Toronto's Dufferin-Dovercourt Village Named Fastest Growing Area for New Musicians in Canada

New musicians are making names for themselves in neighbourhoods all across Canada, but the fastest-growing hub for up-and-coming artists is Toronto’s Dufferin-Dovercourt village.

SOCAN reported that the neighbourhood—bordered by the Dufferin Mall and home to Dovercourt Park—was the fastest-growing spot for new music creators by assessing the number of music publishers, songwriters, and composers who joined SOCAN last year per sortation area. They found that the village, designated by the postal code beginning in M6H, contained the highest concentration of new SOCAN members.

Two other Toronto neighbourhoods made the list, along with three areas in Brampton and four from Montreal​​​. Montreal’s Centre-Sud North and Petite-Patrie Southwest both tied for ninth place. The full list is available below with postal code prefixes included:

1. Dufferin-Dovercourt Village, Toronto (M6H)
2. Brampton North, Ontario (L6P)
3. Downtown Toronto CN Tower/King & Spadina/Harbourfront West/Bathurst Quay (M5V)
4. Brampton West, Ontario (L7A)
5. Outremont, Montréal (H2V)
6. Brampton Northwest, Ontario (L6R)
7. Brockton-Parkdale Village/Exhibition Place, Toronto (M6K)
8. Hochelaga, Montréal (H1W)
9. Centre-Sud North, Montréal (H2K)
9. Petite-Patrie Southwest, Montréal (H2S)

Aside from finding out the fastest-growing music centres in Canada, SOCAN also analyzed which neighbourhoods are home to artists with the most success per capita. Looking at which areas had artists who had the highest success rate based on total performing rights and reproduction rights royalties earned via SOCAN, they discovered that with the exception of Amherstburg, all the areas were located in Toronto and Montreal.

1. Petite-Patrie Southwest, Montreal (H2S)
2. India Bazaar/The Beaches West, Toronto (M4L)
3. Davisville North, Toronto (M4P)
4. The Annex-North Midtown-Yorkville, Toronto (M5R)
5. Christie, Toronto (M6G)
6. Studio District, Toronto (M4M)
7. Dufferin-Dovercourt Village, Toronto (M6H)
8. Plateau Mont-Royal North Central, Montréal (H2J)
9. Amherstburg, Ontario (N9V)
10. Centre-Sud South, Montreal (H2L)

“Canada’s songwriters and composers are your next-door neighbours,” SOCAN CEO Jennifer Brown said in a press release. “They live and work among all of us, helping to drive our economy with their incredible talent. Canadians might not realize that music creation is all around every one of us and, even through the pandemic, they’ve been working to elevate our local and national culture and identity with their invaluable work, amplifying Canada’s global reputation for creativity.”