Toronto Photo Gallery - Ward's Island

While the Toronto Islands are known for its green space with skyline views and a nostalgic amusement park, there are residential communities here, with about 700 people living on Ward's and Algonquin Islands on the eastern side.

Ward's Island is easily accessible from downtown Toronto with frequent ferries. There is a yacht club here as well as a quiet beach. The streets are car-free but there are no supermarkets or doctors.

Moving here is also much more difficult than the rest of the city. You need to get yourself onto the purchasers' list, which can hold a maximum of 500 people and only opens to new applicants every 2 years if there are spaces available. Where there are more applicants than spots, the trust uses a lottery to pick the successful new joiners. Available homes are then sold to the people on this list in sequential order and there are no bidding wars. Only about 70 homes have been sold in the last 30 years.

Since homes are sold based on the appraiser's price and there are no market-driven bids, many home-owners are stuck as they won't be able to afford a home elsewhere in the city. Yet as the population ages, it gets increasingly difficult to sustain their island lifestyle.

There are plenty of skyline views all around.

There is a quiet beach on the south side of the island facing Lake Ontario and the sunshine.

A short walk from the houses and beach is the yacht club. However, you don't need your own boat to reach the city. The city operates frequent ferries from downtown with as little wait time as 30 minutes during the summer.