The 10-acre (40,000 m2) cemetery is invisible from the street, being located in the middle of a city block and ringed by homes and stores.

The city's oldest surviving Catholic cemetery, it opened in 1855.

It replaced St. Paul's Cemetery at Queen and Parliament, which had been filled to capacity by the recent influx of Irish Catholic settlers.

One of the most notable features of the cemetery is the octagonal mortuary vault designed by Joseph Sheard, who later became mayor of Toronto.

Some notable figures are interred there including brewer Eugene O'Keefe and Victoria Cross recipient Denis Dempsey.