Spruce Court Co-Op

The Spruce Court Co-op is defined by its two large, grassy inner courtyards, an architectural layout that starkly contrasts with the tightly packed Victorian row houses surrounding it. Built in two phases starting in nineteen thirteen, this compound was designed by the architect Eden Smith to provide high-quality rental housing for working-class families. It represents Canada’s first government-sponsored housing project, conceived by the Toronto Housing Company to offer relief from the crowded, unsanitary conditions common in the city during the early twentieth century.