It is located in the North York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The observatory was renamed the Allan Ian Carswell Astronomical Observatory in 2017 after York University Emeritus Professor of Physics Allan Carswell.

[1] The observatory owns two telescopes housed in separate domes: a 60 cm (24 in) Cassegrain reflector, and a 1 m (39 in) custom-built telescope, the largest at a university in Canada.

[3] The observatory is open to the public every Wednesday evening, and also hosts public viewing sessions for special events, such as Astronomy Day in 2006, Earth Hour and Science Rendezvous in 2008.

Like the David Dunlap Observatory, York's location is subject to nearby light pollution.