Published 26 September 2026 · By Jatin Dua, Broker of Record, RE/MAX Quantum Realty
The Beach runs from Coxwell Avenue east to Victoria Park Avenue, from Kingston Road down to the lake, with four named beaches and a boardwalk that has existed in some form since the 1850s. The beach itself was artificially enlarged and made continuous in 1930 with wooden groynes, and the boardwalk opened in 1932. It stops at Silver Birch Avenue, and east of there is one of the few places in Toronto with private housing directly on the sand: a handful of homes that face the water, plus the City-owned Hubbard Boulevard and Wineva Avenue fourplexes of 1928 and 1929, which are public housing with the lake at the front step. Everything else in the neighbourhood is near the beach, not on it. Kingswood Road South is the only heritage conservation district. Toronto Island houses, often mentioned in the same breath, are leasehold on provincial land, sold only through a purchasers’ list at a regulated price, and are not freehold waterfront in any sense that matters to a buyer.
Where the boardwalk ends
The Beach’s public shoreline is a 3.5-kilometre path linking Woodbine, Kew, Scarboro and Balmy beaches, with a paved trail beside the boardwalk for bikes. The boardwalk stops abruptly at Silver Birch Avenue. East of Silver Birch, toward Nursewood Road and the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant at the foot of Victoria Park, is one of the few stretches in Toronto with private housing on the beach. A 2013 Beach Metro count put the number of homes that actually face the lake between Silver Birch and the plant at seven. Whatever the exact figure today, it is a handful, and it is the entire freehold lakefront market of the neighbourhood.
Everyone else in the Beach lives near the water. That is the point of the place and it is why the streets north of Queen sell the way they do, but it is not lakefront, and a listing that implies otherwise should be read against a map.
How the beach was made
The sand you see is not entirely natural. The current beach was artificially enlarged and made continuous in 1930 using wooden groynes, and the boardwalk and facilities opened in 1932. Before that the shore was a series of amusement parks, Victoria Park from 1878, Munro Park from 1896, Scarboro Beach Park from 1907 to 1925, and separate beaches with gaps between them. Kew Gardens began as Joseph Williams’ farm in the 1850s, opened as a park in 1879 and was bought by the City in 1907. Woodbine Beach and Kew-Balmy Beach hold Blue Flag certification, Woodbine since 2005.
Further west, Ashbridges Bay Park is an artificial landform from a lakefill project, opened in 1977. TRCA has monitored its two armourstone headlands and revetment since 2006; they were damaged by the record high water of 2017 and the ice storm of April 2018, and repairs that began in February 2026 are expected to take about two years. The lesson for a beachfront owner is that even the public shore here is engineered, and it needs maintenance after every high-water year.
The Hubbard and Wineva properties
The most photographed beachfront homes in the neighbourhood are not for sale. The Hubbard and Wineva properties are twelve buildings from 1928 and 1929, five fourplexes on Hubbard Boulevard and Wineva Avenue plus the Eliza J. Furniss House and Hubbard Court Apartments, built on the former Scarboro Beach Park grounds. The City expropriated them in October 1930 and they are public housing, described in a 2010 City heritage report as among the last surviving dwellings in Toronto with direct access to the waterfront. Residents run from their front steps into the lake. A 2013 attempt to sell some of them stalled. If you are told a Hubbard Boulevard property is coming to market, ask who owns it.
Heritage: one district, not the whole neighbourhood
The Beach has one heritage conservation district: Kingswood Road South, covering the lots fronting Kingswood Road between Queen Street East and Bracken Avenue in the Balmy Beach area, with houses mostly from 1910 to 1920 and a plan prepared in 2009. There is no neighbourhood-wide Beach district, although a 2022 local analysis argued for a study. The R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant at 2701 Queen Street East, opened in 1941 and designated in 1998, anchors the east end. The Balmy Beach Club has occupied its site in Balmy Beach Park since 1905. Individual houses may be designated or listed; check the City’s register for the address rather than assuming either way. Queen Street East has urban design guidelines from 2012 that step back floors above four storeys, which governs the main street, not the residential blocks.
TRCA and the sand
The Beach shoreline is in TRCA’s regulated area under Ontario Regulation 41/24, and where the shore is beach and dune it may fall within a dynamic beach hazard in which development is restricted. A beachfront owner east of Silver Birch who wants to build, add, wall or regrade needs a TRCA permit before a City building permit, and TRCA’s private-property erosion assistance excludes Lake Ontario waterfront. East of the Leslie Street Spit, roughly 84 percent of Toronto’s shoreline is public; the private 15 percent is concentrated in a few places, and this is one of them.
The Toronto Islands: why they are not on this list
Buyers who want a house on the water in Toronto often ask about Ward’s and Algonquin Islands, where 262 homes form the largest car-free community in North America. They are not freehold. Under the Toronto Islands Residential Community Stewardship Act of 1993 the land is vested in the Province and leased to the residents’ trust until 15 December 2092; owners hold the house and a land lease, not the lot. Homes may be sold only through the Trust to people on a Purchasers’ List capped at 500 names, which opens by draw every two years in October from 2026, at a price set by regulation based on construction cost rather than market value. The house must be the owner’s principal residence; no seasonal use, no renting. About 70 homes have changed hands since 1994. It is a wonderful place to live and a terrible place to look for a market. If you want an island house, join the list; do not ask a realtor to find you one.
Transit and Toronto costs
The 501 Queen streetcar is the neighbourhood’s spine. Toronto’s municipal land transfer tax applies on top of the provincial one, with the tiers above $3 million raised on 1 April 2026, and the Vacant Home Tax requires an annual declaration. Read waterfront taxes and carrying costs.
How to price a Beach house
The handful of houses that face the water east of Silver Birch are priced against each other over a decade, because that is how often they trade, with adjustments for beach frontage, dune condition, TRCA constraints and what the house is. Everything else is priced as a Beach house of its size and age with a walk to the sand, against Beach sales, and the premium for being one street closer is measurable on the neighbourhood’s own record. Do not let the boardwalk photograph price a house on Lee Avenue as if it were on Hubbard. Read the Beaches versus Birch Cliff for the comparison east along the shore.
The takeaway
The Beach is a neighbourhood near the water with a handful of houses on it, east of where the boardwalk stops at Silver Birch. The sand was engineered in 1930, the most famous beachfront homes are public housing, one heritage district covers one street, TRCA regulates the edge, and the Toronto Islands are leasehold sold by lottery. Price the handful as lakefront and the rest as a Beach house with a walk, and check the map before you believe a listing.
Where I fit
I work across Toronto and the GTA and the Beach is where I most often have to explain the difference between a lake view and a beach lot to a buyer who has seen a great photograph. Run the estimator below on your current home, or book a call.
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Frequently asked questions
Are there houses on the beach in Toronto’s Beach neighbourhood?
A handful, east of where the boardwalk ends at Silver Birch Avenue. A 2013 count put the number of homes facing the lake there at seven. The well-known Hubbard Boulevard and Wineva Avenue fourplexes are City-owned public housing.
Is the Beach a heritage conservation district?
Only Kingswood Road South, covering lots on Kingswood Road between Queen Street East and Bracken Avenue, is a heritage conservation district. There is no neighbourhood-wide district.
Was the Beach’s sand always there?
The beach was artificially enlarged and made continuous in 1930 with wooden groynes; the boardwalk opened in 1932. Ashbridges Bay to the west is a 1977 lakefill landform whose headlands are under repair from 2026.
Can I buy a house on the Toronto Islands?
Not as freehold. Island homes sit on provincial land leased to 2092, are sold only through the residents’ trust to people on a purchasers’ list of up to 500 names, at a regulated price based on construction cost, and must be the owner’s principal residence.
Who regulates the Beach shoreline?
The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority under Ontario Regulation 41/24. Beach and dune areas may fall within a dynamic beach hazard where development is restricted.
Which beaches in the Beach are Blue Flag?
Woodbine Beach, certified since 2005, and Kew-Balmy Beach.
Does Toronto’s land transfer tax apply in the Beach?
Yes. It is the City of Toronto, so the municipal land transfer tax applies with the higher tiers above $3 million raised on 1 April 2026, and the Vacant Home Tax declaration is required annually.
Sources
- Wikipedia — The Beaches, Toronto — boundaries, 1930 groynes, 1932 boardwalk, Blue Flag
- Spacing Toronto, Dec 2022 — Beaches historical sight east of Silver Birch — boardwalk end, private housing on beach
- Beach Metro, Oct 2013 — Sale of rare beachfront properties stalled — count of lake-facing homes, Hubbard fourplexes
- City of Toronto, March 2010 — Hubbard and Wineva properties heritage report — 1928–29 buildings, 1930 expropriation
- City of Toronto — Kingswood Road South Heritage Conservation District — district extent
- TRCA — Ashbridges Bay Park east headlands major maintenance — 2017/2018 damage, 2026 repairs
- Toronto Islands Residential Community Trust — Purchasers’ List — list rules, pricing, principal residence
- Toronto Islands Residential Community Stewardship Act, 1993 — leasehold to 2092, sale price by regulation
Related reading
- What $1.5 million buys on the GTA waterfront
- What $2 million buys on the GTA waterfront
- What $3 million buys on the GTA waterfront
- The Beaches vs Birch Cliff
- Scarborough Bluffs: buying on the edge
- Who owns the beach? Riparian rights in Ontario
- Lake view vs lake access vs lakefront
- Heritage designation under the Ontario Heritage Act
About the author — Jatin Dua, Toronto and GTA real estate broker
I am Jatin Dua, Broker of Record and co-founder of RE/MAX Quantum Realty Inc., Brokerage, Unit 101, 799 The Queensway, Etobicoke. I work with buyers and sellers across Toronto and the GTA, with deep local knowledge of the west end and the Lake Ontario shoreline. Four-plus years of active GTA transactions and over $100 million in sales volume. Every market figure here comes from TRREB’s published tables and every rule from the regulator or the legislation, so you can check all of it without asking me.
Reach me at connect@jatindua.com or 833-330-1925, or book a call.