Toronto · intersection · signal 1775

Ellesmere & Principal

Ellesmere Rd & Principal Rd · Toronto, Ontario · Wexford/Maryvale · Ward 21, Scarborough Centre

Ellesmere & Principal is an above-average intersection for traffic. It sits in Wexford/Maryvale. At the corner: 2 schools within 250 m and an accessible pedestrian signal. Nearby: 7 TTC routes within a kilometre.

Traffic volume
17,205
vehicles · 8-hour count, Dec 17, 2022
195 pedestrians · 3 cyclists
Collisions
314
police-reported, any severity · 2016–2025
32 with an injury · 194 property damage · #269 of 5,508 · +10 since Jan 2026
KSI collisions
0
killed or seriously injured · 2016–2025
none in the window · 1 before 2016
Red-light camera
None
not on the City's camera list
Transit
2
TTC stops within 100 m
3 bus routes within 1 km
Cycling
No bikeway
nothing on the City cycling network here
no Bike Share dock within 150 m

Across the 8-hour count, traffic averaged roughly 2,150 vehicles an hour, 1.86× the median counted intersection. Foot traffic runs at about one pedestrian per 88 vehicles — this is a car-dominated crossing (median: one per 13). On average 31 collisions a year were reported here in 2016–2025 — 10× the median for a Toronto intersection with any collisions. Collisions fell 16%, from 171 in 2016–2020 to 143 in 2021–2025. No one was killed or seriously injured in any of them.

Map

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Ellesmere & Principal

Getting here

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

Transit & cycling

TTC bus
951768 nearest 25 m
Express
995996968
Blue Night
395
Nearest stops
8 surface stops within 300 m — Ellesmere Rd at Principal Rd; Ellesmere Rd at Principal Rd East Side
Cycling
no bikeway on the City cycling network touches this intersection
Bike Share
no station 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 (12)
  • Alif Canada Elementary SchoolPrivate · 51 m
  • Sathya Sai Elementary SchoolPrivate · 180 m
  • Ellesmere Statton Public SchoolEnglish Public · 584 m
  • Um Al-Qura Islamic SchoolPrivate · 657 m
  • Bond Academy SchoolPrivate · 761 m
  • Manhattan Park Jr Public SchoolEnglish Public · 1 km
  • and 6 more
Parks (10)
  • Ellesmere Park408 m
  • Mondeo Park618 m
  • Dorset Park841 m
  • Manhattan Park1 km
  • Crocus Park1.2 km
  • Willowfield Gardens Park1.2 km
  • and 4 more
Library
  • Toronto Public Library Maryvale branch1.5 km
Signal
1775, activated 1997 · SA2 · accessible (audible) pedestrian signal · leading pedestrian interval North/South/East/West

Around the corner

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

Restaurants & food

Toronto Public Health inspects 4 eating places within 300 m of this corner, plus 1 grocery or convenience store; within a kilometre the count is 28 — well below the median of 73 within a kilometre. The nearest is Fresh Choice Cafe, 41 m away, which passed its last DineSafe inspection in May 2026.

Restaurants & cafés4 within 300 m · 28 within 1 km
Grocery & convenience1 within 300 m · 8 within 1 km
Nearest food premisesDistanceLatest DineSafe inspection
Fresh Choice Cafe · 520 Ellesmere Rd Unit-11041 mPassed, May 2026
Eggsmart · 477 Ellesmere Rd88 mPassed, Jun 2026
Subway · 1620 Birchmount Rd265 mPassed, Jun 2026
Pizza Hut · 592 Ellesmere Rd267 mPassed, Apr 2026
Arz Fine Foods · 11 Canadian Rd Unit-3grocery270 mPassed, Dec 2025
Burger King · 1607 Birchmount Rd318 mPassed, Aug 2026
Mexitaco · 1601 Birchmount Rd Bldg-1318 mPassed, May 2026
Tim Hortons · 1621 Birchmount Rd325 mPassed, Aug 2026

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 Ellesmere Community Centre Washroom, 428 m away, View centre hours.

  • Ellesmere Community Centre Washroom · 20 Canadian Rd
    View centre hours
    428 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

One licensed child care centre within a kilometre offers 69 spaces; it does not accept City fee subsidy. The nearest is Kiddies Lodge Day Care Centre (671 m, 69 spaces, toddler, preschool, school age).

Within 1 km1 centre · 69 spaces
Fee subsidynone
  • Kiddies Lodge Day Care Centre · 764 Ellesmere Rd
    69 spaces · toddler, preschool, school age
    671 m

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

Emergency services

The nearest fire hall is Fire Station 245 (256 m), the nearest police station 41 Division (3.8 km) and the nearest ambulance station 2.3 km away.

FireFire Station 245 · 256 m1600 Birchmount Rd
Police41 Division · 3.8 km2222 Eglinton Avenue East
AmbulanceAmbulance Station 20 · 2.3 km2430 Lawrence Ave E

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

Within a kilometre there are six RentSafeTO-registered apartment buildings — 221 rental units. The nearest is 1555 Birchmount Rd (456 m, 46 units, 6 storeys, built 1950), which scored 71 out of 100 at its September 2025 RentSafeTO evaluation. None scored below 70; the average is 81, below the 90 typical of Toronto intersections. The Landlord and Tenant Board issued 15 final orders naming these buildings in the latest half-year of its catalogue.

Registered buildings6 · 221 units
RentSafeTO score81 average · none below 70
LTB orders, Jan 2026 – Jun 202615 across the 6
Open fire-code violations0
Tallest6 storeys
Nearest buildingsUnitsStoreysBuiltScoreLTB ordersDistance
1555 Birchmount Rd · North 44 Property Management Inc466195071 · Sep 20255456 m
1545 Birchmount Rd · North 44 Property Management Inc374196076 · Jul 20263497 m
1535 Birchmount Rd · North 44 Property Management Inc374196083 · Jul 20263527 m
1525 Birchmount Rd · Briarlane Rental Property Management Inc.524195689 · Sep 20252555 m
1477 Birchmount Rd213196086 · Sep 20251817 m
1475 Birchmount Rd · Signet Group Inc.285196782 · Aug 20261845 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 lots423 lots · ≈73,270 spaces · 219.8 ha
Within 500 m41 lots · ≈8,950 spaces
Green P (public)1 car park · about 68 spaces
EV charging (City)none within 2 km
Bike parkingnone recorded nearby
Green P car parkDistanceSpacesPeak occupancy
Ellesmere Lot - Near 1050 Ellesmere Road - closed for construction until November 2019 · Surface1.5 km68 *

Nearest lots: 61 m away, ≈412 spaces; 83 m away, ≈209 spaces; 84 m away, ≈179 spaces; 162 m away, ≈128 spaces; 172 m away, ≈62 spaces; 184 m away, ≈112 spaces.

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 — 8-hour, Dec 17, 2022 (a weekend day)

Traffic is heaviest from the east: 8,574 westbound vehicles entered from that leg, 50% of the total, against 231 from the north. Evening rush dominates here: 3,162 vehicles in the peak hour from 4:30 p.m., against 1,232 in the morning peak from 8:30 a.m. Heavy vehicles made up 1.6% of traffic (typical: 3.2%). For scale, a typical counted intersection in Toronto sees 16,183 vehicles over 14 hours. The count was taken on a Saturday, so it reflects weekend traffic; the rankings compare it with weekday counts elsewhere. The count is 4 years old — treat it as a snapshot of 2022, not today's volume. It was an 8-hour count, which is not directly comparable with the 14-hour counts the City has used since September 2023.

From the north231southbound · 0 bikes · 0.0% heavy
From the west5,716eastbound · 1 bikes · 2.2% heavy
Total vehicles17,205195 pedestrians · 3 cyclists · 1.6% heavy
From the east8,574westbound · 1 bikes · 1.7% heavy
From the south2,684northbound · 1 bikes · 0.3% heavy
AM peak hour1,232 vehicles from 8:30 a.m.
PM peak hour3,162 vehicles from 4:30 p.m.
Count8-hour · Dec 17, 2022 · weekend

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

On Ellesmere Rd between Ellesmere Park Trl and Principal Rd, 172 m from the corner, a 3-day count in April 2025 put the average speed at 49 km/h and the 85th-percentile speed at 59 km/h, with the fastest one in twenty at 65 km/h or more. That segment carries about 32,500 vehicles a day. Principal Rd between Canadian Rd and Ellesmere Rd measured slower: 40 km/h on average and an 85th percentile of 47 km/h (Oct 2021).

Street segmentCountedVehicles / dayAverage85th percentile95th
Principal Rd · Canadian Rd – Ellesmere Rd · 116 mOct 2021 · 3 days6,31840 km/h47 km/h52 km/h
Ellesmere Rd · Ellesmere Park Trl – Principal Rd · 172 mApr 2025 · 3 days32,54049 km/h59 km/h65 km/h

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

The worst year was 2022, with 45 collisions; 2025 recorded 30. 32 collisions (10%) involved an injury; the citywide share is 15%. 98 drivers failed to remain at the scene — 31% of collisions, a higher hit-and-run share than the city's 16%. 8 collisions involved a pedestrian or cyclist (3%), a low share for a Toronto intersection. Since January 2026, 10 more collisions have been reported; they sit outside the ranking window. The most recent report on file is from Jun 25, 2026.

By year

16171819202122232425
2016–2025Collisions
All reported collisions314#269 of 5,508
With an injury32#467 of 4,660
Property damage only194
Fail to remain98
Involving a pedestrian5#711 of 3,193
Involving a cyclist3#786 of 2,576
Involving a motorcyclist1
With a fatality0
Severity not classified88
Since January 2026 (outside the window)10
All since 2014373latest Jun 25, 2026

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

Nothing in 2016–2025, the ten complete years the rankings use. 1 earlier KSI collision is on file, the last on Oct 25, 2015.

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

19 thefts from vehicles and one bike theft were reported around this corner in 2016–2025 — 3.3× the median for a Toronto intersection with any reported theft. The pace has slowed: 4 in 2023–2025, about 1.3 a year, against 2.3 a year before that. 74% of the vehicle thefts were from the street or other outdoor spots.

By year

16171819202122232425
2016–2025Reported2023–2025Since Jan 2026Most often from
Theft from a vehicle1940street/outdoor (14), commercial premises (4)
Bicycle theft100commercial premises (1)

Source: Toronto Police Service, Theft From Motor Vehicle and Bicycle Thefts open data, records through May 31, 2025. 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 Wexford/Maryvale.

Nearby intersections

Questions

Is Ellesmere & Principal a dangerous intersection?

Not by the record: no one was killed or seriously injured here in 2016–2025, though police reported 314 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 Ellesmere & Principal?

An above-average intersection for traffic. Its latest count is from Dec 17, 2022, 1.86× the median for a counted intersection.

How fast do cars go at Ellesmere & Principal?

The City's most recent speed count near the corner, on Ellesmere Rd between Ellesmere Park Trl and Principal Rd (April 2025), found an average of 49 km/h and an 85th-percentile speed of 59 km/h — meaning 85% of drivers were at or below that speed.

Where can I park near Ellesmere & Principal?

The nearest Green P car park is Ellesmere Lot - Near 1050 Ellesmere Road - closed for construction until November 2019 (1.5 km away, 68 spaces). The City's mapping shows 423 parking lots of any kind within 2 km — roughly 73,270 spaces — 41 of them within 500 m; most are private or customer-only lots.

How do I get to Ellesmere & Principal by transit?

Bus routes 95, 17, 68, 995, 996, 968 within 1 km (nearest stop: Ellesmere Rd at Principal Rd, 25 m).

What restaurants are near Ellesmere & Principal?

4 restaurants, cafés and takeouts are within 300 m, and 28 within a kilometre, according to Toronto Public Health's DineSafe inspection list. The closest are Fresh Choice Cafe (41 m), Eggsmart (88 m), Subway (265 m), Pizza Hut (267 m) and Burger King (318 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 Ellesmere & Principal?

The nearest is Ellesmere Community Centre Washroom, 20 Canadian Rd, 428 m away (View centre hours). 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 Ellesmere & Principal?

One licensed child care centre within 1 km, with 69 spaces in total; it does not accept City fee subsidy. The nearest is Kiddies Lodge Day Care Centre (671 m, 69 spaces). Spaces are licensed capacity, not vacancies.

What apartment buildings are near Ellesmere & Principal?

Six RentSafeTO-registered apartment buildings with 221 rental units are within 1 km. The nearest are 1555 Birchmount Rd (456 m, 46 units, RentSafeTO score 71), 1545 Birchmount Rd (497 m, 37 units, RentSafeTO score 76), 1535 Birchmount Rd (527 m, 37 units, RentSafeTO score 83) and 1525 Birchmount Rd (555 m, 52 units, RentSafeTO score 89). The average RentSafeTO score across the 6 is 81 out of 100. 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 Ellesmere & Principal?

Toronto Police place 19 thefts from vehicles and one bicycle theft at this intersection in 2016–2025. 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 Wexford/Maryvale page.

What neighbourhood is Ellesmere & Principal in?

Ellesmere & Principal is in Wexford/Maryvale (City of Toronto neighbourhood 119). It is in Ward 21, Scarborough Centre, represented by Councillor Michael Thompson.

Sources

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