Toronto’s newest record label is also a coffee shop, bar, music venue and community hub
Want to run into a member of Broken Social Scene? Head to Osler Records
Taking over a former aluminum factory in the Junction Triangle, Osler Records is the brainchild of a trio of west-end Toronto lifers whose collective experience reads like a who’s who of the city’s music and restaurant worlds.
Ex–Sony Music Canada exec Joe Ferrari joins serial Toronto restaurateur Ian McGrenaghan (Grand Electric, Electric Mud BBQ, Manita) and artist-turned-manager Roland Broere to head up the new indie label. Pop into Osler, which triples as a coffee shop by day and a bar with live music by night, and there’s a decent chance of running into a member of Broken Social Scene or Katie Stelmanis of Austra (yes, they’ve both been by).
Related: What Broken Social Scene’s Brendan Canning loves about his King West neighbourhood
“This is not exactly an inspiring time, politically or economically,” says McGrenaghan. “Huge promotion companies and condo developers are ruining culture in this city. We need more physical places for people to connect and share experiences. A record label HQ should be a space where art is alive and people are connecting in person, sharing a common passion.”
The double-height industrial space is loosely divided by a DJ-style vinyl-spinning mezzanine into coffee shop and bar at the front, event venue in the back. Burnished concrete floors meet red factory railings and a marble-top bar for an atmosphere that code-switches seamlessly between grungy and polished, depending on the crowd.
Much like the owners’ wide-ranging careers, the dynamic space eschews allegiances to genre. Live programming is intentionally eclectic, accommodating both melomaniacs and casual listeners alike. It feels as welcoming to young families with kids—they’ve held some cartoon screenings in the back—as it does to 20-something scenesters.
“After two decades in the music industry, I felt the pull of something more alive,” says Ferrari. “We wanted Osler to be rooted in community and reflective of what makes this city’s music scene so distinctive. A place where the next generation of artists can meet, perform and share their music. In 2026, that feels both countercultural and completely necessary.”
Osler’s first release is a limited-edition seven-inch vinyl from Toronto’s own 9million, who are currently on tour with Ethel Cain, generating buzz for their debut via frontman Matthew Tomasi, one of the most talked-about indie artists of the moment. The label’s growing roster also includes multidisciplinary hat wearers Mother Tongues. One half of that duo, Charise Aragoza, also serves as Osler’s daytime supervisor, while the other half, Lukas Cheung, has helped shape the live programming. The label’s second release is already on the way and promises to be something totally different.
“Scenes matter,” says Ferrari. “They always have. The cities that produce generation after generation of great music aren’t accidents; they’re the places where artists can find one another, challenge one another and grow together. Think about what Toronto has given the world: Glenn Gould, Gordon Lightfoot, Rush, Broken Social Scene, Drake, the Weeknd, Daniel Caesar. That’s not luck—that’s a city with something to say. That energy is alive right now, and Osler is our attempt to give it a home, a place where the next chapter of that story gets written.”
Nicola Brown is a freelance writer and editor with 15 years of experience creating travel, food and lifestyle content. Her work has appeared in the Toronto Star, Time Out, Canadian Traveller, Travel Life, Toronto Life, EnRoute, WestJet Magazine, CAA and Cottage Life, among other publications.
