Mimico Lakefront Homes: The Houses, Not the Condos

By Jatin Dua · Broker of Record, RE/MAX Quantum Realty · Updated 26 September 2026 · 8 min read — where Mimico’s house streets end and Humber Bay Shores’ towers begin, what happened to the lakefront estates of the 1890s and which one is protected today, what the Mimico Waterfront Park did to the shore, what the Mimico-by-the-Lake plan intends for the strip along Lake Shore Boulevard, and how to price a low-rise lakefront house against the condos next door.

Mimico versus Humber Bay Shores

Start with the map. Humber Bay Shores is bounded by Mimico Creek to the west and the Humber River to the east; it was a motel strip after the QEW opened in 1937 and has been almost entirely rebuilt as condominium towers since the Palace Pier towers of the 1980s. Mimico proper is west of the creek: a village from 1911, a town from 1917, absorbed into Etobicoke in 1967, with a name from the Ojibwe for a place abundant with wild pigeons. Its lakefront is low-rise streets, older apartment buildings and parks. When a listing says “Mimico” and shows a tower, it is usually Humber Bay Shores. When it says “Humber Bay” and shows a house, it is usually Mimico. Read Humber Bay Shores versus Mimico for the full comparison.

The estates, and the one that survived

From about 1890 affluent Toronto families built waterfront estates in Mimico. After the Second World War most were demolished and replaced with apartment complexes, which is why Mimico’s shore today alternates between houses and mid-century rental buildings. The exception is the Ormsby–Franceschini estate: the Ormsbys bought lakefront land in 1903 and completed Ormscliffe in 1910 with gardens running to the lake; James Franceschini of Dufferin Construction bought it in 1925 and renamed it Myrtle Villa; the Longo brothers bought it in 1959 and built the Amedeo Garden Court Apartments around it. In 2013 the City designated all the original estate buildings, eleven addresses, and the garden under the Ontario Heritage Act, and CBC called it the last of Mimico’s opulent lakefront estates.

For a buyer that history means two things. The lakefront lots that exist are fragments of larger estates, with the depth and mature trees to match. And the apartment buildings between them are not going anywhere fast; they are the neighbourhood’s rental stock and the reason the Mimico-by-the-Lake plan speaks of renewal and infill rather than replacement.

Mimico Waterfront Park

Before 2008 much of Mimico’s shore was private and inaccessible. Waterfront Toronto and TRCA built the Mimico Waterfront Park, also called the Mimico Linear Park, in two phases: the first opened in 2008 running east from Norris Crescent Parkette to Superior Avenue with two headlands and three cobble beaches, and the second, completed in October 2012 and opened on 7 June 2013, added 500 metres including a 250-metre cantilevered boardwalk over the water. The whole is 1.1 kilometres of continuous public shoreline from Norris Crescent to Humber Bay Park West, built for $18.2 million with City, provincial and federal money. Amos Waites Park at Mimico Avenue and Lake Shore, with its outdoor pool and stage, sits beside it.

The park changed what Mimico lakefront means. Lots that once ran to a private shore now back onto a public path and an engineered edge maintained by TRCA. That is a loss of privacy and a gain of permanence, and the market has priced both.

The Mimico-by-the-Lake plan

The Mimico-by-the-Lake Secondary Plan grew out of the Mimico 20/20 revitalization process and went to Etobicoke York Community Council in March 2013. It covers the 1.6-kilometre stretch of Lake Shore Boulevard West from Miles Road to Fleeceline Road, the strip of aging apartment buildings between the houses and the water. It calls for physical and visual access to the lake through new public streets and offers what it calls a continuum of options, renewal, infill and redevelopment of larger sites, rather than wholesale replacement with towers. For a house owner on the streets north of Lake Shore, the plan is the reason to expect change on the boulevard over decades and the reason not to expect Humber Bay Shores to march west across the creek.

TRCA at the edge, and the Humber Bay parks

Mimico’s shore is in TRCA’s regulated area under Ontario Regulation 41/24; any work at the edge of a private lakefront lot needs a TRCA permit before a City building permit, and TRCA’s erosion assistance excludes private Lake Ontario waterfront. East of the neighbourhood, Humber Bay Park was built from 5.1 million cubic metres of lakefill and opened in June 1984; it houses the Mimico Cruising Club and the relocated 1895 Eastern Gap lighthouses. The Etobicoke Yacht Club and the Mimico Tennis Club round out a shoreline that is unusually well served with clubs for a low-rise neighbourhood.

Transit and Toronto costs

Mimico GO at 315 Royal York Road opened in 1967; a 2013 to 2018 upgrade added twelve-car platforms and a tunnel, but Mimico and Long Branch remain the only Lakeshore West stations that are not fully accessible, and a planned new station building stalled when the adjacent developer went into receivership in January 2024. The 501 and 507 streetcars run along Lake Shore Boulevard. Toronto’s municipal land transfer tax applies, with the higher tiers above $3 million raised on 1 April 2026, and the Vacant Home Tax declaration is annual.

How to price a Mimico house

Do not price a Mimico house against Humber Bay condos or against the apartment buildings on the boulevard. The few lots that meet the water are a thin market priced against each other and against Long Branch’s Lake Promenade, adjusted for depth, the public path in front, and the shoreline structure and its permits. The streets north of Lake Shore are Mimico houses of their era with a lake walk and a GO station, priced against each other. Mimico’s advantage over Long Branch is proximity to the Humber Bay parks and downtown; its disadvantage is that less of its shore is private. Read the lake premium in Etobicoke.

Where I fit

My office is on The Queensway and I sell in Mimico and Humber Bay Shores every month, which is why I am particular about the difference. Run the estimator below on your current home, or book a call.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Waterfront Toronto — Mimico Waterfront Park — park extent, phases, cost
• Waterfront Toronto — Final phase of Mimico Waterfront Park officially opened — June 2013 opening
• CBC Toronto — Myrtle Villa, Mimico — estate history, 2013 designation
• Etobicoke Historical Society — The Ormsby/Franceschini estate — Ormscliffe, ownership chain
• City of Toronto — Mimico-by-the-Lake Secondary Plan, final report (March 2013) — plan area and approach
• Wikipedia — Mimico GO Station — accessibility, stalled building
• Wikipedia — Humber Bay Park — lakefill, 1984 opening

Related reading

• What $1.2 million buys on the GTA waterfront
• The Etobicoke waterfront at every budget
• Humber Bay Shores vs Mimico
• Long Branch and New Toronto lakefront homes
• The lake premium: waterfront vs inland in Etobicoke
• Living next to the Gardiner and Lake Shore
• The Beach, Toronto: lakefront homes east of Silver Birch