Shutter BoysCalifornia shutters in Toronto
Homes in Toronto
Apartments outnumber houses in Toronto: 65% of its 1,160,890 occupied homes are in buildings of two or more units, 47% of all homes in buildings of five or more storeys. Detached houses make up 23% and semi-detached and row houses 12%.
More homes here were built 1960 or earlier than in any later period we count: 29%. Only 24% date from 2001 or later. 52% of homes are lived in by their owners.
Of the 89 Ontario cities we have census figures for, Toronto has the highest share of apartments. In nearby Richmond Hill, 16 km away, 15% of homes were built in 1980 or earlier, so Toronto's windows are on the whole older. Nationally, Toronto's homes are older than those in 80% of the 167 Canadian cities we have census figures for.
Source: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population. Period of construction and tenure come from the 25% sample; counts are randomly rounded.
Condo towers
47% of homes are in buildings of five storeys or more, where floor-to-ceiling window walls are common. Tier-on-tier panels let you open the top for light and keep the bottom closed for privacy, and a mounting frame gives the panels a square edge on glass that runs wall to wall. Many buildings ask you to book the elevator for deliveries and keep to set work hours, so check with management before install day.
Plaster walls and deep casings
29% of homes date from 1960 or earlier, when walls were plaster on lath and windows sat in deep wood casings. Plaster cracks if you drive screws carelessly: drill a pilot hole, use fixings made for plaster, and fix into the casing or the framing behind it. A deep casing is good news for an inside mount; measure its depth before you choose a louver size.
Out-of-square openings
With 58% of homes built in 1980 or earlier, many openings have had decades to settle. Measure each one's width at the top, middle and bottom, and both diagonals. If the diagonals differ by more than about 6 mm, add a mounting frame in the designer, or choose an outside mount so the shutter covers the uneven edges.
A whole house in Toronto
The most common home in Toronto has two bedrooms: 29% of homes. 17% have four bedrooms or more, and 31% have one or none. Homes average 4.9 rooms.
Apartments are the most common kind of home here. No Canadian survey counts windows by type of home; in the US, the middle apartment in a building of five or more units has 3 to 5 (EIA, 2020). Shuttering that many windows at a typical bedroom-window size comes to roughly $1,300 to $2,900 CAD. For scale, that's about 0.2% of the median home value here, $900,000 CAD (owners’ estimates, 2021).
Homes here are smaller than in 96% of the 167 Canadian cities we have figures for: many orders are a few rooms, not a whole house.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (bedrooms, rooms and value from the 25% sample; counts randomly rounded); U.S. Energy Information Administration, Residential Energy Consumption Survey 2020, Table HC2.1 (apartment windows). EIA RECS 2020, Table HC2.1
A typical home3–5 windows
All of them shuttered$1,300 to $2,900 CAD
Every window priced as a 36 × 48 in opening in our basic build (flat moulding, paint stage 1, 3½ in louvers), before tax and shipping. Your windows will differ; the designer prices each one.
Price your own windowsWorking from home
39% of workers here worked from home on census day in May 2021, during the pandemic, more than in 97% of the 167 Canadian cities we have figures for. Glare on a screen comes from direct sun and bright sky behind or beside it. Louvers tilted up throw daylight at the ceiling instead, so the room stays bright and the screen stays readable; wider louvers give the clearest view when you open them.
Older homes, high values
Owners here value their homes higher than in 80% of the 167 Canadian cities we have figures for, and 58% of homes were built in 1980 or earlier. If an older house still has good wood shutters, repair them before you replace them; if not, poplar painted to match the trim suits original casings.
Ages, place of work and value: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population. Rankings compare the Canadian cities we have figures for.
Toronto weather and your shutters
At Toronto (City) (8 km away), July averages a high of 27 °C and January a low of −6.7 °C. Average lows sit at or below freezing from December to March.
About 14 days a year top 30 °C, 101 days drop to 0 °C or below and 823 mm of precipitation falls, spread fairly evenly through the year.
That's more 30 °C days than in 75% of the 160 Canadian cities we have climate normals for.
Daylight runs from 15 h 27 min on the longest day to 8 h 55 min on the shortest, and the midday sun stands 70° above the horizon in June and 23° in December.
Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020, Toronto (City). Daylight and sun height: calculated from the city’s latitude.
Monthly figures
| Month | Average high | Average low | Precipitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | −0.3 °C | −6.7 °C | 64.6 mm |
| Feb | 0.6 °C | −6 °C | 53.9 mm |
| Mar | 5.1 °C | −1.8 °C | 52.8 mm |
| Apr | 11.7 °C | 3.9 °C | 78 mm |
| May | 18.8 °C | 10 °C | 76.4 mm |
| Jun | 24.2 °C | 15.3 °C | 81.6 mm |
| Jul | 27 °C | 18.1 °C | 76.5 mm |
| Aug | 26.1 °C | 17.7 °C | 71.9 mm |
| Sep | 22 °C | 13.8 °C | 69.4 mm |
| Oct | 14.6 °C | 7.7 °C | 69.1 mm |
| Nov | 8.1 °C | 2.3 °C | 70.8 mm |
| Dec | 2.6 °C | −2.7 °C | 57.8 mm |
Summer sun
On the 14 days a year above 30 °C, closed louvers keep direct sun off the glass and out of the room. In a window that takes afternoon sun, white and light paint finishes stay cooler to the touch than dark stains.
Fitting them in Toronto
Shutter Boys shutters are made for you to fit yourself: an inside or outside mount takes a drill, a level and our step-by-step guide. If you'd rather hire someone, ask on your quote: we are building a list of independent installers across the GTA. You arrange and pay the installer directly.
Near Toronto
- Richmond Hill 16 km
- Markham 17 km
- Vaughan 18 km
- Pickering 27 km
- Mississauga 29 km
- Aurora 29 km
More about shutters in Toronto
Each page takes one question further (fitting your windows, room by room, sizes and colours, louvers, or how shutters compare with other choices), using Toronto’s own figures.
Talk to your rep in Toronto
Call the Shutter Boys GTA line, or book a free design consultation by video or phone: we go through your windows, the style and colour, and how to measure them.
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For designers, contractors and stores in Toronto
Interior designers, contractors, window covering stores, realtors and property managers in Toronto can sell or refer Shutter Boys shutters: dealers buy at trade pricing with a protected area; referral partners earn a fee on each client they send. No fee to join.
Price your windows
Choose Canada in the designer, enter millimetres or inches, and we reply with your quote in Canadian dollars.