New Toronto sauna and cold plunge space gives wellness a European touch

Spas and other self-care facilities in Toronto are focused on the somewhat vague but enticing concept of “wellness.” However, one place that pairs cold water with hot air is working to give locals a true European experience.

Alter—a sauna/ice bath studio nestled in the heart of Little Italy that recently opened its doors—is looking at its past as it aims to expand in the not-too-distant future.

Unlike its contemporaries, such as suburban day spas or ‘transformative’ wellness centres downtown, Alter’s founders say it was purpose-built to encourage the average Torontonian to carve out whatever personal well-being means to them.

“In North America in particular, marketing angles have emerged, as cold plunging and saunas started to get trendy — whether in the form of mental health optimization or emotional transformation. Here we want people to come in, do their own thing, and feel whatever they need to,” Ujwal Shah, one of Alter’s co-founders, told YourCityWithIN.com.

Shah—alongside co-founders Melissa Donato, Aleya Velshi, and Tyler Ackerman—was inspired to create Alter after touring Finland’s centuries-old sauna culture.

Throughout the expedition, it became evident that the birthplace of saunas (and cold plunges) took the practice to heart and was far removed from any of the hyper-fixation generated by its North American counterparts.

One very big bucket. Photo credit Alter.

“We went to these community saunas and found that the whole thing was just frictionless,” Ackerman told YourCityWithIN.com. “These places are down the street from coffee shops and are frequented by family members, coworkers and friends. The whole thing was just so approachable and that’s what we wanted to bring here.”

Situated in a corner building just off College and Ossington, Alter’s crown jewel is a massive Finnish-style sauna.

“Almost every home in Finland has a sauna—and on the chance that you don’t have a sauna in your house—there is always a community sauna that everyone frequents as a community hub,” says Ackerman.

Both Shah and Ackerman used this community hub format as a bedrock for Alter, as they found that the foundational practices of using a sauna and taking a dip in cold water are just as common as nearly any other day-to-day activity in Northern Europe.

“People go either before or after their lunch break or straight after work. It’s a part of their lives, and they just pop in and pop out, that’s what we wanted to bring here,” says Shah.

A report on sauna use by the Canadian health platform eMentalHealth.ca (sponsored by the Institute of Mental Health Research and the CHEO Psychiatry Associates Group) found that sauna use can decrease stress and anxiety, improve sleep and provide mental health benefits.

Operating parallel to their sauna space are also two temperature-controlled cold plunge pools.

For the uninitiated, Public Health Ontario describes cold plunging as a practice in which individuals submerge themselves in pools of water at 1 to 5 C (often lower).

For the therapeutic benefits of cold water immersion, a Mayo Clinic Health System report from 2024 found that it may help reduce inflammation and soreness, boost immune resilience, and improve circulation.

While some spas have been offering cold plunge pools for some time (think the Scandinave Spa in Collingwood and the Thermea Spa in Whitby), the concept is gaining traction within the big city. Along with Alter, spas and gyms such as Othership, Hotspot and Stay Gold offer cold water immersion.

That said, the cold plunges aren’t for everyone, but those who enjoy them enjoy them a lot.

Jonathan Groeneweg, who has used Alter’s service nearly 300 times in the last year, revealed to YourCityWithIN.com the ebbs and flows of consistent facility use and what separates Alter from its counterparts in Toronto.

“I’ve seen its physical benefits, in terms of muscle relief and joint pain — I played a lot of sports and earned a lot of injuries over the years  — so it’s a key part to managing my pain,” says Groeneweg. “Also, from a mental standpoint, it has been a key part of my year.”

Cold plunge session. Photo credit Alter.

Parallel to these therapeutic services is Alter’s core principle of putting wellness in guest’s hands, as visitors can choose to what extent they are in the driver’s seat.

Programs include multi-hour/multi-pace sessions, self-led sessions, optional/additional guidance sessions, and aromatherapy.

“There are no prescriptions, we never go ‘Oh this is what you need to do to get these derived benefits.’ We are always going to meet you wherever you are,” says Ackerman. “If you want to spend a couple of minutes just staring at the ice floating around in the cold — we’re going to stare with you.”

‘Cool-down’ area next to sauna space. Photo credit Alter.

Management at Alter is keenly aware that sitting in an ice-cold pool or a massive sauna with partially clothed strangers alongside an unknown instructor can also yield unforeseen intimidation.

However—in his hundreds of chilly dips and hot sits— Groeneweg claims he has not noticed a hint of assumed authority or discomfort.

“There is nobody pouring Kool-Aid down my throat and telling me that I need to do ‘ this or that,’ or forcing me to share something, or whatever else. It’s a very approachable space with people who are fine to be approached but at the same time, are also fine to do their own thing,” says Groeneweg.

As operators of a vulnerable space, Shah and Ackerman ensure that education on patron comfort is monitored and updated regularly.

As a result, Alter is perpetually changing the landscape of their special programming and launches events such as its monthly queer drop-in to help ensure that attendees are given a specialized space.

Alter’s future is also not locked into one location, as plans are to launch a new space in 2025.

“We are at a point now where we can scale the operations up as we know there is good guest feedback. When it comes to future locations, it’s looking at who is coming here and finding where more of those people exist,” says Shah.

Shah and Ackerman teased that while another location is in the cards, it could break ground beyond Toronto’s borders, such as in other cities in the GTA or even a new province.

With a year of maneuvering the intensity of North American wellness culture now under their belts, both Shah and Ackerman are confident they have cultivated exactly what they set out to do, despite the odd spell of disbelief, as Shah says “We still sometimes think, maybe we just got lucky with the neighbourhood, maybe it was a fluke? But, I know we really did it.”