Canada Linseed Oil Mills

Posted by Kathy on Nov 11, 2008 in junction, manufacturing, ontario, toronto | 0 comments

The Canada Linseed Oil mills is one of the buildings in Toronto that everyone seems to know about and has visited, but no one really knows anything substantial about. It’s four stories tall with a (usually flooded) basement with 20+ ft ceiling. There is no trace left of the machinery or documents left around here that gives a hint of what went on here 50 years ago.

Photo by Patrick Cummins, taken on February 28, 1988.

Linseed Promotional card

Canada Linseed oil mills was built in 1915 where Linseed (flax seed) was pressed into oil and other uses. It has been abandoned for almost 40 years, since 1965 and is probably the only building you will find here on NTROPY from Toronto that hasn’t been redeveloped or demolished as 95% of the other locations listed here. It hasn’t seen any other adaptive reuse, apart from the local graffiti artists painting inside and the occasional rave. In 2000, the city purchased the land for $2 million, but nothing was done with the site except occasional attempts at securing the location. Last year a small building next to the main plant was turned into a small meeting space and bathrooms for the park nearby. So far nothing much has happened, but the Wabash community Center project has its own website with more details on the progress. If you have worked here or have historical pictures of the plant we would love to hear from you. We both happened to love the graffiti inside, because it looked like a time capsule like the Comfort Soap Works.