Ten licensed child care centres within a kilometre offer 690 spaces; seven accept City fee subsidy. The nearest is University of Toronto Childcare On Charles (53 m, 73 spaces, infant, toddler, preschool).

Within 1 km10 centres · 690 spaces
Fee subsidy7 of 10
  • University of Toronto Childcare On Charles · 35 Charles St W
    73 spaces · infant, toddler, preschool · fee subsidy · $10-a-day
    53 m
  • Kids & Company - Bloor Street Site · 160 Bloor St E
    85 spaces · infant, toddler, preschool · $10-a-day
    471 m
  • YMCA Child Development Centre (YMCA) · 15 Breadalbane St
    144 spaces · infant, toddler, preschool, kindergarten, school age · fee subsidy · $10-a-day
    575 m
  • Jesse Ketchum Early Learning & Child Care Centre · 7 Berryman St
    26 spaces · toddler, preschool · fee subsidy · $10-a-day
    671 m

Licensed centres only; spaces are licensed capacity, not vacancies.

Emergency services

The nearest fire hall is Fire Station 312 (399 m), the nearest police station 52 Division (1.6 km) and the nearest ambulance station 848 m away.

FireFire Station 312 · 399 m34 Yorkville Ave
Police52 Division · 1.6 km255 Dundas Street West
AmbulanceAmbulance Station 45 · 848 m135 Davenport Rd

Nearest station by straight line — not a response time, and not necessarily the station that would answer a call.

Apartment buildings nearby

RentSafeTO-registered rental buildings within 1 km, with the City's latest evaluation score

111 registered apartment buildings with 15,314 rental units stand within a kilometre of the corner, 11 of them social or Toronto Community Housing — 4.8× the median for a Toronto intersection. The nearest is 44 Charles St W (98 m, 793 units, 51 storeys, built 1972), which scored 91 out of 100 at its August 2024 RentSafeTO evaluation. Two buildings of the 111 scored below 70; the average is 89, about the citywide norm. The Landlord and Tenant Board issued 408 final orders naming these buildings in the latest half-year of its catalogue, and 126 fire-code violations are open across them.

Registered buildings111 · 15,314 units · 11 social housing
RentSafeTO score89 average · 2 below 70
LTB orders, Jan 2026 – Jun 2026408 across the 111
Open fire-code violations126
Tallest51 storeys
Nearest buildingsUnitsStoreysBuiltScoreLTB ordersDistance
44 Charles St W · Jll79351197291 · Aug 20241298 m
25 St Mary St · Briarlane Rental Property Management Inc.26025196592 · Jul 20242 · 4 fire136 m
1101 Bay St · Bentallgreenoak26528197987 · Jun 20261 · 6 fire140 m
55 Charles St W · Azuria Group Incorporated14732198183 · Oct 20253185 m
30 Charles St E · 14792670 Canada Inc213191567 · Aug 20262 · 4 fire194 m
57 Charles St W · Quadreal Property Group25021197789 · Oct 20250216 m
16 St Joseph St · Akelius374192789 · Nov 20251248 m
8 Gloucester St · Tricon Residential231342021100 · Jul 20250260 m

The City's RentSafeTO register — rental apartment buildings of three or more storeys and ten or more units — with the score from each building's latest City evaluation (out of 100; poor scores trigger a full audit). LTB orders are final Landlord and Tenant Board orders naming the address (Jan 2026 – Jun 2026); fire-code violations are open items in Toronto Fire Services' inspection data. Each building links to its full record on LandlordReport. Condominiums and houses are not registered.

Parking

Every mapped lot within 2 km, Green P with peak occupancy, City EV charging and bike parking

All parking lots940 lots · ≈23,170 spaces · 69.5 ha
Within 500 m61 lots · ≈1,410 spaces
Green P (public)23 car parks · about 5,301 spaces
EV charging (City)20 Charles St E. · 163 m · 22 Level 2 + 1 fast ports
Bike parking173 post-and-rings within 300 m · racks for 72 bikes within 600 m · City Hall - Nathan Phillips Square bike station (1.8 km)
Green P car parkDistanceSpacesPeak occupancy
20 Charles St E · Garage164 m64618% (Q1 2026)
13 Isabella St · Surface218 m3073% (Q1 2026)
74 Yorkville Ave · Garage493 m17575% (Q1 2026)
15 Wellesley St E · Surface498 m12654% (Q1 2026)
9 Bedford Rd · Garage811 m37151% (Q1 2026)

Nearest lots: 76 m away, ≈18 spaces; 121 m away, ≈33 spaces; 123 m away, ≈18 spaces; 124 m away, ≈40 spaces; 134 m away, ≈8 spaces; 148 m away, ≈31 spaces. More EV charging: 74 Yorkville Ave (450 m, 9 ports); 9 Wellesley St W. (458 m, 8 ports); 91 Elizabeth St (1.2 km, 2 ports).

Lot count and area from the City's topographic mapping of parking-lot footprints (every visible surface lot, public or private); spaces are estimated at one per 30 m² of lot. Lots not run by Green P are private, commercial or institutional and may be for customers or residents only. Green P spaces and average daily peak occupancy from the Toronto Parking Authority's quarterly dataset (* = capacity from the 2019 car-park list; rates are not shown because that list is stale — check Green P). EV chargers are City-operated only; on-street and underground parking are not included.

Traffic volume

The City's latest turning-movement count — 14-hour, Nov 25, 2025

The east leg carries the load — 3,815 westbound vehicles, or 92% of everything entering — while the west leg brought 7. Most cyclists arrived from the east (224 of 331). The afternoon peak is the heavier one — 441 vehicles in the hour from 5:15 p.m., 26% above the morning peak from 8:45 a.m. (351). Heavy vehicles made up 2.3% of traffic (typical: 3.2%). The citywide median for a 14-hour count is 16,183 vehicles. The count is recent, so it reflects current conditions.

From the north149southbound · 1 bikes · 0.0% heavy
From the west7eastbound · 68 bikes · 0.0% heavy
Total vehicles4,1667,670 pedestrians · 331 cyclists · 2.3% heavy
From the east3,815westbound · 224 bikes · 2.3% heavy
From the south195northbound · 38 bikes · 3.6% heavy
AM peak hour351 vehicles from 8:45 a.m.
PM peak hour441 vehicles from 5:15 p.m.
Count14-hour · Nov 25, 2025

Approach figures are vehicles entering the intersection from that leg over the whole count. A count is one day's traffic, not an annual average; the City recounts on an ad-hoc schedule.

How fast traffic moves here

Midblock speed counts on the intersection's streets, the nearest school-zone speed sign, and traffic calming

The City's most recent midblock count on St Nicholas St between St Mary St and Charles St W (43 m away, Feb 2001) recorded volume only — about 1,350 vehicles a day — with no speed data.

Street segmentCountedVehicles / dayAverage85th percentile95th
St Nicholas St · St Mary St – Charles St W · 43 mFeb 2001 · 2 days1,350
Charles St E · Yonge St – Lane E of Yonge and N of Charles · 98 mNov 2011 · 3 days7,036

Midblock counts are automatic counters laid across the road for one to seven days; the 85th-percentile speed is the figure engineers use — 85% of drivers were at or below it. Counts are ad hoc, so some are years old. A midblock reading is not the speed through the intersection itself, and posted limits are not in the count data.

All police-reported collisions

Every collision reported to Toronto Police within 65 m, any severity, 2016–2025

2017 was the peak year (4 collisions), and 2025 closed with 2. 10% of collisions here involved an injury, below the 15% citywide. 6 drivers failed to remain at the scene — 30% of collisions, a higher hit-and-run share than the city's 16%. People walking or cycling were involved in 10% of collisions here (citywide: 5%). The most recent report on file is from Nov 17, 2025.

By year

16171819202122232425

Exposure-adjusted: 4.8 collisions per year per 10,000 daily vehicles, using the latest 14-hour count.

2016–2025Collisions
All reported collisions20#3448 of 5,508
With an injury2#3975 of 4,660
Property damage only14
Fail to remain6
Involving a pedestrian2#2013 of 3,193
Involving a cyclist0
Involving a motorcyclist0
With a fatality0
Severity not classified4
All since 201424latest Nov 17, 2025

Source: Toronto Police Service, Traffic Collisions Open Data — every collision reported to police since 2014, within 65 m of this node. Records through Jun 30, 2026.

Killed or seriously injured

Collisions in which someone died or was seriously injured, within 65 m, 2016–2025 — the basis of the danger rankings

The KSI record for this intersection is empty back to 2006.

KSI = killed or seriously injured. A collision is counted if its recorded location is within 65 m of this intersection's centreline node, whether the police coded it as intersection-related or mid-block. Records can lag a year or more, so the current year is excluded from rankings.

Thefts reported at this corner

Thefts from vehicles and bicycle thefts that Toronto Police have offset to this intersection, 2016–2025

Toronto Police place 22 thefts from vehicles and 20 bicycle thefts at this intersection in 2016–2025 — 7.0× the median for a Toronto intersection with any reported theft. The pace has slowed: 8 in 2023–2025, about 2.7 a year, against 4.9 a year before that. 68% of the vehicle thefts were from the street or other outdoor spots; 55% of the bike thefts were from the street or other outdoor spots. Since January 2026, 2 more have been reported, the latest on Jun 23, 2026.

By year

16171819202122232425
2016–2025Reported2023–2025Since Jan 2026Most often from
Theft from a vehicle2272street/outdoor (15), commercial premises (3)
Bicycle theft2010street/outdoor (11), commercial premises (4)

Source: Toronto Police Service, Theft From Motor Vehicle and Bicycle Thefts open data, records through Jun 23, 2026. Police offset every occurrence to the nearest intersection before publishing, so these are thefts on the streets and premises around this node, not necessarily at the corner itself. Other offences are published by neighbourhood only — see Bay-Cloverhill.

Nearby intersections

Questions

Is Charles & St Nicholas a dangerous intersection?

Not by the record: no one was killed or seriously injured here in 2016–2025, though police reported 20 lesser collisions. High counts usually track high traffic volume rather than a design flaw; volume is shown alongside so the numbers can be read in context.

How busy is Charles & St Nicholas?

A quiet local crossing. It ranks #2063 of 2,390 counted intersections for vehicles, 26% of the median for a counted intersection, and #280 for pedestrians.

Where can I park near Charles & St Nicholas?

The nearest Green P car park is 20 Charles St E (164 m away, 646 spaces, 18% full at the daily peak in Q1 2026). The City's mapping shows 940 parking lots of any kind within 2 km — roughly 23,170 spaces — 61 of them within 500 m; most are private or customer-only lots. The nearest City EV charger is at 20 Charles St E. (163 m).

How do I get to Charles & St Nicholas by transit?

Bloor Station (Line 1) is 214 m away; streetcar route 506 stop within 1 km, the nearest 443 m away; bus routes 97, 19, 94, 13, 26, 75, 82 within 1 km (nearest stop: Yonge St at Charles St West, 71 m).

What restaurants are near Charles & St Nicholas?

133 restaurants, cafés and takeouts are within 300 m, and 370 within a kilometre, according to Toronto Public Health's DineSafe inspection list. The closest are 8 Mile Pizza (20 m), 8mile Detroit Style Pizza (21 m), Joumak (21 m), 7 West Cafe (30 m) and Bingz Crispy Burger (38 m). Each one's latest inspection result is shown on this page; DineSafe does not record cuisine or opening hours.

Is there a public washroom near Charles & St Nicholas?

The nearest is Ramsden Park Outdoor Rink Washroom, 1020 Yonge St, 946 m away (open 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.). These are the City's own washrooms — in parks, civic buildings and automated street toilets — not those in malls, coffee shops or TTC stations.

Is there child care near Charles & St Nicholas?

Ten licensed child care centres within 1 km, with 690 spaces in total; 7 accept City fee subsidy and some are in the $10-a-day (CWELCC) program. The nearest are University of Toronto Childcare On Charles (53 m, 73 spaces), Kids & Company - Bloor Street Site (471 m, 85 spaces) and YMCA Child Development Centre (YMCA) (575 m, 144 spaces). Spaces are licensed capacity, not vacancies.

What apartment buildings are near Charles & St Nicholas?

111 RentSafeTO-registered apartment buildings with 15,314 rental units are within 1 km. The nearest are 44 Charles St W (98 m, 793 units, RentSafeTO score 91), 25 St Mary St (136 m, 260 units, RentSafeTO score 92), 1101 Bay St (140 m, 265 units, RentSafeTO score 87) and 55 Charles St W (185 m, 147 units, RentSafeTO score 83). The average RentSafeTO score across the 111 is 89 out of 100; 2 scored below 70. Condos and houses are not on the City's register. Each building's full record — score history, LTB orders, fire-code inspections, permits — is on LandlordReport.

How many thefts are reported at Charles & St Nicholas?

Toronto Police place 22 thefts from vehicles and 20 bicycle thefts at this intersection in 2016–2025, plus 2 since January 2026. Police offset every reported occurrence to the nearest intersection before publishing it, so the count covers the streets, driveways and parking around this corner rather than the corner itself. Break-ins, robberies and other offences are published by neighbourhood only — see the Bay-Cloverhill page.

What neighbourhood is Charles & St Nicholas in?

Charles & St Nicholas is in Bay-Cloverhill (City of Toronto neighbourhood 169). It is in Ward 11, University-Rosedale, represented by Councillor Dianne Saxe. The corner falls inside the Bloor-Yorkville Business Improvement Area.

Sources

Every figure on this page comes from one of these datasets — how they are joined