Jane and Finch, also known as University Heights, is a Toronto neighbourhood located in northwestern North York. As the name suggests, it is centered around the intersection of Jane Street and Finch Avenue.
The general borders of the area are Shoreham Drive in the north, Grandravine Drive in the south, Highway 400 in the west and Driftwood Avenue in the east.
According to the Jane-Finch Street Involved Youth Issues Coalition in 2002, the Jane and Finch neighbourhood has “one of the highest proportions of youth, sole-supported families, refugees and immigrants, low-income earners and public housing tenants of any community in Toronto.”
Unfortunately, this concentration means that there is crime in the area. The Jane and Finch neighbourhood is one of the
Toronto neighbourhoods with the most property crime.
In the area between Jane Street and Driftwood Avenue, from Finch Avenue south to Grandravine Drive, there is an average of 23.55 crimes against people per 1000 people living and working in the area. There is an average of 37.72 crimes against property per 1000.
West of Jane Street to Oakdale Road, from Finch Avenue to Eddystone Avenue, there is an average of 17.02 crimes against people per 1000 and 13.57 crimes against property.
North of Finch, in the area surrounding Driftwood Park, there is an average of 20.45 crimes against people per 1000 and 19.55 crimes against property. Between Driftwood Avenue and Shoreham Drive but east of Jane Street, there is an average of 13.06 crimes against people and 20.14 crimes against property.
The stretch between Jane Street and Gosford Boulevard, from Finch Avenue north to Steeles Avenue, has the highest concentration of property crime in the neighbourhood. There is an average of 15.86 crimes against people but there are 57.77 crimes against property per 1000 living and working in the neighborhood.
West of Gosford Boulevard to Highway 400, between Steeles and Finch, there is an average of 8.75 crimes against people and 14.26 crimes against property per 1000.
In November 2011 two teenagers were shot outside of a school in the Jane and Finch neighbourhood. Apparently the gunman was waiting for another man to exit a building. When the victim stepped outside, he was shot. A 14-year-old girl was also shot in the attack, but she was not the primary target.
From the Globe and Mail:
Witnesses said the incident appeared to have been an ambush directed at the man as he walked out of the Oakdale Community Centre, directly across the street from the school on Grandravine Drive.
The gunman was said to have first fired from a parked car before getting out, running toward the fallen victim and firing again several times.
As he went back to his the car, he turned and fired at two 14-year-old girls who were nearby, hitting one in the leg. She was not the “primary target,” Insp. Carter said, but it was unclear what connection, if any, she had to the first victim.
In October 2011, a man was shot and killed in the Jane and Finch area. From the Toronto Star:
One man was killed and another was injured in a shooting near Jane St. and Finch Ave. W early Saturday morning.
Police said multiple gunshots rang out near 32 Tobermory Dr. around 2 a.m. and several men were seen running away. When police arrived, they found one man who had been shot dead.
Another man showed up at the Finch Ave. site of the Humber River Regional hospital with gunshot wounds around 2:30 a.m. Police said they believe he was also involved in the same shooting. His injuries are non-life threatening.
In May 2011, a woman was shot in the leg during a drive-by shooting. Also from the Toronto Star:
A woman has been rushed to hospital after being shot in the leg in a drive-by shooting in Toronto’s Jane and Finch area.
In what police called a “double drive-by” — the two cars involved were both moving at the time — shots were fired from one moving vehicle into the other near the intersection of Gosford Blvd. and Secroft Cres. The woman’s injuries are not considered life-threatening, police said.
Another shooting took place in the area on the same day. From the Toronto Sun:
A man in his 40s is recovering after a shooting in the Jane-Finch area late Tuesday. Toronto Police said two groups of men outside an apartment building on Marsh Grass Way were involved in an argument when shots rang out around 11:30 p.m.
The victim was rushed to Sunnybrook hospital with wounds to his torso and leg. He is expected to survive.
