Toronto has several shopping malls across the city, including five major destination malls that are among the largest and most profitable in Canada. The first enclosed shopping mall in Toronto was the Toronto Arcade in the downtown core. The first shopping mall of the enclosed, automobile-centred design type was Yorkdale Shopping Centre, which opened in 1964.
Major shopping centres Toronto's five major shopping centres each have over one hundred stores and are anchored by multiple department stores, international brands and luxury retailers. They are also the five largest malls in Toronto by floor space. Each provides thousands of automobile parking spaces. With the exceptions of Sherway Gardens and Scarborough Town Centre, all of these malls have direct pedestrian connections with the Toronto subway system, though Sherway Gardens has a bus terminal connecting Toronto Transit Commission and MiWay bus routes and Scarborough Town Centre was connected to Scarborough Centre station of Line 3 Scarborough until the line's permanent closure in July 2023, though the former station still has an active bus terminal. Yorkdale Shopping Centre is Toronto's first of its kind and was the world's largest shopping mall at the time of opening, while Toronto Eaton Centre is the most visited shopping mall in North America. These five malls were completed within a 13-year span in the 1960s and 1970s. The five malls are owned by either Cadillac Fairview or Oxford Properties, two of Canada's largest commercial real estate investment companies. A sixth major mall is planned by Cadillac Fairview in Toronto's planned East Harbour neighbourhood by the intersection of Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway / Lake Shore Boulevard and be also served by the planned East Harbour Transit Hub on the Ontario Line and GO Transit's Lakeshore East line.
Name District Major intersection Direct subway connection Developer/operator Retail space Year opened Fairview Mall North York Don Mills Road—Sheppard Avenue Cadillac Fairview 1970 Scarborough Town Centre Scarborough McCowan Road—Highway 401 Scarborough Centre (closed since July 2023) Oxford Properties 1973 Sherway Gardens Etobicoke The Queensway—The West Mall Cadillac Fairview 1971 Toronto Eaton Centre Old Toronto Yonge Street—Dundas StreetYonge Street—Queen Street TMUQueen Cadillac Fairview 1977 Yorkdale Shopping Centre North York Allen Road—Highway 401 Yorkdale Oxford Properties 1964
District or neighbourhood shopping centres The district or neighbourhood level of shopping centres in Toronto are typically built around one or a few department stores or grocery supermarkets and are enclosed. These shopping centres typically provide a surrounding free parking lot. Most of these are located in the suburbs of Toronto, where land was available for parking. There are only two shopping malls of this type within Toronto's pre-1998 city limits: Dufferin Mall (on Dufferin Street south of Bloor Street and north of College Street) and Gerrard Square (on Gerrard Street East east of Pape Avenue and west of Jones Avenue). The third shopping mall in Old Toronto, Galleria Shopping Centre (at Dufferin Street and Dupont Street), was demolished in January 2020 and is replaced with condominium developments. There are a few ethnic malls of this type as well. Woodbine Mall has Fantasy Fair, a small year-round indoor amusement park primarily for young children.
Agincourt Mall (Kennedy Road and Sheppard Avenue East), Scarborough Albion Centre (Finch Avenue West and Kipling Avenue), Etobicoke Bayview Village Shopping Centre (Bayview Avenue and Sheppard Avenue East), North York Bridlewood Mall (Warden Avenue and Finch Avenue East), Scarborough Cedarbrae Mall (Lawrence Avenue East and Markham Road), Scarborough Centerpoint Mall (Yonge Street and Steeles Avenue West), North York Cloverdale Mall (Dundas Street West and The East Mall), Etobicoke Dufferin Mall (Dufferin Street, south of Bloor Street West and north of College Street), Old Toronto East York Town Centre (Millwood Road and Overlea Boulevard), East York Eglinton Square (Eglinton Avenue East and Victoria Park Avenue), Scarborough Gerrard Square (Gerrard Street East and Pape Avenue), Old Toronto Jane-Finch Mall (southeast corner of Jane and Finch), North York Kipling-Queensway Mall (Kipling Avenue and the Queensway), Etobicoke Lawrence Allen Centre (formerly Lawrence Square Shopping Centre; renamed in late 2019) (Allen Road and Lawrence Avenue West), North York Malvern Town Centre (Neilson Road and Tapscott Road), Scarborough North York Sheridan Mall (Jane Street and Wilson Avenue), North York Parkway Mall (Victoria Park Avenue and Ellesmere Road), Scarborough Woodbine Mall (Rexdale Boulevard and Highway 27), Etobicoke Woodside Square (McCowan Road and Finch Avenue East), Scarborough Yorkgate Mall (northwest corner of Jane and Finch)
Ethnic malls Dragon Centre (Sheppard Avenue East and Glen Watford Drive), Scarborough Majestic City (Markham Road and McNicoll Avenue), Scarborough; North America's largest South Asian indoor mall Splendid China Mall (Steeles Avenue east of Kennedy Road), Scarborough; converted from Canadian Tire
Malls located within major office buildings and condominium towers
One configuration of shopping mall in Toronto is the self-contained type located within a commercial office building, sometimes around a central atrium. This type typically does not provide a surrounding parking lot. These malls typically house from a dozen to several dozen stores. Most of these are connected to a station of the Toronto subway system. In the case of the Hudson's Bay Centre, the mall connects the former department store to the Toronto subway system at Bloor–Yonge station. Some of these malls can be located in the taller condominium towers. These malls are located in the core (Old Toronto), unless marked otherwise:
The Atrium on Bay (Dundas Street West and Yonge Street) Aura (Yonge Street and Gerrard Street); mixed-use with retail on the first four floors and the first basement Canada Square (Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue West) Chinatown Centre (Chinatown); ethnic mall College Park (Yonge Street and College Street) The Crossways (Bloor Street West and Dundas Street West in Old Toronto) Cumberland Terrace (Bay Street and Bloor Street West) Dragon City (Chinatown) (Dundas Street West and Spadina Avenue); ethnic mall Dynasty Centre (Sheppard Avenue East and Midland Avenue), Scarborough; ethnic mall Empress Walk (Empress Avenue and Yonge Street), North York Holt Renfrew Centre (Bloor Street West and Bay Street) Hudson's Bay Centre (Bloor Street West and Yonge Street) Manulife Centre (Bloor Street West and Bay Street) Queen's Quay Terminal (Queen's Quay West and York Street) Sheppard Centre (Sheppard Avenue East and Yonge Street), North York The Well (Spadina Avenue and Front Street) Yonge Eglinton Centre (Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue West) York Mills Centre (York Mills Road and Yonge Street), North York Yorkville Village (formerly Hazelton Lanes) (Avenue Road and Yorkville Avenue north of Bloor Street West)
Path underground shopping complex
In Downtown Toronto, primarily in the Financial District, there are interconnected shopping malls located at least one flight of stairs underground. The complex as a whole is named 'Path'. The Toronto Eaton Centre (see above) is a part of the complex. The complex has 1,200 stores, and according to Guinness World Records, the Path is the largest underground shopping complex in the world, with of retail space.
Bay Adelaide Centre (Bay Street and Adelaide Street West) Brookfield Place (bounded by Front Street West, Bay Street, Wellington Street West, and Yonge Street) Commerce Court (Yonge Street and King Street West) First Canadian Place (Bay Street and King Street West) Metro Hall (John Street and King Street West) Royal Bank Plaza (Bay Street and Front Street West) Scotia Plaza (King Street West and Yonge Street) Sheraton Centre (Queen Street West and York Street) Simcoe Place (Front Street West and Simcoe Street) Toronto-Dominion Centre (bounded by King Street West, Bay Street, Wellington Street West, and York Street) Union Station (Bay Street and Front Street West)
Open-air shopping plazas Open-air shopping plazas are larger collections of stores built with surrounding parking areas, with parking spaces separated from the storefronts by sidewalks. These shopping centres generally serve the local surrounding area and have a large proportion of family-run businesses, some of which serve ethnic communities.
Bamburgh Gardens (Warden Avenue and Bamburgh Circle), Scarborough Chartwell Plaza (Brimley Road and Huntingwood Drive), Scarborough Dufferin & Steeles Plaza, North York Iranian Plaza (Yonge Street between Cummer Avenue and Steeles Avenue), North York; ethnic plaza The Landmark (Steeles Avenue and Middlefield Road), Scarborough; ethnic plaza Lawrence Plaza (Bathurst Street and Lawrence Avenue West), North York Milliken Wells Plaza (McCowan Road and Alton Towers Circle), Scarborough Peanut Plaza (Don Mills Road and Van Horne Avenue), North York Sheppard Plaza (Sheppard Avenue West and Bathurst Street), North York Shops at Don Mills (Don Mills Road and Lawrence Avenue East), North York Tam O'Shanter Plaza (Sheppard Avenue East east of Kennedy Road), Scarborough Unnamed plaza owned by State (Dufferin Street between Castlefield Avenue and the former York–North York boundary), York Victoria Terrace (Victoria Park Avenue and Lawrence Avenue East), North York Whiteshield Plaza (Kennedy Road and Lawrence Avenue East), Scarborough York Mills Gardens (Leslie Street and York Mills Road), North York
Power centres Power centres mainly consist of major national and international big-box stores with large amounts of parking space separate from the stores themselves. They also serve a larger area than the open-air shopping plazas do.
Black Creek Super Value Centre (Rogers Road and Keele Street), York Crossroads (Weston Road and Highway 401), North York Downsview Power Centre (unofficial name) (Dufferin Street and Wilson Avenue), North York Dufferin and Steeles Power Centre (unofficial name) (Dufferin Street and Steeles Avenue), North York Golden Mile (Eglinton Avenue East between Victoria Park Avenue and Birchmount Road; consists of multiple adjacent power centres), Scarborough Kennedy Commons (Kennedy Road and Highway 401), Scarborough Leaside Centre (Eglinton Avenue East and Laird Drive), East York Queenswalk Centre (North Queen Street and Queensway), Etobicoke Queensway Complex (Islington Avenue and Queensway), Etobicoke Shoppers World Danforth (Danforth Avenue west of Victoria Park Avenue), East York Stock Yards Village (Weston Road and St. Clair Avenue West), Old Toronto
Flea markets The markets are housed indoors with stalls of independent vendors. Downsview Park Merchant's Market, Downsview Park (Keele Street and Sheppard Avenue West), North York Dr. Flea's, Highway 27 and Albion Road, Etobicoke Jane Finch Flea Market, 1911 Finch Avenue West (Jane Street and Finch Avenue West), North York Merchant's Flea Market, 1921 Eglinton Avenue East (Warden Avenue and Eglinton Avenue East), Scarborough
Former shopping malls The following shopping malls have been demolished or closed. Some have been replaced by new strip plazas or re-developed for non-retail uses:
Don Mills Centre (1954–2006), Don Mills Road and Lawrence Avenue East, North York — former shopping mall with 98 stores. Originally a strip plaza, it was enclosed in 1978 and expanded from 400,000 to 462,000 square feet (37,000 to 43,000 m2). Closed and demolished in 2006, it was replaced by Shops at Don Mills in 2009. CF operated a shuttle bus service to Fairview Mall until it opened. Former Dominion (rebranded as Metro in 2008) and the Royal Bank Building are the only remaining buildings that were once part of the old mall.