The history of the Jews in Toronto, Ontario, Canada goes back to the early 19th century.
Since the 1970s, Toronto's Jewish population has been the largest in Canada and the centre of Jewish Canadian culture. With several distinct neighbourhoods, Toronto's Jews have significantly shaped the city's development and demographic composition.
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The earliest record of Jewish settlement in York is an 1817 communication between colonial offices. The report indicated that several weddings had taken place, one of which was Jewish.[1] However, the first permanent Jewish presence in Toronto began in 1832, with the arrival of Arthur Wellington Hart, the Harts being among the most established Jewish families of British North America.[2] By 1846, the census indicated that 12 Jews lived in Toronto, a number which subsequently doubled in the following year.[3] The first Jewish cemetery was established in 1849 and Toronto's first synagogue, the Toronto Hebrew Congregation, was subsequently founded in 1856.[4] By the 1871 census, 157 Jews lived in Toronto.
In the late nineteenth and early part of the twentieth century, the Jewish community and other non-British immigrants were densely concentrated in "The Ward" between College Street, Queen Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue.
In 1921, Toronto's Jewish community numbered 46 751.[5] Rivalling the Jewish population of Montreal, Toronto's Jews generally centred themselves in distinct neighbourhoods and ethnic enclaves. By the 1930s, the largest concentration of Jews had moved west from "The Ward" to Kensington Market with Jews representing upwards of 80% of the population.[6] By 1941, Jews comprised the largest ethnic minority in Toronto, with 49 046 individuals.[7] Between Queen and Bloor Streets, toward Dovercourt, Jews established a distinct domicile, forming the ethnic majority in many areas.[8] As well, in the areas of St. John Ward, McCaul Street, and Kensington Market, Jews shared accommodations and surroundings with many of Toronto's other distinct ethnic communities.[9] Often, employment and labour opportunities would stipulate the areas in which Toronto's Jews would settle; such was the case in Jewish settlement of the Spadina district, where clothing manufacturers and affordable housing were attractive amenities.
Toronto's Jewish community was significantly influenced by that of Montreal, especially during the 1960s and 70s. With the advent of the Quebec Sovereignty Movement, Montreal Jews (many anglophone) faced both antisemitism and the forced prospect of learning an additional language. As a result, Canada's epicentre of Jewry effectively moved to Toronto.[10] Simultaneously, Toronto Jews left the crowded confines of the ethnic neighbourhoods within the city's core, retreating to the near suburbs along Bathurst Street.[11]