How HomeTurf Works: Sources, Methods, and What the Data Can't Tell You
Every ranking on HomeTurf traces back to four public datasets and a handful of arithmetic operations, all documented on this page. The tool covers all 158 official City of Toronto neighbourhoods, home to 2,761,290 people and 383,318 children under 15 (2021 Census). That sounds authoritative, and mostly it is. But the data has real blind spots: it's from 2021, it ignores Catholic and private schools, and it can't see a home daycare. If you're using our family neighbourhood guide or the comparison tool to shortlist places to live, you should know exactly what the numbers mean, and where they stop meaning anything.
Key takeaways
- HomeTurf merges four open datasets covering 2,761,290 residents across 158 official neighbourhoods (2021 Census; City of Toronto Open Data).
- 585 TDSB schools and 1,055 licensed childcare centres are assigned to neighbourhoods by point-in-polygon matching against official boundary files.
- Licensed childcare isn't all childcare: 79,569 licensed spaces work out to 20.8 per 100 children citywide, but home and informal care are excluded.
- All census figures are 2021 vintage. The next major refresh lands with the 2026 Census of Population releases.
Where does HomeTurf's data come from?
HomeTurf combines four open government datasets: Statistics Canada's 2021 Census of Population (delivered through the City of Toronto's Neighbourhood Profiles), the City of Toronto Open Data boundary file for all 158 neighbourhoods, the Ontario Ministry of Education's Licensed Child Care Database, and the TDSB school directory. Nothing is scraped, estimated, or modelled.
You can inspect the originals yourself at Statistics Canada's census portal and the City of Toronto Neighbourhood Profiles. Here's what each source contributes.
| Dataset | What HomeTurf uses it for |
|---|---|
| Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (via City of Toronto Neighbourhood Profiles) | Population, children under 15, median household income, tenure, transit share, languages, 2016 vs 2021 growth |
| City of Toronto Open Data, 158 neighbourhood boundaries | Official polygons used for all geographic assignment |
| Ontario Ministry of Education Licensed Child Care Database | Licensed centres (1,055) and licensed capacity (79,569 spaces); centres only |
| TDSB school directory | Public school locations and counts (585 schools) |
How are schools and childcare centres assigned to neighbourhoods?
Every school and childcare centre is placed by point-in-polygon assignment: its coordinates are tested against the City of Toronto Open Data GeoJSON boundary polygons, and it counts for whichever of the 158 neighbourhoods contains it. That's how 585 TDSB schools and 1,055 licensed centres get sorted into neighbourhood totals.
These are the city's official boundaries, the same ones used in the Neighbourhood Profiles, so every count on HomeTurf lines up with the census geography rather than fuzzy real-estate marketing names.
How are the derived metrics defined?
HomeTurf computes three derived metrics from the raw counts: licensed childcare spaces per 100 children under 15 (citywide value: 20.8), TDSB schools per 1,000 children under 15 (about 1.5 citywide), and 2016-to-2021 population growth, all built on 2021 Census denominators.
| Metric | Exact definition | Citywide reference |
|---|---|---|
| Licensed spaces per 100 children | Licensed capacity ÷ residents under 15 × 100 | 20.8 citywide; median neighbourhood 21.35 |
| TDSB schools per 1,000 children | TDSB schools in the polygon ÷ residents under 15 × 1,000 | About 1.5 (585 schools ÷ 383,318 children) |
| 5-year growth | 2021 population vs 2016 population, % change | Varies; highest is Henry Farm at +26.2% |
| Family score | Composite; verbatim definition below | 113 neighbourhoods scored |
The family score behind our family neighbourhood rankings is defined, verbatim, as:
"Equal-weight min-max normalization of 5 criteria (child share, licensed childcare capacity per 100 kids, TDSB schools per 1,000 kids, 2016-21 growth, transit commuter share) across the 113 neighbourhoods with population >= 8,000 and complete data."
The data is from 2021, and Toronto has moved on
Every census figure on HomeTurf, population, income, tenure, transit share, comes from the 2021 Census of Population (Statistics Canada). Five years of condo completions, rent shifts, and migration have happened since. A neighbourhood like Henry Farm, which grew 26.2% between 2016 and 2021, has almost certainly kept changing.
Treat the numbers as the most recent reliable snapshot, not a live feed. Our growth and decline rankings tell you where change was already underway in 2021, which is often the best available predictor of where it continued.
Does "licensed childcare" mean all childcare?
No. HomeTurf's 1,055 centres and 79,569 spaces (Ontario Licensed Child Care Database) cover provincially licensed centres only. Home daycares, nannies, and informal family care are invisible to this data. Licensed capacity also spans infant through school age, and most spaces serve children under six, so the ratio overstates infant availability.
The gaps the metric does reveal are still enormous: Kensington-Chinatown's 76.1 licensed spaces per 100 children is roughly 42 times Black Creek's 1.8. Our childcare deserts guide maps both extremes, with these caveats attached throughout.
Why only TDSB schools?
School counts include Toronto District School Board schools only: 585 across the city (TDSB directory). Toronto Catholic District School Board schools, French boards, and private schools are excluded, so a neighbourhood that looks school-poor on HomeTurf may be well served by a Catholic or private option around the corner.
The counts also say nothing about school quality, programs, or catchment lines. They measure physical presence inside a boundary, nothing more.
Median household income is not housing cost
HomeTurf reports median household income (2021 Census), which ranges from $57,200 in South Parkdale to $222,000 in Bridle Path-Sunnybrook-York Mills, nearly a fourfold spread. It tells you who already lives there, not what it costs to move in. HomeTurf has no home price or rent data.
A low-income neighbourhood can still be expensive to buy into, and the reverse happens too. For the full income extremes across all 158 areas, see the neighbourhood statistics reference.
What does transit share actually measure?
Transit share is the percentage of workers commuting by public transit in the 2021 Census. The census was collected mid-pandemic, when remote work had emptied offices, so even the highest figure in HomeTurf's data, 46% in Taylor Massey, likely understates normal ridership. Comparisons between neighbourhoods remain fair: every area shares the same depressed baseline.
What happens at neighbourhood boundaries?
Point-in-polygon assignment is precise but blunt at the edges. A school across the street from your house can sit in the neighbouring polygon and count entirely for that neighbourhood, contributing zero to yours. With 158 boundaries dividing 2,761,290 residents (2021 Census; City of Toronto Open Data), edge effects are unavoidable.
If a neighbourhood scores poorly on schools or childcare, check a map before ruling it out. The missing centre may be 200 metres past the line.
The composite score weights are an editorial choice
HomeTurf's family score weights five criteria equally: child share, childcare capacity, schools per 1,000 kids, growth, and transit. Equal weighting is a judgment call, not a law of nature. A parent who cares twice as much about childcare as transit would rank the 113 scored neighbourhoods differently, and they wouldn't be wrong.
The threshold matters too: 45 of the 158 neighbourhoods are left unscored because their population falls below 8,000 or their data is incomplete. Unscored doesn't mean bad, it means too small or too patchy to rank fairly.
What HomeTurf is not
HomeTurf carries no listings, no realtor partnerships, and no sponsored rankings. It's a free comparison layer over public data covering all 158 neighbourhoods, built by one person. No neighbourhood pays to rank higher, and the composite score has no commercial inputs, just the five census-derived criteria quoted above.
When is the data updated?
HomeTurf refreshes whenever a source dataset updates; this build is dated June 11, 2026. Childcare and school counts can change between censuses; population, income, and growth figures cannot. The next major refresh lands with the 2026 Census of Population releases, which will replace every 2021 figure and add a 2021-to-2026 growth comparison.
Frequently asked questions
Where does HomeTurf's data come from?
Four open government sources: Statistics Canada's 2021 Census of Population via the City of Toronto Neighbourhood Profiles, City of Toronto Open Data boundaries for all 158 neighbourhoods, the Ontario Ministry of Education's Licensed Child Care Database (1,055 centres), and the TDSB school directory (585 schools). No data is estimated or modelled.
How current is HomeTurf's data?
Census figures (population, income, tenure, transit, languages) are from the 2021 Census, the most recent available. Growth compares 2016 and 2021. Childcare and school counts come from current provincial and TDSB directories. The next major refresh arrives with the 2026 Census of Population releases.
Does HomeTurf count Catholic schools, private schools, or home daycares?
No. School counts cover the 585 TDSB public schools only; Catholic, French-board, and private schools are excluded. Childcare counts cover Ontario-licensed centres only (1,055 citywide, 79,569 spaces), so home daycares, nannies, and informal care don't appear. Treat both metrics as floors, not totals.
Is HomeTurf affiliated with realtors or listing sites?
No. HomeTurf is a free, independent tool with no listings, no realtor partnerships, and no sponsored placements. Rankings come only from the open data: for example, the family score combines five equally weighted census-derived criteria across 113 neighbourhoods. Nobody can pay to change a number.