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The fire that destroyed Toronto’s historic St. Anne’s Church is being treated as a suspected arson, Toronto police confirmed Monday afternoon.
In a news release issued Sunday, officials from the Anglican Diocese of Toronto and St. Anne’s Church said they had been informed by investigators that the blaze that gutted the building in June 2024 is suspected to have been deliberately set.
In an email sent to CBC News, Toronto police confirmed The Office of the Fire Marshall has concluded its investigation and has deemed this fire a suspected arson. Officers are now investigating.
“This has been a very difficult season for the St. Anne’s community, and learning this news will add to that pain,” said Rev. Hannah Johnston, priest-in-charge of St. Anne’s, in a statement.
“The church was more than a building, it was a sacred space that held so many memories for St. Anne’s parishioners, our neighbours and outreach community, and people across Canada and beyond.”
Earlier in the investigation, police had previously said it did not appear that the four-alarm fire inside the church on Gladstone Avenue near Dundas Street W. that raged on June 9 was deliberately set.
The building, built between 1907 and 1908 in the city’s Little Portugal neighbourhood, housed early works by members of the Group of Seven and was designated a national historic site for the “remarkable” cycle of paintings and sculptures that decorated its interior. One parishioner told CBC News after the fire last year that it was like “being inside a jewel box.”
“Its loss has been devastating, yet our community is resilient,” Johnston said.
“Our faith tells us that there is hope even in the face of suffering and death, and that new life can spring from the ashes.”
WATCH | Sunday after St. Anne’s Church fire, parishioners gather for service in parking lot:
St. Anne’s Church hosts outdoor service after losing building to fire
A Christian congregation that lost its church to a devastating fire last week held its first service Sunday since the tragedy. Congregants gathered in the parking lot outside St. Anne’s Anglican Church. CBC Toronto’s Ryan Patrick Jones was there.
Bishop Kevin Robertson, a suffragan bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Toronto, said in a statement that the diocese was devastated to hear that the fire may have been arson.
“As this new reality sinks in, we pray for the congregation of St. Anne’s,” he said. “May they continue to be a light to the community, providing hope and compassion to those in need.”