Corso Italia, Toronto

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Corso Italia is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on St. Clair Avenue West, between Westmount Avenue (just east of Dufferin Street) and Lansdowne Avenue. The neighbourhood includes numerous cafés, clothing shops, shoe stores, restaurants, food markets, as well as several gelaterias and bakeries. The community is considered Toronto's second Italian neighbourhood after Little Italy on College Street, although Corso Italia has a stronger Italian presence. There is also a significant Latin American and Portuguese community in the area.

The community is the eastern half of what was earlier known as Earlscourt. Earlscourt was originally settled by British immigrants in 1906, and was annexed by the City of Toronto in 1910. (See Toronto Neighbourhoods; Earlscourt.) During the late 1950's a large wave of Italian immigrants, in addition to Italians from College Street, moved to Earlscourt and the surrounding area. Corso Italia has been a Business Improvement Area (BIA) in Toronto since 1984.

Corso Italia hosts several annual festivals, including the Corso Italia Toronto Fiesta in July.