Seaton Village is a

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

and former village located west of

Downtown Toronto Downtown Toronto is the main city centre of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Street to the nor ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. It is named after

John Colborne, 1st Baron Seaton Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal John Colborne, 1st Baron Seaton, (16 February 1778 – 17 April 1863) was a British Army officer and colonial governor. After taking part as a junior officer in the Anglo-Russian invasion of Hollan ...

Lieutenant-Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a " second-in-com ...

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

from 1828 to 1836.

Bloor Street Bloor Street is an east–west arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Bloor Street runs from the Prince Edward Viaduct, which spans the Don River (Ontario), Don River Valley, westward into Mississauga where it ends at Central Parkway. East ...

borders Seaton Village to the south, the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

tracks to the north, Christie Street to the west, and Bathurst Street to the east. Officially, it is an enclave within

The Annex The Annex is a neighbourhood in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The traditional boundaries of the neighbourhood extend north to Dupont Street, south to Bloor Street, west to Bathurst Street (Toronto), Bathurst Street and east to Avenue Road, ...

neighbourhood, as defined by the City of Toronto. It is sometimes referred to as the West Annex. While Seaton Village shares several characteristics with the Annex (notably its architecture and popularity with

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

students), it is often perceived as a quieter, family-oriented neighbourhood. The

Koreatown A Koreatown (), also known as a Little Korea or Little Seoul, is a Korean-dominated ethnic enclave within a city or metropolitan area outside the Korean Peninsula. History Koreatowns as an East Asian ethnic enclave have only been in existence s ...

shopping district is at its southern border.

Character

The area is primarily semi-detached single-family homes dating to the start of the 20th century. Most are either of solid brick construction, while some have a brick facade. Most of the trees planted at the same time as the houses were built are still standing. One unique home is located on Clinton Street. The house is almost completely covered with shells, marbles, and circular "woodcakes" cut from billiards cues. Vermont Square Park is near the centre of Seaton Village. The park has a playground that was rebuilt in 2012, as well as off-leash dog park hours. St. Albans Boys and Girls club and the Bill Bolton hockey arena are also located in the park. Toronto koreatown 2009x

There are also several small businesses located along Dupont Street. Karma Co-op, a co-operatively run

health food store A health food store (or health food shop) is a type of grocery store that primarily sells healthful foods, organic foods, local produce, and often nutritional supplements. Health food stores typically offer a wider or more specialized selectio ...

, is hidden down a laneway (officially named Karma Lane in 2014) and has operated in the area since 1972. Seaton Village is represented in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

as part of the University—Rosedale

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

. It is described in the

Ontario Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

as part of the Trinity—Spadina constituency. It is served by two

Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the primary public transport agency in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operating the majority of the city's transit bus, bus and rail services. It is the oldest and largest of the urban transit service providers ...

(TTC) subway stations: Bathurst and Christie. Buses run north from both stations, as well as along Dupont. Seaton Village is bounded to the south by

. Nearly the entirety of Seaton Village's portion of Bloor Street is occupied by a Korean

ethnic enclave In sociology, an ethnic enclave is a geographic area with high ethnic concentration, characteristic cultural identity, and economic activity. The term is usually used to refer to either a residential area or a workspace with a high concentration ...

known as

. Before the influx of Korean immigrants in the 1980s, this section of Bloor Street was populated by people from Central and South America.

Demographics

In the

2016 Canadian census The 2016 Canadian census was an enumeration of Canadian residents, which counted a population of 35,151,728, a change from its 2011 population of 33,476,688. The census, conducted by Statistics Canada, was Canada's seventh quinquennial census. ...

, Seaton Village was covered by

census tract A census tract, census area, census district or meshblock is a geographic region defined for the purpose of taking a census. Sometimes these coincide with the limits of cities, towns or other administrative areas and several tracts commonly exis ...

0093.00. According to that census, the neighbourhood has 5,652 residents. Average income is $167,014, close to the average for the Toronto CMA. The ten most common languages spoken at home, after English, are: #Portuguese - 5.0% #Italian - 3.5% #Korean - 2.0% #Cantonese - 1.6% #Unspecified Chinese - 1.5% #Greek - 1.4% #Spanish - 0.8% #French - 0.6% #Hungarian - 0.5% #Polish - 0.5%

Notable persons

Seaton Village is the former home of Canadian poet and children's author Dennis Lee,

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-winning (for ''Chicago'') sound engineer David Lee (no relation, now deceased), and sociologist

Barry Wellman Barry Wellman (30 September 1942 – 9 July 2024) was an American-Canadian sociologist and was the co-director of the Toronto-based international NetLab Network. His areas of research were community sociology, the Internet, human–computer i ...

. It is the current home of musician Charles Spearin, professor and author

Jordan Peterson Jordan Bernt Peterson (born 12 June 1962) is a Canadian psychologist, author, and media commentator. He received widespread attention in the late 2010s for his views on cultural and political issues. Often described as Conservatism, conservativ ...

, and songwriter/performer Nancy White. Seaton Village was also where

Meghan Markle Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (; born Rachel Meghan Markle, August 4, 1981) is an American member of the British royal family, media personality, entrepreneur, and former actress. She is married to Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the younger son ...

, UK's Duchess of Sussex, lived in a rented house at 10 Yarmouth Gardens while filming the TV series '' Suits''. She moved out in late November 2017 after work on the seventh season had been completed.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. As the younger son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales, he is fifth in the line of succession to t ...

was a visitor to this house during the time Markle lived here.

Notes and references

External links

Ontario Roots: The Lost Village of Seaton

{{authority control Neighbourhoods in Toronto