It all depends on how you slice and dice it, though it would not be unfair to at least entertain Thorncrest Village’s claim to be Canada’s first planned community. At least not Canada’s first post World War II planned community. To be certain, comprehensive community plans existed previous to the war and, honestly, claims to “first” tend to obscure the realities of invention and innovation. We all stand on the shoulders of giants, after all.
If you’ve ever looked into the construction of apartments, small commercial buildings, and industrial buildings in Ottawa during the mid-century period, there is a nearly 100% chance that you’ve come across a building that was either designed by or altered by J. Morris Woolfson.
Continuing with my use of Might’s Directories to collect data on apartment buildings, above is a map with all of the apartment buildings listed in the 1950 edition. For each of the points on the map, I have given the apartment building’s name (if it has one), its address, and if it has been demolished or replaced, date or date range for when that happened.