Toronto · intersection · signal 5492

Essex & Ossington

Essex St & Ossington Ave · Toronto, Ontario · Dovercourt Village · Ward 9, Davenport

Essex & Ossington is a mid-volume intersection. It sits in Dovercourt Village, in central Toronto. Nearby is Ossington Station (Line 2) 479 m away. No one has been killed or seriously injured here in the last ten years of records.

Traffic volume
7,127
vehicles · 8-hour count, Sep 15, 2021
265 pedestrians · 142 cyclists
Collisions
11
police-reported, any severity · 2016–2025
2 with an injury · 4 property damage · #4203 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
2
TTC stops within 100 m
Ossington Station 479 m · 8 bus routes within 1 km
Cycling
No bikeway
nothing on the City cycling network here
Bike Share: 0 docks within 150 m

The latest City count averages about 890 vehicles an hour over its 8-hour span, 77% of the median counted intersection. Foot traffic runs at about one pedestrian per 27 vehicles — this is a car-dominated crossing (median: one per 13). That comes with about 1.1 reported collisions a year, 2016–2025 — well below the median of 31 for the decade. No one was killed or seriously injured in any of them.

Map

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Essex & Ossington

Getting here

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

Transit & cycling

Subway
Ossington Station (Line 2)479 m; Christie Station (Line 2)739 m; Dufferin Station (Line 2)810 m
TTC bus
63161269412629127402 nearest 32 m
Express
929
Blue Night
363300329
Nearest stops
4 surface stops within 300 m — Ossington Ave at Essex St; Ossington Ave at Pendrith St
Cycling
no bikeway on the City cycling network touches this intersection
Bike Share
Shaw St / Essex St - SMART 207 m · 15 docks · 18 stations, 334 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 (29)
  • Sacre Coeur Catholic Elementary SchoolFrench Separate · 308 m
  • St Bruno & St Raymond Catholic Elementary School (Future Site)English Separate · 372 m
  • Essex Jr Sr & Hawthorne Two BilingualEnglish Public · 460 m
  • Uchenna AcademyPrivate · 535 m
  • Dovercourt Jr Public SchoolEnglish Public · 661 m
  • St Anthony Catholic Elementary SchoolEnglish Separate · 674 m
  • and 23 more
Parks (34)
Library
  • Toronto Public Library Bloor/Gladstone branch897 m
  • Toronto Public Library Davenport branch899 m
  • Toronto Public Library Palmerston branch1.1 km
Places of interest
  • Randolph Centre for the ArtsPerforming Arts · 1.4 km

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 2 eating places within 300 m of this corner; within a kilometre the count is 218 — 3.0× the median for a Toronto intersection. The nearest is Actinolite Restaurant, 157 m away, which passed its last DineSafe inspection in April 2026.

Restaurants & cafés2 within 300 m · 218 within 1 km
Grocery & convenience0 within 300 m · 37 within 1 km
Nearest food premisesDistanceLatest DineSafe inspection
Actinolite Restaurant · 971 Ossington Ave157 mPassed, Apr 2026
Paleta Kings Storage On Essex · 127 Essex St160 mPassed, Jun 2026
Better Days Coffe & Donuts · 963 Dovercourt Rd307 mPassed, Jun 2026
Masa Deli · 985 Dovercourt Rdgrocery313 mPassed, Jun 2026
James Five · 1022 1022 Ossington Ave Ave313 mPassed, Feb 2026
Ecole Elementaire Catholique du Sacre-Coeur Snp · 98 Essex St315 mPassed, May 2024
Les Bouts D'choux · 98 Essex St315 mPassed, Sep 2026
Contra Cafe · 1028 Shaw St315 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 Dovercourt Park Washroom, 415 m away, open 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. A drinking fountain is 424 m away at Northumberland Playground.

  • Dovercourt Park Washroom · 155 Bartlett Ave
    9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
    415 m
  • Alex Duff Memorial Outdoor Pool Washroom · 779 Crawford St
    View outdoor pool hours
    484 m
  • Christie Pits Park Washroom · 750 Bloor St W
    9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
    584 m
Drinking water
Northumberland Playground drinking fountain · 424 m; Dovercourt Park drinking fountain · 472 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

11 licensed child care centres within a kilometre offer 819 spaces; seven accept City fee subsidy. The nearest is Les Bouts D'choux (308 m, 116 spaces, infant, toddler, preschool, kindergarten, school age).

Within 1 km11 centres · 819 spaces
Fee subsidy7 of 11
  • Les Bouts D'choux · 98 Essex St
    116 spaces · infant, toddler, preschool, kindergarten, school age · fee subsidy · $10-a-day
    308 m
  • Bloorcourt Village Early Learning Centre · 823 Dovercourt Rd
    106 spaces · infant, toddler, preschool, school age · fee subsidy · $10-a-day
    416 m
  • Kids Korner Day Care · 180 Westmoreland Ave
    24 spaces · preschool · fee subsidy · $10-a-day
    419 m
  • Network Child Care Services - Ossington Avenue North · 756 Ossington Ave
    49 spaces · infant, toddler, preschool · fee subsidy · $10-a-day
    447 m

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

Emergency services

The nearest fire hall is Fire Station 345 (854 m), the nearest police station 14 Division (1.7 km) and the nearest ambulance station 568 m away.

FireFire Station 345 · 854 m1285 Dufferin St
Police14 Division · 1.7 km350 Dovercourt Road
AmbulanceAmbulance Station 33 · 568 m760 Dovercourt 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

Within a kilometre there are 21 RentSafeTO-registered apartment buildings — 1,440 rental units — six social or Toronto Community Housing. The nearest is 177 Pendrith St (188 m, 54 units, 3 storeys, built 1964), which scored 85 out of 100 at its August 2025 RentSafeTO evaluation. Three buildings of the 21 scored below 70; the average is 82, below the 90 typical of Toronto intersections. The Landlord and Tenant Board issued 36 final orders naming these buildings in the latest half-year of its catalogue, and 1 fire-code violation is open across them.

Registered buildings21 · 1,440 units · 6 social housing
RentSafeTO score82 average · 3 below 70
LTB orders, Jan 2026 – Jun 202636 across the 21
Open fire-code violations1
Tallest20 storeys
Nearest buildingsUnitsStoreysBuiltScoreLTB ordersDistance
177 Pendrith StToronto Community Housing · TCH543196485 · Aug 20250188 m
220 Delaware Ave · Imtradex Corp164193079 · Jul 20250497 m
767 Dovercourt Rd · Jdc Property Management Inc.193200894 · Jul 20250538 m
740 Dupont St · Greystar Canada Property Management Services Ltd21092021100 · Dec 20250629 m
470 Melita CresToronto Community Housing · Toronto Community Housing Corporation375198090 · Jun 20261642 m
161 Christie St · Canlight Management Inc.154196591 · Jul 20260643 m
805 Bloor St Wsocial housing · Neighbours Community Homes244198986 · Sep 20250 · 1 fire650 m
496 Montrose Ave · Landlord Property & Rental Management Inc243193085 · Jul 20250664 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 lots743 lots · ≈21,550 spaces · 64.7 ha
Within 500 m26 lots · ≈720 spaces
Green P (public)29 car parks · about 1,319 spaces
EV charging (City)273 Christie St · 703 m · 2 Level 2 ports
Bike parking14 post-and-rings within 300 m · racks for 48 bikes within 600 m
Green P car parkDistanceSpacesPeak occupancy
745 Ossington Ave · Surface480 m4667% (Q1 2026)
9 Salem Ave · Surface696 m3374% (Q1 2026)
7 Bartlett Ave · Surface763 m3763% (Q1 2026)
376 Clinton St · Surface836 m3468% (Q1 2026)
675 Manning Ave · Surface1 km4981% (Q1 2026)

Nearest lots: 194 m away, ≈13 spaces; 228 m away, ≈21 spaces; 249 m away, ≈45 spaces; 275 m away, ≈14 spaces; 285 m away, ≈9 spaces; 288 m away, ≈27 spaces. More EV charging: 705 Shaw St (707 m, 2 ports); 685 Dovercourt Rd (774 m, 2 ports); 580 Christie St (1.4 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 — 8-hour, Sep 15, 2021

No single direction dominates: each approach carried between 3,389 and 3,738 vehicles. Most cyclists arrived from the north (83 of 142). The morning and afternoon peaks are nearly equal: 1,027 vehicles in the hour from 8:15 a.m. and 999 from 4:00 p.m. Trucks and buses were 5.1% of traffic, well above the typical 3.2% — a sign of a goods-movement or bus corridor. For scale, a typical counted intersection in Toronto sees 16,183 vehicles over 14 hours. The count is 5 years old — treat it as a snapshot of 2021, 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 north3,389southbound · 83 bikes · 5.9% heavy
From the west0eastbound · 0 bikes · 0.0% heavy
Total vehicles7,127265 pedestrians · 142 cyclists · 5.1% heavy
From the east0westbound · 9 bikes · 0.0% heavy
From the south3,738northbound · 50 bikes · 4.4% heavy
AM peak hour1,027 vehicles from 8:15 a.m.
PM peak hour999 vehicles from 4:00 p.m.
Count8-hour · Sep 15, 2021

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 Ossington Ave between Northumberland St and Leeds St, 346 m from the corner, a 7-day count in June 2022 put the average speed at 41 km/h and the 85th-percentile speed at 49 km/h, with the fastest one in twenty at 54 km/h or more. That segment carries about 12,100 vehicles a day. Essex St between Shaw St and Lane E of Ossington and S of Essex measured slower: 23 km/h on average and an 85th percentile of 34 km/h (Sep 2021). The reading is 4 years old; the City counts on request rather than on a schedule. At the school-zone speed sign on Garnet Ave (361 m away, 30 km/h limit), 0.4% of the 21,135 vehicles logged in July 2026 were doing 40 km/h or more — almost none.

Street segmentCountedVehicles / dayAverage85th percentile95th
Essex St · Shaw St – Lane E of Ossington and S of Essex · 134 mSep 2021 · 3 days23923 km/h34 km/h39 km/h
Ossington Ave · Northumberland St – Leeds St · 346 mJun 2022 · 7 days12,07841 km/h49 km/h54 km/h

School-zone speed sign 361 m

Posted limit30 km/h
Median · 85th pct14 · 26 km/h
Over the limit2.2%
40 km/h or more0.4%

Garnet Ave (eastbound), 88 Garnet Avenue · 21,135 vehicles logged in July 2026 · runs weekdays, 7 am - 9 pm.

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 2024, with 3 collisions; 2025 recorded 2. 2 collisions (18%) involved an injury. 5 drivers failed to remain at the scene — 45% of collisions. 1 collision involved a pedestrian or cyclist (9%). The most recent report on file is from Oct 9, 2025.

By year

16171819202122232425
2016–2025Collisions
All reported collisions11#4203 of 5,508
With an injury2#3880 of 4,660
Property damage only4
Fail to remain5
Involving a pedestrian1#2855 of 3,193
Involving a cyclist0
Involving a motorcyclist0
With a fatality0
Severity not classified5
All since 201413latest Oct 9, 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

No collision involving a death or serious injury has been recorded within 65 m of this intersection since the record begins in 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

Ten thefts from vehicles and four bike thefts were reported around this corner in 2016–2025 — 2.3× the median for a Toronto intersection with any reported theft. The pace has slowed: 2 in 2023–2025, about 0.7 a year, against 1.7 a year before that. 70% 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 vehicle1010street/outdoor (7), house driveway/garage (2)
Bicycle theft410house driveway/garage (2), apartment parking (1)

Source: Toronto Police Service, Theft From Motor Vehicle and Bicycle Thefts open data, records through Sep 2, 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 Dovercourt Village.

Nearby intersections

Questions

Is Essex & Ossington a dangerous intersection?

Not by the record: no one was killed or seriously injured here in 2016–2025, though police reported 11 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 Essex & Ossington?

A mid-volume intersection. Its latest count is from Sep 15, 2021, 77% of the median for a counted intersection.

How fast do cars go at Essex & Ossington?

The City's most recent speed count near the corner, on Ossington Ave between Northumberland St and Leeds St (June 2022), found an average of 41 km/h and an 85th-percentile speed of 49 km/h — meaning 85% of drivers were at or below that speed. At the school-zone speed sign 361 m away (30 km/h), 0.4% of vehicles were doing 40 km/h or more in July 2026.

Where can I park near Essex & Ossington?

The nearest Green P car park is 745 Ossington Ave (480 m away, 46 spaces, 67% full at the daily peak in Q1 2026). The City's mapping shows 743 parking lots of any kind within 2 km — roughly 21,550 spaces — 26 of them within 500 m; most are private or customer-only lots. The nearest City EV charger is at 273 Christie St (703 m).

How do I get to Essex & Ossington by transit?

Ossington Station (Line 2) is 479 m away; bus routes 63, 161, 26, 94, 126, 29, 127, 402 and 1 more within 1 km (nearest stop: Ossington Ave at Essex St, 32 m).

What restaurants are near Essex & Ossington?

2 restaurants, cafés and takeouts are within 300 m, and 218 within a kilometre, according to Toronto Public Health's DineSafe inspection list. The closest are Actinolite Restaurant (157 m), Paleta Kings Storage On Essex (160 m), Better Days Coffe & Donuts (307 m), James Five (313 m) and Ecole Elementaire Catholique du Sacre-Coeur Snp (315 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 Essex & Ossington?

The nearest is Dovercourt Park Washroom, 155 Bartlett Ave, 415 m away (open 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.). Next nearest: Alex Duff Memorial Outdoor Pool Washroom (484 m); Christie Pits Park Washroom (584 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 Essex & Ossington?

11 licensed child care centres within 1 km, with 819 spaces in total; 7 accept City fee subsidy and some are in the $10-a-day (CWELCC) program. The nearest are Les Bouts D'choux (308 m, 116 spaces), Bloorcourt Village Early Learning Centre (416 m, 106 spaces) and Kids Korner Day Care (419 m, 24 spaces). Spaces are licensed capacity, not vacancies.

What apartment buildings are near Essex & Ossington?

21 RentSafeTO-registered apartment buildings with 1,440 rental units are within 1 km. The nearest are 177 Pendrith St (188 m, 54 units, RentSafeTO score 85), 220 Delaware Ave (497 m, 16 units, RentSafeTO score 79), 767 Dovercourt Rd (538 m, 19 units, RentSafeTO score 94) and 740 Dupont St (629 m, 210 units, RentSafeTO score 100). The average RentSafeTO score across the 21 is 82 out of 100; 3 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 Essex & Ossington?

Toronto Police place ten thefts from vehicles and four bicycle thefts 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 Dovercourt Village page.

What neighbourhood is Essex & Ossington in?

Essex & Ossington is in Dovercourt Village (City of Toronto neighbourhood 172). It is in Ward 9, Davenport, represented by Councillor Alejandra Bravo.

Sources

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