Scarborough is the most cost-friendly part of Toronto for retirement-home care and the most culturally diverse. Where central Toronto's homes lean toward English-language defaults and premium pricing, Scarborough's 17 RHRA-licensed homes serve Tamil, Chinese, South Asian, and Caribbean communities at a wider range of price points. This guide is an overview of each home, organised by neighbourhood, with notes on what each one is set up for.
How Scarborough retirement homes differ from central Toronto
Three patterns worth knowing before you start.
Price. A Scarborough home that mirrors a Forest Hill home in care licence and amenities will typically run $500 to $1,000 less per month. The difference is not building quality; it is land cost and a less concentrated luxury market.
Cultural and language fit. Several Scarborough homes specialise in Tamil and Chinese-language environments - meals, programming, and staffing. If your parent is more comfortable in a non-English daily setting, Scarborough is often the right answer.
Care intensity. The full range of care exists in Scarborough - independent living, assisted living, and dementia care - but the dementia-specialist providers are concentrated rather than spread thin. A small handful of homes do most of the heavy dementia work in the catchment.
For a price comparison see how much a retirement home costs in Toronto in 2026.
North Scarborough
Around Sheppard, McCowan, and the Scarborough Town Centre area.
- McCowan Retirement Residence. Broad care licensure including dementia care.
- Queens Estate Retirement Residence. Mid-sized home with established care programming.
- Greenview Lodge. Established home with broad care services on its licence.
East Scarborough
Toward Markham Road, Eglinton East, and the Highland Creek area.
- A Better Way Retirement Home Corp.. Smaller home with focused care services.
- Bethseda Home. Smaller residential-style home, established East Scarborough operator.
Central Scarborough
Around Kennedy and Lawrence East.
- Alexis Lodge Retirement Residence. Broad care licensure with strong focus on dementia care.
- Arul Oli Senior Centre. Tamil-community-focused residence - meals, programming, and language match.
- Birdsilver Gardens Senior Support Centre. Smaller home in central Scarborough.
South Scarborough and Lakeshore
The southern strip, closer to Lake Ontario, less dense in retirement homes but worth checking if your family is east of downtown.
- Presentation Manor. Catholic-tradition home with full RHRA care licensure.
- One Kenton Place. Broad care licensure across most RHRA services.
What this list will not tell you
Three things you can only learn by visiting:
- The actual feel of the dining room at lunch.
- Whether staff know residents by name.
- Whether your parent will be willing to live there.
The licence tells you what a home is permitted to do. It does not tell you whether the home is doing it well. Use this list to shortlist three homes; visit them all in a single week; trust your eyes and your parent's reactions over any list.
Cultural and language fit
Scarborough's strongest distinguishing feature is cultural depth. A few homes worth calling specifically if language and culture matter:
- Arul Oli Senior Centre for Tamil-language daily life.
- Alexis Lodge has historically served the Filipino and broader South Asian communities.
- Several homes accommodate Cantonese and Mandarin on staff and in meal options without being formally branded as Chinese-community residences.
The right question on your call is direct: "What languages do your front-line PSWs speak, and is the dining-room conversation at lunch usually in English or another language?"
Pricing in Scarborough in 2026
Drawing from quotes across the catchment:
| Care level | Monthly all-in (CAD) |
|---|---|
| Independent living | $3,000 – $4,200 |
| Light assisted living | $3,800 – $5,000 |
| Moderate assisted living | $4,500 – $6,000 |
| Dementia care | $5,000 – $7,500 |
Compared to central Toronto, expect to save $500 to $1,200 per month on the same care intensity.
What this list will not tell you about Scarborough specifically
Three patterns that matter on the ground in Scarborough.
Highway access is excellent. Most Scarborough homes sit within a five-minute drive of the 401 or DVP. For families spread across the GTA, this often translates into more weekly visits than a hard-to-reach midtown home.
Public transit varies. The Scarborough RT replacement and Eglinton Crosstown LRT extensions are still rolling out through 2026 and 2027. A few homes are within walking distance of subway stations; many require a bus connection. Ask about specific transit access if your parent or family relies on it.
Newer development clusters near Scarborough Town Centre. A handful of newer purpose-built homes are concentrated near the STC area. These tend to sit toward the higher end of the local price range.
How to shortlist three homes
A practical sequence:
- Open the Scarborough filter in our directory.
- Filter by the care services your parent needs.
- Eliminate homes outside the driving radius from family.
- Pick three; call all three the same morning; book tours the same week.
What to do next
- Browse the full Scarborough retirement homes filter in our directory and shortlist three.
- If you are weighing Scarborough against the East End of Toronto, read retirement homes near the Toronto East End.
- Take questions to ask when touring on your first visit.
Home for Seniors editorial. Updated May 2026. Sources: RHRA public licensee database; home-by-home licence and amenity data current as of May 2026.
What to look at next
RHRA-licensed homes in Scarborough, ranked by photos and rating.
Scarborough Retirement Residence
Scarborough · M1M 2Z8
Alexis Lodge Retirement Residence
Scarborough · M1P 2W1
Guildwood Retirement Residence
Scarborough · M1E 0E6
Presentation Manor
Scarborough · M1L 1Z7
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