Leaside is an underground Toronto subway station on Line 5 Eglinton in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Leaside neighbourhood at the intersection of Bayview Avenue and Eglinton Avenue.
Located at the intersection with Bayview Avenue, this underground station has two entrances on opposite corners: the main entry at the southeast (replacing a McDonald's) and a secondary entry on the northwest (in the corner of a retail parking lot). Nearby destinations include Howard Talbot Park, Leaside High School, Mount Hope Catholic Cemetery, and the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre complex.
The station was designed by Arcadis, following an architectural concept designed by architects gh3* from Toronto and Daoust Lestage Lizotte Stecker from Montreal. As with other stations on Line 5, architectural features include natural light from large windows and skylights, steel structures painted white, and orange accents (the colour of the line).
During the planning stages for Line 5 Eglinton, the station was given the working name Bayview, which is identical to the pre-existing Bayview station on Line 4 Sheppard. On November 23, 2015, a report to the TTC Board recommended giving a unique name to each station in the subway system (including Line 5 Eglinton). Thus, the LRT station was renamed Leaside.
In October 2013, local residents learned that Metrolinx negotiations with Countrywide Homes, the current owner, allowed the owner to propose to build a new condominium over the station. Metrolinx was to acquire several adjacent properties, not necessary for constructing the station, because they fit within the plan to put the property to dual use. A Countrywide Homes executive characterized the dual-use plan "a unique opportunity because it will potentially be one of the only stops where you'll have residential right above a subway stop". Councillor Jon Burnside voiced concern that the developer would use the association with new line to argue for an exemption to the current height restrictions for the area of nine storeys and instead build a high-rise.
On September 24, 2015, a McDonald's restaurant on the southeast corner of Bayview and Eglinton Avenues was closed to make way for the station. Its closure had been a contentious topic at town hall meetings, reflecting widespread concerns about the local impact of the new transit system. The McDonald's had been a neighbourhood landmark due to its unique design, with the dining area elevated above a ground-floor parking lot, and its proximity to Howard Talbot Park, where patrons could watch students from Leaside High School play baseball after buying dinner.
The following routes serve Leaside station: