Before streaming, before the multiplex, going to the movies in Ontario usually meant a single big room on a main street, with a marquee out front and a balcony if you were lucky. Most of those theatres are gone now. These survivors are still selling tickets. Several were saved by film societies, charities or neighbours who refused to let the lights go out.
One date keeps coming up in their histories: 2006. That year the Festival Cinemas chain collapsed, and two of the Toronto theatres on this list, the Revue and the Paradise, went dark with it. One came back the next year. The other took more than a decade.
Toronto
Revue Cinema — Roncesvalles
The Revue opened on Roncesvalles Avenue in 1912 and got an Art Deco makeover in 1936. When the Festival Cinemas chain collapsed in 2006, the Revue went dark. The neighbourhood spent 16 months raising money, and the non-profit Revue Film Society reopened it in October 2007. It survived an eviction fight in 2024, which ended with a new five-year lease, and it still screens hundreds of films a year. Revue Cinema
Fox Theatre — the Beaches
The Fox has been showing films on Queen Street East since 1914, and it calls itself the oldest continuously operating cinema in Toronto. It's a true neighbourhood single screen, with a mix of new releases, restored classics and genre series. It now counts thousands of members and runs more than a thousand screenings a year. Its owners, Daniel Demois and Andy Willick, have run it since 2007. Fox Theatre
Paradise Theatre — Bloorcourt
This building opened in 1910 as the Bloor Palace and became the Paradise in 1937, with an Art Deco and Art Moderne design by architect Benjamin Brown. Over the years it changed hands many times. It became part of the Festival Cinemas chain in 1990 and closed in 2006. After a long dark spell it reopened in 2019, fully restored, and now runs films alongside live programming. Paradise Theatre
Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema — the Annex
This century-old theatre on Bloor Street West in the Annex is now the home of Hot Docs, and it has been renovated into a 650-seat room that runs documentary screenings all year. Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema
Hamilton and Southwestern Ontario
The Westdale — Hamilton
The Westdale opened in 1935 as an Art Deco picture palace, and its operators say it was the first theatre in Hamilton built for sound films. It closed and was listed for sale in December 2016. A newly formed community group, the Westdale Cinema Group, bought it, restored it and reopened it on Valentine's Day 2019. It's now a charitable non-profit that mixes films with talks and live shows, and it marked its 90th year recently. It's an anchor for Westdale, which the theatre's own history describes as Canada's first planned neighbourhood. The Westdale
Hyland Cinema — London
The Hyland opened in 1937 as the Elmwood, later became the Odeon Hyland, and is now the oldest operating movie theatre in London. In January 2026 it debuted restored 70mm projection, which the Huron Citizen reported was the first 70mm show in the city in about 30 years. The projector, restored by projectionist Victor Liorentas, can also run 35mm prints. The cinema has billed itself as London's art house since 2004 and is now raising money for a new digital projector. It's on Wharncliffe Road South. Hyland Cinema
Princess Cinemas — Waterloo
The Original Princess turned 40 in 2025. It has built its following on community programming rather than blockbusters. Its sister venue, the Princess Twin on King Street, was getting new seats and other upgrades in 2026. Princess Cinemas
Ottawa
Mayfair Theatre — Old Ottawa South
The Mayfair opened on Bank Street on December 5, 1932. Its Spanish Revival "atmospheric" auditorium was designed by architect John P. MacLaren and is protected by heritage designation. It's described as the city's oldest surviving movie theatre. Repertory programming and cult favourites keep the single screen busy. Mayfair Theatre
ByTowne Cinema — Rideau Street
Bruce White ran the ByTowne for 32 years before retiring in late 2020. Daniel Demois and Andy Willick, who have run Toronto's Fox since 2007, bought it and brought it back. It's still on Rideau Street and still independent, with about 650 seats and a membership list in the thousands. It shows art films, documentaries and specialty series, including big-screen Twin Peaks episode nights. ByTowne Cinema
Small-town Ontario
The Regent Theatre — Picton
The Regent sits on Main Street in Picton. It's owned and run by the Regent Theatre Foundation, a registered charity, and it shows a steady mix of new films, anniversary screenings and live shows. This fall's schedule includes a 30th-anniversary run of Scream, the kind of night a big old single screen is made for. Volunteers have long helped keep it running. The Regent Theatre
Highlands Cinemas — Kinmount
This is the most unusual entry on the list. In 1979, Keith Stata opened a 58-seat theatre in the rec room of his house in Kinmount. He kept adding on, and by 1996 he had five screens. Stata collected equipment from hundreds of closed cinemas across North America. The complex also holds a movie museum full of vintage projectors, posters, five-cent ticket stubs and costumed mannequins standing guard. It's open in the warmer months, roughly May to Thanksgiving, and it's worth planning a cottage-country drive around. Highlands Cinemas
Why these ones made it
A pattern runs through this list. The Revue, the Westdale and the Regent survived because they became community causes, run by non-profits or charities instead of chains. Others, like the Fox and the ByTowne, found owners who wanted to run a few special rooms rather than a dozen generic ones. Either way, the best way to keep them open is to buy a ticket.
Details checked October 2026. Hours and seasons change — confirm with each business before you go.
