It’s not an issue that impacts me personally, but I couldn’t help but wonder why I’ve hardly seen any gas stations since moving to Toronto in September.
The apparent lack of pumps downtown was something I noticed right away. It felt odd I hadn’t seen a single one over the span of a month — and I travel around the city frequently.
Now that I’m living in the Entertainment District, a densely populated area with bumper-to-bumper traffic, I assumed I would have seen a gas station in the area by now — all these vehicles have to fill up somewhere, right?
Coming from my hometown of Sault Ste. Marie, it felt like there were gas stations everywhere. But like Toronto, most of them weren’t located downtown.
It took me an entire month before I saw one while covering a story about the construction project in Harbord Village. Residents were pumping gas at a small Esso on Harbord and Major Street — the smallest station I had ever seen.
They were probably confused why I was taking pictures of the fuel station, but it genuinely felt like I was photographing a dodo bird.
So, just how rare have gas stations become downtown?
According to the city, there are ten businesses licensed to sell gasoline in Wards 10 and 13, which covers most of the TorontoToday catchment area — Roncesvalles east to the DVP and Dupont Street south to the waterfront.
But some of those businesses aren’t your standard gas stations. This stat includes places like the Toronto Island Marina, which fuels vessels and other small boats.
I’ve personally counted seven stations in the downtown coverage zone, including ones located at:
- Jarvis Street and Wellesley Street East (Petro Canada)
- Parliament Street and Richmond Street East (Shell)
- Yonge Street and Church Street (Canadian Tire)
- Bathurst Street and Lake Shore Boulevard West (Esso)
- Spadina Avenue near Wellington Street West (two stations: Shell and Petro Canada)
- Harbord Street and Major Street (Esso)
The list was much longer than I had expected it to be, and their locations are all distributed relatively well across the area.
It hasn’t been well documented, but gas stations have been disappearing — as the value of the properties they’re situated on have gone up considerably in recent years.
Condominium developments have taken over Esso stations at Sherborne and Front, and Church and Dundas in recent years, while a 53-storey building is replacing another Esso at 214 Church St.
The city did not respond directly to whether there are zoning or regulatory challenges that are preventing new gas stations from opening, but the general consensus from users on Reddit suggests new stations can’t afford to go up based on the current costs to purchase property downtown.
Vehicle fuel stations also aren’t permitted in residential zones and can only be constructed in:
- Commercial Local zones
- Commercial Residential zones
- Commercial Residential Employment zones
- Employment Industrial Office zones
Environmental trends would also suggest residents may no longer need to rely on gas stations in Toronto as more people are switching to electric vehicles and public transit.
In October 2019, city council voted unanimously to declare a climate emergency and accelerate efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Transportation emissions account for about one third of all greenhouse gas emissions in Toronto.
By 2030, the city wants 30 per cent of registered vehicles in Toronto to be electric. They’d like Torontonians to walk, bike or use transit for 75 per cent of school and work trips under five kilometres.
There may come a day where you’re sitting in the backseat of your self-driving electric vehicle, reminiscing on all those times you complained about the high gas prices.
But until then, most motorists will have to remain satisfied with filling up at the pumps — if they can find one.
