Blog article: Toronto’s Summer Data
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Summer in Toronto is a season of movement. Beaches, festivals, bike rides, block parties, and long evenings in the park. But making the most of it often means knowing where to go, what’s happening, and how to get there. Good news: the City’s open data catalogue has datasets that can help you do exactly that.
I’ve summarized the most useful datasets to explore as summer kicks off.
🏖️ Beach Water Quality & SwimSafe
Before you make the trip to a public swimming pool, wading pools, spas (hot tubs), beaches and splash pads…check the water!
Every year between June and September, the City of Toronto’s Parks, Forestry & Recreation division collects daily water samples from Toronto’s supervised public beaches. Toronto Public Health measures E. coli levels to determine whether swimming is safe and when it’s not, warning signs go up.
The Toronto Beaches Water Quality dataset gives you access to this historical and seasonal data so developers and residents alike can build tools or simply stay informed. Swimsafe is parents’ favourite new data release. It is our newest release and the data shows all inspections to public-access swimming pools, wading pools, spas (hot tubs), and splash pads.
🌳 Parks & Recreation
Toronto has over 1,500 parks, but finding the right one for your needs (splash pad? tennis courts? off-leash dog area?) is easier with data.
The Parks and Recreation datasets include facility locations, amenity details, and green space boundaries across the city. Whether you’re a resident looking for somewhere new to explore or a developer building a neighbourhood tool, this is a great starting point. Don’t forget to check out our Parks Washroom 🚽 Facilities map.
🚧 Road Restrictions
Summer also means construction season – with the World Cup looming, you can be sure that festivals, utility work, and city events regularly affect traffic and transit across Toronto.
The Road Restrictions dataset is updated regularly and tracks current and planned restrictions across the city. It is useful for commuters, cyclists, and event planners navigating summer routes.
🎉 Festivals & Events
Toronto’s summer calendar is packed. The Festivals and Events dataset lists permitted public events happening across the city: from neighbourhood block parties to major cultural celebrations.
This dataset is especially timely as the city prepares for a busy summer that includes FIFA World Cup 2026™ legacy programming and community events tied to the Summer Safety Plan.
🚲 Bike Share Toronto
More Torontonians are opting for two wheels in summer, and the Bike Share Toronto Station Information and Status dataset tells you in real time which stations are active, how many bikes are available, and where docks are open.
This dataset has been the foundation for some great community projects, including analyses of how ridership patterns shift with the seasons and how cycling connects to transit.
⛴️ Ferry Terminal Ticket Sales
Planning a trip to the Toronto Islands? The Ferry Terminal Ticket Sales and Redemption dataset tracks ridership is handy for understanding peak times and island access trends over the summer months.
🗺️ Summer Safety Plan
This one is recently released. The City’s Summer Safety Plan has over 200 youth programs and events happening across Toronto this summer, by age group, interest, program type, and neighbourhood.
The City’s team built a map using open location data submitted by community partners and City divisions, and is a great example of open data being put to direct community use.
How to Explore All Datasets
All of the datasets above (and hundreds more) are freely available through the City of Toronto Open Data Catalogue. You can filter by topic (Parks & Recreation, Transportation, Health, Culture & Tourism, and more), refresh rate, and format.
Have an idea for a summer project using open data? Share it with us; we’d love to see what you build.