Like many neighbourhoods in eastern Canada, the community of Cedarvale was a private plot of land owned by one man, Sir Henry Mill Pellat, who was the builder of Casa Loma (a huge castle-like house in Toronto that is a major tourist attraction). Pellat originally intended the area to be a closed community when he began to develop it in 1912. Due to decreasing funds from the costs of Casa Loma as well as a plunging real estate market during World War I, the only extant reminder of this dream are a couple of columns located at the intersection of Bathurst Street and Claxton Boulevard.

A public relations concern was created in 1966 when the Spadina Exressway was to be built through the area. In fact, several houses were reclaimed by the government and the cedars which gave the area its name were removed for the project, but the public outcry was such that in 1974 the city decided to halt the expressway at Eglinton.

Cedarvale Today

The Cedarvale neighbourhood in Toronto is one half of the Humewood-Cedarvale community. This area is bordered by Bathurst Street to the west, Eglinton Avenue to the north, Arlington Avenue to the west and St. Clair Avenue to the south. The community is divided into its respective parts by Vaughan Road, with Cedarvale to the northeast and Humewood to the southwest.

Cedarvale itself has two public school, Cedarvale Community School and Arlington Middle School, which have students registered from grades kindergarten to nine. Two public schools, Vaughan Road CI and Forest Hill CI, are located on Vaughan and Eglinton.

Over two thirds of the population of Cedarvale is of Jewish background, making it the highest proportional neighbourhood in this aspect in Toronto. As a result, two major religious sites are landmarks in the area, Holy Blossom Temple and Beth Tzedec Synagogue. There are also two private Jewish schools in the neighbourhood, United Synagogue and Leo Baeck Day School, both located on Bathurst Street.

One of the key features of Cedarvale is the Cedarvale ravine which runs through the neighbourhood, off of Bathurst and parallel to Vaughan. This ravine was named for the many cedars that used to grow along the bottom, and houses overlooking the site are among the priciest in the neighbourhood. Cedarvale includes a wide range of house prices, from $200,000 and up, with everything from starter homes to varying styles suitable to the tastes of practically any home buyer.