Sweat and Tonic will open its long-planned Yorkville location in October, bringing together many of the fitness, recovery and hospitality concepts the Toronto company has developed since opening its first location in 2019.
The 18,000-square-foot club at 11 Yorkville Avenue represents the latest step in the company’s evolution from a single downtown fitness destination into a multi-location wellness business that blends boutique fitness, recovery, hospitality and community spaces. Approximately 300 classes will be offered each week, while members will have access to group strength training, cycling, yoga, Pilates, Lagree, recovery amenities, food and beverage service, and coworking areas.
Retail Insider first reported the Yorkville lease in March 2024 when Sweat and Tonic announced it would occupy the second floor of the 11YV mixed-use development. The latest announcement confirms the October opening and provides a detailed look at the club’s programming and design.
Over the past seven years, the Toronto company has steadily expanded its offering. Its original downtown location combined boutique fitness with hospitality spaces, followed by a larger club at The Well and the addition of specialized concepts including Tonic Spa, Reformd and The Lab. Yorkville brings many of those ideas together while introducing a large-format group strength training concept.
Strength Training Takes Centre Stage
The Yorkville location will introduce what Sweat and Tonic describes as Toronto’s first high-capacity group strength training studio.
The 48-person studio will be organized around 12 workout pods equipped with Rogue weight racks and Keiser cable systems, allowing coaches to lead synchronized strength classes in a format more commonly associated with boutique cycling or HIIT studios.
Founder David Ingram said the concept reflects changing consumer priorities around strength training and long-term health.
“We’re evolving with our guests, and staying ahead on the science of fitness and longevity,” Ingram said in the announcement.
He added that the classes are designed to combine structured resistance training with the energy and accountability of a group fitness environment.
While strength training has traditionally centred on personal training or open gym environments, an increasing number of operators are introducing instructor-led group formats that make weight training more approachable for a broader audience. Sweat and Tonic’s Yorkville concept reflects that shift while integrating it into the company’s broader wellness offering.
Four Distinct Studio Experiences
Strength training will be one of four principal studio environments within the new location.
A 55-bike ride studio continues the immersive cycling experience established at the company’s existing clubs, while an infrared-heated yoga and Pilates studio will host yoga, Pilates, mobility, breathwork, meditation and restorative programming.
Yorkville will also include a 17-machine Reformd studio featuring the Lagree Method, a low-impact, high-intensity workout focused on strength, endurance and core conditioning.
Sweat and Tonic introduced Reformd as a standalone concept at The Well in 2025. The studio quickly became one of the company’s fastest-growing offerings, with more than 106,000 attendances since opening, according to Sweat and Tonic.
Rather than separating Reformd from its full-service clubs, Yorkville incorporates the concept within the larger facility, allowing members to move between strength training, cycling, yoga, Pilates and Lagree programming under one roof.
That approach reflects how the company has continued refining its business model. Specialized concepts can operate independently, as Reformd does at The Well, while also strengthening the experience inside larger clubs.
Building on Seven Years of Growth
When Sweat and Tonic opened its first location in Toronto’s historic Ryrie Building in late 2019, it offered a combination that stood apart from most boutique fitness operators.
The approximately 16,000-square-foot facility combined yoga, cycling and HIIT classes with a café, bar, coworking spaces, spa services and community programming. Members were encouraged to spend time before and after classes rather than simply arriving for a workout and leaving.
Only a few months later, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the fitness industry, forcing operators across Canada to rethink their businesses.
Sweat and Tonic continued investing in the concept and opened its second full-service location at The Well in December 2023. At approximately 25,000 square feet, the new club expanded yoga and Pilates offerings, introduced larger hospitality areas and significantly increased its recovery programming.
During an earlier interview with Retail Insider, Ingram said demand for yoga and Pilates had exceeded expectations at the original location, influencing many of the decisions made for The Well.
The expansion also created room for complementary concepts.
Tonic Spa broadened the company’s wellness and recovery offering. Reformd established a dedicated Lagree studio, while The Lab introduced a training environment centred on HYROX, the rapidly growing fitness competition that combines running with functional strength exercises.
Yorkville builds on those developments by integrating many of those concepts within a single location. The hospitality model established in 2019 remains intact, while the fitness, recovery and specialized programming developed over the following years come together in what is the company’s most comprehensive club to date.
A Yorkville Location Years in the Making
Yorkville has been part of Sweat and Tonic’s vision since before the company opened its first location.
When the lease at 11YV was announced in 2024, Ingram told Retail Insider that the concept had been developed in 2017 with Yorkville identified as the preferred neighbourhood. After considering several opportunities, the company secured space within the mixed-use development at 11 Yorkville Avenue.
Developed by RioCan Living, Metropia and Capital Developments, 11YV places Sweat and Tonic above the project’s street-level retail in a prominent location near Yorkville Avenue and Yonge Street. The agreement also extends the company’s relationship with RioCan, which is involved in both The Well and 11YV developments.
Yorkville itself has evolved considerably during the years Sweat and Tonic has pursued a location in the neighbourhood. New residential towers have added thousands of residents, while luxury retail, hotels, restaurants and personal services have continued to reshape the district.
At the same time, Yorkville has emerged as one of Canada’s most concentrated premium wellness markets.
Equinox operates a flagship club nearby, Barry’s Boot Camp has established a presence close to Bloor Street West, and Othership has introduced its communal sauna and guided breathwork concept to the neighbourhood. Pilates studios, personal training businesses and AVANT by Altea Active at One Bloor East have further expanded the area’s wellness offering.
The market is considerably different from when Sweat and Tonic first opened downtown in 2019. Recovery therapies, reformer Pilates, contrast therapy and highly produced group fitness classes have become increasingly mainstream, creating demand for more comprehensive wellness destinations.
Rather than focusing on a single specialty, Sweat and Tonic brings multiple formats together within one membership. Members can move between strength training, cycling, yoga, Pilates, Lagree and recovery amenities without maintaining separate memberships across several boutique operators.
That positions the company somewhere between a traditional health club and a collection of specialized studios. Its model combines instructor-led boutique fitness with hospitality spaces, recovery services and community programming in a way that reflects broader changes taking place throughout the wellness industry.
Recovery, Hospitality and Longer Customer Visits
The Yorkville club will include Tonic Bar, the company’s in-house café offering smoothies, coffee and healthy meals.
Members will also have access to Tonic House, a lounge designed for coworking, social gatherings and community events. Overlooking the historic Yorkville Fire Hall, Toronto Public Library and Four Seasons Hotel, the space extends the club’s hospitality offering beyond scheduled fitness classes.
Separate men’s and women’s recovery areas will include infrared and traditional saunas alongside cold-plunge tubs, with access included as part of the membership experience.
Taken together, those amenities encourage members to spend more time within the facility. Someone might arrive early for a morning workout, remain afterward for coffee, work from the lounge for part of the day and finish with a recovery session before leaving.
That extended visit has become increasingly valuable within mixed-use developments.
For landlords, wellness operators generate consistent traffic throughout the day rather than relying primarily on lunchtime or evening shopping patterns. Members often visit multiple times each week, creating a reliable customer base that can also support surrounding restaurants, cafés and retailers.
The Well has already demonstrated how that model can function within a large mixed-use community where residents, office workers and visitors contribute to activity throughout the day.
Sweat and Tonic’s arrival at 11YV brings a similar dynamic to Yorkville. Its large footprint occupies space that would be challenging for many traditional retailers while creating a destination that complements the surrounding mix of residential, hospitality and commercial uses.
As retail real estate continues to evolve, fitness and wellness operators are becoming increasingly important components of major mixed-use developments. Their ability to generate recurring visits, activate large commercial spaces and encourage longer customer dwell times makes them attractive tenants alongside more traditional retail concepts.
Expanding Across Toronto
Sweat and Tonic says it now offers more than 600 classes each week and has recorded more than 3.3 million bookings since opening in 2019.
The company also says it ranked second in total attendance during 2025 among approximately 3,500 studios using the Xplor Mariana Tek booking platform.
With approximately 300 weekly classes planned for Yorkville, the company is poised to significantly expand its programming while strengthening its presence across Toronto.
Yorkville will become Sweat and Tonic’s third full-service club following its downtown flagship and The Well. Including Reformd, the company will operate four fitness locations across the city, alongside complementary concepts such as Tonic Spa and The Lab.
Rather than replicating identical clubs, Sweat and Tonic has gradually developed a network of interconnected brands that serve different aspects of the wellness market while remaining accessible through a shared membership ecosystem.
The Yorkville opening reflects that evolution. Nearly seven years after launching its first location, Sweat and Tonic has expanded well beyond the traditional boutique fitness model. Each new project has introduced another layer to the business, from hospitality and recovery to specialized training concepts and premium wellness experiences.
