Industrial areas lie to the east, James Cardinal McGuigan Catholic High School to the west and York University is to the northwest, served by the next station north on the line.

The exterior of the main entrance features a striped, barcode cladding along with colourful tiling and windows.

[11] In March 2006, The Globe and Mail reported that real estate development companies belonging to the family of Ontario Finance Minister Greg Sorbara owned the properties just south of the intersection of Finch Avenue West and Keele Street, according to land registry documents and corporate records.

The article said that these companies would benefit from higher real estate values due to the subway extension.

Sorbara was the Liberal Member of Provincial Parliament for Vaughan, and was a major advocate for the Toronto–York Spadina Subway Extension, which includes Finch West station.

[12] On November 27, 2009, the official groundbreaking ceremony was held for the Toronto–York Spadina Subway Extension (TYSSE), and major tunnelling operations started in June 2011.

[20] The station will be located 11 m (36 ft) underground[21] with an east–west orientation under Finch Avenue West, passing over the crossover box structure for Line 1 subway trains.

[23] Provision for the Line 6 connection was included as part of the station's design, with knockout panels provided to ease construction.

Buses serving Keele Street do not enter the station but stop on-street, and a transfer is required for connection.