Toronto · intersection

Howland & Wells

Howland Ave & Wells St · Toronto, Ontario · Annex · Ward 11, University-Rosedale

Howland & Wells, in the Annex, in central Toronto, is a low-volume local intersection, with heavy foot traffic and significant cycling traffic. At the corner: 5 schools within 250 m and parks. Nearby: Spadina Station (Line 1, Line 2) 439 m away. No one has been killed or seriously injured here in the last ten years of records.

Traffic volume
966
vehicles · 8-hour count, Oct 18, 2006
511 pedestrians · 229 cyclists
Collisions
7
police-reported, any severity · 2016–2025
0 with an injury · 3 property damage · #4699 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
0
TTC stops within 100 m
Spadina Station 439 m · 3 streetcar routes · 5 bus routes within 1 km
Cycling
No bikeway
nothing on the City cycling network here
Bike Share: 15 docks within 150 m

The latest City count averages about 120 vehicles an hour over its 8-hour span, 10% of the median counted intersection. Foot traffic runs at about one pedestrian per 1.9 vehicles — more walking than at most counted intersections, where the median is one per 13. Cyclists were 23.7% of vehicle volume, about 31× the typical share. That comes with about 0.7 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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Howland & Wells

Getting here

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

Transit & cycling

Subway
Spadina Station (Line 1, Line 2)439 m; Dupont Station (Line 1)466 m; Bathurst Station (Line 2)524 m; Christie Station (Line 2)875 m; St George Station (Line 1, Line 2)919 m
Streetcar
511506510 nearest 463 m
TTC bus
72612712619 nearest 207 m
Blue Night
306310307300
Nearest stops
2 surface stops within 300 m
Cycling
no bikeway on the City cycling network touches this intersection
Bike Share
Wells St / Brunswick Ave 133 m · 15 docks · 32 stations, 580 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 (38)
  • Royal St Georges College School - AdvancementPrivate · 94 m
  • Royal St George's College School - Jr SchoolPrivate · 114 m
  • Royal St Georges College School - Main AddressPrivate · 148 m
  • Royal St Georges College School - See HousePrivate · 148 m
  • Royal St George's College- Sr SchoolPrivate · 187 m
  • Jackman Institute of Child Study Elementary SchoolUniversity · 399 m
  • and 32 more
Parks (50)
  • Jean Sibelius Square170 m
  • St. Alban's Square229 m
  • Vermont Square Park384 m
  • Gwendolyn MacEwen Parkette414 m
  • Ed and Anne Mirvish Parkette460 m
  • Joseph Burr Tyrrell Park525 m
  • and 44 more
Library
  • Toronto Public Library Spadina Road branch586 m
  • Toronto Public Library Palmerston branch680 m
  • Toronto Public Library Wychwood branch1.4 km
Places of interest
  • Tarragon TheatrePerforming Arts · 509 m
  • Al Green Theatre (at the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre)Performing Arts · 715 m
  • Randolph Centre for the ArtsPerforming Arts · 780 m
  • Casa LomaAttraction · 824 m
  • Bata Shoe MuseumMuseum · 919 m
  • Spadina MuseumMuseum · 945 m
  • Ukrainian Museum of CanadaMuseum · 1.2 km
  • Koerner Hall (at the Telus Centre for Performance and Learning)Performing Arts · 1.2 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 8 eating places within 300 m of this corner, plus 3 grocery and convenience stores; within a kilometre the count is 256 — 3.5× the median for a Toronto intersection. The nearest is The Lighthouse, 222 m away, which passed its last DineSafe inspection in June 2026 with 1 infraction noted.

Restaurants & cafés8 within 300 m · 256 within 1 km
Grocery & convenience3 within 300 m · 30 within 1 km
Nearest food premisesDistanceLatest DineSafe inspection
The Lighthouse · 1008 Bathurst St222 mPassed, Jun 2026 · 1 infraction
Steven's Grocery · 990 Bathurst Stgrocery224 mPassed, Dec 2025 · 1 infraction
Chaveta Coffee · 994 Bathurst St224 mPassed, May 2026
Daisymays · 968 Bathurst St229 mPassed, Apr 2026 · 1 infraction
El Pocho · 968 Bathurst St229 mPassed, Aug 2026 · 1 infraction
Santaguida Fine Foods · 966 Bathurst Stgrocery235 mPassed, Jun 2026 · 1 infraction
Napoli Centrale · 964 Bathurst St249 mPassed, Oct 2025
Domino's Pizza · 936 Bathurst St254 mPassed, Feb 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 Jean Sibelius Square Fieldhouse Washroom, 154 m away, open 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.; it is wheelchair-accessible. A drinking fountain is 160 m away at Jean Sibelius Square.

  • Jean Sibelius Square Fieldhouse Washroom · 50 Kendal Ave
    9 a.m. to 10 p.m. · accessible
    154 m
Drinking water
Jean Sibelius Square drinking fountain · 160 m; St. Alban's Square bottle filling station, drinking fountain, dog fountain · 220 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

18 licensed child care centres within a kilometre offer 1,518 spaces; seven accept City fee subsidy. The nearest is Institute of Child Study After School Daycare (399 m, 214 spaces, preschool, kindergarten, school age).

Within 1 km18 centres · 1,518 spaces
Fee subsidy7 of 18
  • Institute of Child Study After School Daycare · 45 Walmer Rd
    214 spaces · preschool, kindergarten, school age
    399 m
  • Dr Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study Laboratory School Nursery · 45 Walmer Rd
    20 spaces · preschool
    399 m
  • St. Alban's Boys and Girls Club Preschool · 843 Palmerston Ave
    69 spaces · toddler, preschool · fee subsidy · $10-a-day
    415 m
  • Palmerston Community Daycare · 734 Palmerston Ave
    139 spaces · preschool, kindergarten, school age · fee subsidy · $10-a-day
    463 m

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

Emergency services

The nearest fire hall is Fire Station 344 (273 m), the nearest police station 14 Division (2.5 km) and the nearest ambulance station 553 m away.

FireFire Station 344 · 273 m240 Howland Ave
Police14 Division · 2.5 km350 Dovercourt Road
AmbulanceAmbulance Station 34 · 553 m674 Markham St

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 71 RentSafeTO-registered apartment buildings — 4,790 rental units, 3.1× the median for a Toronto intersection — six social or Toronto Community Housing. The nearest is 1000 Bathurst St (234 m, 14 units, 5 storeys, built 2026). Four buildings of the 71 scored below 70; the average is 87, below the 90 typical of Toronto intersections. The Landlord and Tenant Board issued 81 final orders naming these buildings in the latest half-year of its catalogue, and 41 fire-code violations are open across them.

Registered buildings71 · 4,790 units · 6 social housing
RentSafeTO score87 average · 4 below 70
LTB orders, Jan 2026 – Jun 202681 across the 71
Open fire-code violations41
Tallest24 storeys
Nearest buildingsUnitsStoreysBuiltScoreLTB ordersDistance
1000 Bathurst St · Pad Inc14520260234 m
110 Walmer Rd · Charles Green Inc.10419200279 m
922 Bathurst St · Aston Court Residences Inc183193093 · Jun 20260283 m
376 Brunswick Ave133188871 · Jul 20260298 m
50 Walmer Rd · Briarlane Rental Property Management Inc.354195890 · Sep 20251315 m
375 Brunswick Ave639196070 · Oct 20252318 m
399 Dupont St · Qmw Properties Inc.203191396 · Jul 20260 · 8 fire328 m
44 Walmer Rd · Berkley Property Management Inc.8513196098 · Aug 20260345 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 lots888 lots · ≈22,100 spaces · 66.3 ha
Within 500 m83 lots · ≈1,750 spaces
Green P (public)26 car parks · about 1,596 spaces
EV charging (City)365 Lippincott St. · 596 m · 10 Level 2 ports
Bike parking45 post-and-rings within 300 m · racks for 56 bikes within 600 m
Green P car parkDistanceSpacesPeak occupancy
19 Spadina Road · Surface596 m65 *
365 Lippincott St · Surface629 m13654% (Q1 2026)
292 Brunswick Avenue · Surface636 m19 *
557 Palmerston Ave · Surface669 m5580% (Q1 2026)
4 Spadina Road · Surface672 m51 *

Nearest lots: 147 m away, ≈62 spaces; 154 m away, ≈12 spaces; 157 m away, ≈7 spaces; 176 m away, ≈9 spaces; 183 m away, ≈15 spaces; 197 m away, ≈19 spaces. More EV charging: 19 Spadina Rd (613 m, 6 ports); 273 Christie St (842 m, 2 ports); 705 Shaw 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, Oct 18, 2006

No single direction dominates: each approach carried between 452 and 514 vehicles. Unusually, the morning peak is the heavier one — 326 vehicles in the hour from 7:30 a.m., 251% above the afternoon peak from 4:45 p.m. (93). Heavy vehicles made up 0.9% of traffic (typical: 3.2%). For scale, a typical counted intersection in Toronto sees 16,183 vehicles over 14 hours. The count is 20 years old — treat it as a snapshot of 2006, 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 north514southbound · 54 bikes · 0.6% heavy
From the west0eastbound · 81 bikes · 0.0% heavy
Total vehicles966511 pedestrians · 229 cyclists · 0.9% heavy
From the east452westbound · 71 bikes · 1.3% heavy
From the south0northbound · 23 bikes · 0.0% heavy
AM peak hour326 vehicles from 7:30 a.m.
PM peak hour93 vehicles from 4:45 p.m.
Count8-hour · Oct 18, 2006

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 Howland Ave between Orpheus Choir Lane and Barton Ave, 385 m from the corner, a 3-day count in November 2021 put the average speed at 38 km/h and the 85th-percentile speed at 47 km/h, with the fastest one in twenty at 51 km/h or more. That segment carries about 1,300 vehicles a day. Wells St between Howland Ave and Albany Ave measured slower: 30 km/h on average and an 85th percentile of 37 km/h (Apr 2019). The reading is 5 years old; the City counts on request rather than on a schedule.

Street segmentCountedVehicles / dayAverage85th percentile95th
Wells St · Howland Ave – Albany Ave · 56 mApr 2019 · 3 days1,86630 km/h37 km/h40 km/h
Howland Ave · Orpheus Choir Lane – Barton Ave · 385 mNov 2021 · 3 days1,27038 km/h47 km/h51 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 2017, with 2 collisions; 2025 recorded 1. 0 collisions (0%) involved an injury. 4 drivers failed to remain at the scene — 57% of collisions. None of the collisions in the window involved a pedestrian or cyclist. The most recent report on file is from Sep 18, 2025.

By year

16171819202122232425
2016–2025Collisions
All reported collisions7#4699 of 5,508
With an injury0
Property damage only3
Fail to remain4
Involving a pedestrian0
Involving a cyclist0
Involving a motorcyclist0
With a fatality0
Severity not classified4
All since 20148latest Sep 18, 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

Five thefts from vehicles and six bike thefts were reported around this corner in 2016–2025 — about the median for an intersection with any reported theft. The pace has slowed: 2 in 2023–2025, about 0.7 a year, against 1.3 a year before that. 80% of the vehicle thefts were from the street or other outdoor spots; 83% of the bike thefts were from house driveways and garages.

By year

16171819202122232425
2016–2025Reported2023–2025Since Jan 2026Most often from
Theft from a vehicle520street/outdoor (4), house driveway/garage (1)
Bicycle theft600house driveway/garage (5), apartment parking (1)

Source: Toronto Police Service, Theft From Motor Vehicle and Bicycle Thefts open data, records through Oct 5, 2024. 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 Annex.

Nearby intersections

Questions

Is Howland & Wells a dangerous intersection?

Not by the record: no one was killed or seriously injured here in 2016–2025, though police reported 7 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 Howland & Wells?

A low-volume local intersection. Its latest count is from Oct 18, 2006, 10% of the median for a counted intersection.

How fast do cars go at Howland & Wells?

The City's most recent speed count near the corner, on Howland Ave between Orpheus Choir Lane and Barton Ave (November 2021), found an average of 38 km/h and an 85th-percentile speed of 47 km/h — meaning 85% of drivers were at or below that speed.

Where can I park near Howland & Wells?

The nearest Green P car park is 19 Spadina Road (596 m away, 65 spaces). The City's mapping shows 888 parking lots of any kind within 2 km — roughly 22,100 spaces — 83 of them within 500 m; most are private or customer-only lots. The nearest City EV charger is at 365 Lippincott St. (596 m).

How do I get to Howland & Wells by transit?

Spadina Station (Line 1, Line 2) is 439 m away; streetcar routes 511, 506, 510 stop within 1 km, the nearest 463 m away; bus routes 7, 26, 127, 126, 19 within 1 km.

What restaurants are near Howland & Wells?

8 restaurants, cafés and takeouts are within 300 m, and 256 within a kilometre, according to Toronto Public Health's DineSafe inspection list. The closest are The Lighthouse (222 m), Chaveta Coffee (224 m), Daisymays (229 m), El Pocho (229 m) and Napoli Centrale (249 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 Howland & Wells?

The nearest is Jean Sibelius Square Fieldhouse Washroom, 50 Kendal Ave, 154 m away (open 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.), with an accessible washroom. 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 Howland & Wells?

18 licensed child care centres within 1 km, with 1,518 spaces in total; 7 accept City fee subsidy and some are in the $10-a-day (CWELCC) program. The nearest are Institute of Child Study After School Daycare (399 m, 214 spaces), Dr Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study Laboratory School Nursery (399 m, 20 spaces) and St. Alban's Boys and Girls Club Preschool (415 m, 69 spaces). Spaces are licensed capacity, not vacancies.

What apartment buildings are near Howland & Wells?

71 RentSafeTO-registered apartment buildings with 4,790 rental units are within 1 km. The nearest are 1000 Bathurst St (234 m, 14 units), 110 Walmer Rd (279 m, 10 units), 922 Bathurst St (283 m, 18 units, RentSafeTO score 93) and 376 Brunswick Ave (298 m, 13 units, RentSafeTO score 71). The average RentSafeTO score across the 71 is 87 out of 100; 4 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 Howland & Wells?

Toronto Police place five thefts from vehicles and six 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 Annex page.

What neighbourhood is Howland & Wells in?

Howland & Wells is in Annex (City of Toronto neighbourhood 095). It is in Ward 11, University-Rosedale, represented by Councillor Dianne Saxe.

Sources

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