Most people know a residents' association for its planning letters and deputations. On Eventbrite, the Bayview Village Association looks more like a small lecture hall. In late October 2026 its organizer profile showed 151 events, seven years of hosting and 9.8k total attendees. Its November talks cost nothing to attend. Two of the five Mondays showed as sold out before the month began.
The series is called BVA New Horizons for Seniors. The November lineup tells you how much demand there is for good Monday-morning programming close to home. It also tells you how much work a volunteer group does to keep it running.
Two of the five Mondays filled up before November
The November sessions run Mondays from 10 a.m. to noon at Toronto Public Library's Hillcrest branch, 5801 Leslie Street. Eventbrite lists doors at 9:45 a.m. Here is the full month, with ticket status as Eventbrite showed it in late October:
- Monday, Nov. 2: Musicologist and musician Dr. Mike Daley was booked to return with a talk on the life and music of Leonard Cohen. Eventbrite showed this session as sold out.
- Monday, Nov. 9: Southern Ontario beekeeper Eric Karn on honeybees and beekeeping. Admission is free, with few tickets left.
- Monday, Nov. 16: Insurance professional Greg Robertson on home and auto insurance, including recent changes to provincial auto insurance regulations. The BVA has worked with him for several years and says the session "is not a sales pitch." It's free to reserve.
- Monday, Nov. 23: North York General Hospital presents Dr. Niren Shetty on palliative care and the support it offers patients, families and friends. Also free to reserve.
- Monday, Nov. 30: Liane Harris presents "Steeped in Tea," a history of tea that the BVA says comes with tea and treats. This one also shows sold out.
The topics run from a songwriter to a hive to an insurance policy to end-of-life care. That spread is how this series has always worked. Earlier in 2026, the February and March lineup covered music, hospital care, nutrition, elder abuse, local history and the Bomb Girls. A separate schedule followed for April and May.
The fall season started at a different library
November's return to Hillcrest is the end of a detour. The BVA calls Hillcrest its New Horizons partner. Over the summer the association told members the branch needed building repairs, mainly for roof problems and accessibility inside and out. Hillcrest closed for renovations on Monday, July 27, 2026, for approximately four months. The work had to be done before winter weather set in.
The volunteer New Horizons Organizing Group moved the series for the duration. The fall season started at Fairview Library, 35 Fairview Mall Drive. The BVA pointed members to its accessibility and to parking at both the library and Fairview Mall. The first session was Monday, Sept. 14, from 10 a.m. to noon. Dr. Michael Mak, a staff psychiatrist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health whose research focuses on sleep, talked about sleep myths and what works.
The November schedule opens with the word "FINALLY" and lists the Mondays at Hillcrest Public Library again. Toronto Public Library's Hillcrest branch page now shows regular weekly hours. They are Monday to Thursday 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. The library's own November calendar for the branch includes a STEAM Lab, Knitting Knot and an Expressive Art Journey session. The branch hasn't published a formal reopening date, and the switch back from Fairview is new this month. Check the BVA's latest notice before you leave on a Monday morning.
A federal grant and a group of volunteers
The talks are free partly because of a federal grant. In August 2024 the BVA announced it had received Government of Canada New Horizons for Seniors Program funding for a project called "Gather, Grow and Inspire in The Village." The grant covers speakers, workshops, clubs, seminars and cultural celebrations. The program's community-based stream funds projects designed by and for seniors to increase social inclusion.
The money pays for programming. People still have to run it, and here that's a volunteer organizing group. They book speakers like Dr. Daley, who has come back to the series before, and keep up relationships with institutions like North York General Hospital. When the Hillcrest closure was announced, the association wrote that branch staff were working with the BVA to secure another location. The September notice shows that the search worked.
How to get a seat
Every session needs its own Eventbrite registration, and the BVA links each one from its November schedule. The association is direct about why it asks people to sign up only for dates they will attend:
"REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED - As these events are popular and fill up quickly and to avoid others not being able to attend, please register for those that you are sure you can attend."
A few practical points for the rest of the month:
- Honeybees on Nov. 9 is the tightest. It showed few tickets left in late October.
- Insurance on Nov. 16 and palliative care on Nov. 23 both showed open, free reservations.
- Tea on Nov. 30 showed sold out. Eventbrite said the event had reached maximum capacity.
- Plan for the 9:45 a.m. doors. Hillcrest is on Leslie Street north of Finch Avenue.
The rest of the November calendar
The talks aren't the only New Horizons programming this fall. A four-part "Opening to Creativity" art workshop with Carol Knowlton-Dority meets from 10 a.m. to noon at Hillcrest. The dates are Oct. 29 and Nov. 5, 12 and 19. In its notice, the BVA said spaces were limited and the series was almost full.
Back at Bayview and Sheppard, the other big ticketed date this month is a paid evening. Bayview Village Shopping Centre's "Haute For The Holidays" charity shopping night is Wednesday, Nov. 18, from 7 to 10 p.m. General admission is $25 and VIP is $65, and proceeds support four named charities. The evening includes gourmet bites from the centre's dining spots, plus a dessert bar from McEwan Fine Foods. That grocer has announced a 2027 opening in the former Pusateri's space, so the dessert bar comes well before the store itself, as Retail Insider reported. The shopping night also takes place under the centre's newly finished Centre Court. Its new "Big Bang" chandelier and two-storey "Lady Flamingo" sculpture were part of the interior renovation Daily Commercial News reported as complete in September.
The association also has its own calendar running. Its annual Shredding Day at 15 Morewood Cres. on Oct. 31 was set to open the BVA's 2027 membership drive, with shredding priced at $5 a box for members and $10 for everyone else. According to the Join the BVA page, membership is $25 a year, and new memberships taken out now run through the end of 2027. Members also get the weekly "What's Happening" e-newsletter, which only members receive.
We follow the volunteer groups behind Bayview Village's calendar as closely as we follow its market. If you're thinking about what your own home is worth in this neighbourhood, the Jamie Dempster Team is happy to talk it through with you. Request a Free Home Evaluation and we'll start with a clear, local conversation.
