Things have changed around here.
75 years ago, when Carlaw Avenue was at its industrial peak, this street was a manufacturing juggernaut that was vitally important to the economy of Toronto.
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Location:
943 Queen Street East
Queen and Carlaw
City of Toronto Archives
Manufacturing on Carlaw
Back then, almost a quarter of Toronto’s population was employed in manufacturing.
The gross value of the products made in Toronto was $1.2 billion, which is roughly equivalent to $21.7 billion in 2025.
Wrigley
The goods produced here were shipped across Canada and around the world – they even reached the top of Mount Everest.
You probably have a product in your house that used to be made on Carlaw:
Maybe a pack of Wrigley chewing gum, or a Woods jacket, a tube of Colgate toothpaste, a bottle of Palmolive dish soap, or a bottle cap made by Crown.
Star Weekly, Toronto, October 12, 1946
Like this street, Toronto has grown and changed.
Many historic factories you will encounter on Carlaw have now found new life supporting stores, cafes, restaurants, and residential lofts.
Today, only about about 2.5 percent of the population work in manufacturing. More people work in offices and fewer are involved in making things.
Wrigley
How was this neighbourhood made?
For thousands of years this land was the traditional territory of the Wendat, Haudenosaunee, and Anishinabeg Indigenous peoples.
To the south was a large marshland the Mississaugas used for hunting and fishing and also for resting and healing. The Dundas and Carlaw area was included in the 1805 Toronto Purchase treaty between the Mississaugas at the Head of Lake Ontario and the British Crown, which accelerated European colonization of Toronto.
We are on treaty lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.
In the 19th century, the rich soil in the Leslieville area was used for growing vegetables and flowers.
In 1906, the city seized substantial land on Carlaw over unpaid taxes and decided to sell it in parcels for industrial use.
Toronto Public Library
Toronto Public Library
Industry made sense because the land was close to the Port Lands and the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR), which linked Toronto with the Port of Montreal and Atlantic trade routes.
The GTR installed freight tracks to the factory sites and development rapidly followed.
Fast Fact
George Leslie
Leslieville is named for gardener and businessman George Leslie (1804 – 1893) who established the Toronto Nurseries in this area in 1845. His greenhouses and extensive fields produced everything from flowers to ornamental shrubs and trees. By the 1870s, Toronto Nurseries advertised itself as the largest business of its kind in Canada.
Image Credit: George Leslie (1804 – 1893)
From Adam G. Mercer’s, Toronto Old and New, 1891.
Factory Design
The design of the factories you will encounter on the tour reflect the needs of early‑20th century manufacturers.
Easy rail access was just one requirement. They also needed lots of interior space and robust city infrastructure like sewers, electricity, and transportation for their workers.
Library and Archives Canada
Like industrial areas across North America, the neighbourhood declined from the 1960s to the 1980s.
Today it has rebounded to become a thriving residential, cultural, and commercial centre with many notable buildings that have been carefully adapted from their original use.
City of Toronto Archives
This is truly a neighbourhood in the making.
Check it out…
Be sure to fuel up
As you take this tour, you will encounter many independent coffee shops and restaurants. Don’t hesitate to take a break!
Next stop:
Colgate-Palmolive
Ready to hit the next stop?
Cross the street at the lights and head west on the northside of Queen Street until Verral Avenue.
Go north on Verral Aveue until Colgate Avenue.
Head West on Colgate Street and walk 100 metres.
Careful! This is a residential street but there is no designated crosswalk.
Cross Colgate St. safely to John Chang Neighbourhood Park. Can you find the plaque? This is your stop.