A grassroots art project that has brought large-scale murals to Scarborough's commercial corridors — Sheppard East, Ellesmere Road, and Lawrence Avenue East. Many pieces celebrate Scarborough's Tamil, Caribbean, Chinese, and Filipino communities.
Neighbourhood: Scarborough · Address: Sheppard Ave E and Lawrence Ave E, Toronto, ON · Hours: Mon–Fri 10:00 AM – 6:30 PM | Sat 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM | Sun: Closed · Price Range: Free · Editorial status: Not yet verified
Scarborough Mural Collective lines major local streets with huge, colourful murals reflecting Tamil, Filipino, Caribbean, and Chinese cultures. The project turns everyday neighbourhood walks into moving art tours.
Unlike many downtown murals, these pieces directly reflect Scarborough’s distinct multicultural communities, featuring local symbols, history, and languages you won’t find elsewhere in Toronto. The murals are concentrated along busy corridors, making them easy to incorporate into daily routines or transit rides.
If you want a version of Toronto that feels a little less polished and a lot more lived-in, go check out the Etobicoke Lakeshore Murals. Along Lake Shore Boulevard West, through Mimico and New Toronto, the Etobicoke Arts Council has turned long stretches of walls, underpasses, and building sides into an outdoor gallery that just keeps going. There are more than 30 large-scale murals spread out over kilometres, and that scale is really the point. This isn’t one photo stop and done. It’s something you move through. What I like about it is that it feels tied to the neighbourhood instead of dropped in for tourists. You’ll pass apartment towers, local shops, old industrial buildings, parks, side streets, and then suddenly a huge wall explodes with colour. Some murals are polished and graphic, others feel more playful or community-driven. A few are easy to spot from the road, while others make you slow down and actually look around. It’s one of those places where Toronto feels expansive rather than crowded. The best way to do it, honestly, is by bike. Start near the Humber Bridge, hop onto the Martin Goodman Trail, and make your way west toward the Mimico waterfront and beyond. You can dip up to Lake Shore when you spot a mural, then roll back down toward the lake. In one ride, you’ll see an absurd amount of public art without ever feeling like you’re doing a formal “art outing.” It’s just a really good city ride with bonus giant paintings. If you’re into photography, daytime is best by far. The colours read properly, and you won’t be fighting dim light under the bridges. Morning or late afternoon is especially nice if you want softer light and fewer people in your shots. If you’re walking instead, pick a section rather than trying to do the whole corridor in one go unless you’re up for a long urban ramble. The stretch through Mimico is especially easy to pair with a waterfront walk, and New Toronto has that slightly rougher, more industrial backdrop that makes the murals pop. Wear decent shoes, bring water, and expect a mix of lake breeze, traffic noise, and the usual city interruptions. This isn’t a pristine pedestrian-only art park. You’re moving through real streets, which is part of why it works. It’s open 24 hours and free, but I’d still say go in the daytime. You’ll get more out of the details, and some of the pieces are spread far enough apart that the route makes more sense when you can actually orient yourself. The nice thing is that it rewards repeat visits. You’ll miss pieces the first time, notice different details on the second pass, or catch a wall you somehow rode right by before. For something so accessible, it still feels strangely underrated, which in Toronto usually means it’s worth your time.
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