Ward’s Island, a small, residential enclave tucked inside a major urban park on Toronto Island feels less like a city neighbourhood and more like a preserved village: roughly 250–260 homes house only about 650 residents, with no cars, limited services, and a lifestyle built around walking, cycling, and ferry access to downtown Toronto. Residents don’t actually own the land beneath their homes—they lease it from the government under a tightly controlled system designed to keep the community small, stable, and protected from speculative real estate markets. That same system is what makes Ward’s…