Leaside Toronto Guide: Bayview Leaside and Laird Stops

Leaside is the kind of neighbourhood that was drawn on a map before it was built, and you can still feel the plan when you walk it.

Where is Leaside, and how do you get there?

Leaside is anchored by two Line 5 Eglinton stops. Leaside Station is at Eglinton Avenue East and Bayview Avenue. Laird Station is at 811 Eglinton Avenue East, with bus connections including the 51 Leslie and 88 South Leaside. The TTC lists both stations as accessible.

The TTC began an introductory service period on Line 5 on February 8, 2026, so check current service before you go. Our Line 5 Eglinton guide covers the rest of the line, stop by stop.

Leaside and Laird are consecutive stops, with Sunnybrook Park next. That makes a simple two-stop plan: start at Bayview, end at Laird, and wander whichever way the light pulls you.

What is on Bayview in Leaside?

The Bayview Leaside Business Improvement Area covers Bayview Avenue from Davisville Avenue north to Parkhurst Boulevard and was established in 2015, with the goal of maintaining the area’s traditional main street qualities. The BIA describes its mix as restaurants, cafés, specialty shops and personal service businesses, the vast majority small and independent. The BIA says it is bounded by the historic neighbourhoods of Leaside and Davisville Village.

That is our favourite kind of strip: you can park the Saturday plan in a café window and still be ten steps from the next thing. When you want a full lunch or a pastry run, our East York restaurants guide groups the Bayview and Pape Village stops into walkable clusters.

How did Leaside begin?

Leaside began as a business plan with a landscape architect attached. In the early 1910s the Canadian Northern Railway bought over 1,000 acres of land that included former Lea family holdings. Frederick Todd was commissioned to produce a plan for a model town intended to be a northern version of Rosedale. The community was then incorporated as the Town of Leaside.

Walk a few blocks off Bayview and you may agree that Leaside feels planned in the best way: calm, leafy and a little set apart.

Why does the Leaside Bridge matter?

Because it is one of the area’s landmark structures. The 427-metre Leaside Bridge was opened by Lieutenant Governor William Donald Ross on October 27, 1927, and was originally named the Confederation Viaduct. The cost was divided between five governments: Ontario, York County, Toronto, Leaside and East York. Toronto City Council added the bridge to the Inventory of Heritage Properties in April 2004.

A few decades later, on January 1, 1967, the Town of Leaside merged with East York and became part of the new Borough of East York. If you like that kind of story, our history of East York picks up the thread.

Where should you stop for the library and the park?

The Leaside branch of the Toronto Public Library is a neighbourhood landmark with a long paper trail. The library opened in 1943 as an association library in a rented storefront at 645 (now 1645) Bayview Avenue. The current building at 165 McRae Drive officially opened on March 8, 1950. Construction began in a section of Millwood Park, which was renamed Trace Manes Park in 1950. The library is on the southwest corner of McRae Drive and Rumsey Road.

How do you move around once you arrive?

Leaside Station has two entrances, one on the southeast corner of Eglinton and Bayview and one on the northwest corner. Buses that meet it include the 11 Bayview, 34 Eglinton, 334 Eglinton and 354 Lawrence East. That 11 Bayview connection is handy if you want to ride up or down the main street rather than walk it.

Laird Station also has two entrances, both on the south side of Eglinton, one west of Laird Drive and one east of it. The west entrance has elevator, escalator and stair access to the concourse. Pick whichever end of the neighbourhood you want to start from and plan a loop back to the other.

The library is worth a second look on the way. Its Leaside branch officially reopened on June 11, 2002, after reconstruction. Local-history readers, take note.

What does Line 5 add to Leaside?

A lot of attention, and a bit of tomorrow built in. Metrolinx wrote in 2019 that Leaside Station was being built with additional structural elements to accommodate future development. For a neighbourhood that started as a plan, that feels right.

What would a good Leaside afternoon look like?

We would start with a coffee on Bayview, then drift to the library and Trace Manes Park for a slow lap. From there, cross to Laird, watch the neighbourhood change from shop fronts to side streets, and finish with a snack before you ride home. Nothing here asks you to rush, and that is the charm. Bring a friend who likes a good plan and a better detour, and let the afternoon stretch.

Where can you go for a green day?

Sunnybrook Park is a 154-hectare country estate north of Leaside and south of the Bridle Path that was donated to the City in 1928. Its ravine land is home to Glendon Forest, an Environmentally Significant Area designated by the City, which the City also names as one of the top spots to see birds in the city. It is a good Sunday answer to a Saturday on Bayview.

If you are building a whole East York weekend, start from the East York neighbourhood hub and add Thorncliffe Park with our Thorncliffe Park guide.

Send this to the friend you would bring to Bayview for the first Saturday coffee of the season.