Toronto's 'waterfront city' project reaches new milestone

Toronto's decades-long efforts to revitalize the Don River and protect the city against flooding reached a new milestone Friday. 

Waterfront Toronto has removed the last pieces of the wall that once separated the mouth of the Don River and Lake Ontario as a next step in a project featuring a new island that could become home to thousands of people. 

The metre-wide concrete wall, called the North Plug, separated the Don River from the river valley, according to Waterfront Toronto. Its removal means the newly constructed island is now fully surrounded by water, it said.

"People are starting to imagine what is possible," Mayor Olivia Chow told reporters Friday. "The awareness is not there yet because you just see a lot of dirt."

The $1.4-billion Port Lands flood protection project, funded by all three levels of government, is meant to renaturalize the mouth of the Don River, fill it with water and connect it to Lake Ontario, while helping protect the southeastern downtown area from flooding. 

Construction on the post-industrial lands started in 2017.

WATCH | End in sight for Toronto Port Lands construction after nearly seven years:

End in sight for Toronto Port Lands construction after nearly seven years

11 months ago

Duration 4:25

Crews have been working since 2017 to transform the industrial area, including re-routing the Don River and building roads, bridges and parks. Waterfront Toronto says it’s on schedule to finish flood protection by the end of 2024, with parks opening in the spring and summer of 2025 and housing development to follow.

Waterfront Toronto says removing the North Plug is the most significant flood protection milestone in the project, which is meant to remove 240 hectares of land from the flood plain. It will protect surrounding neighbourhoods like Leslieville and South Riverdale from floods by keeping water south of Lakeshore in the newly built river valley and wetlands. 

"With collaboration of the three levels of government, the eastern waterfront will become home to over 100,000 people," said George Zegarac, CEO of Waterfront Toronto, at the Friday announcement 

"That's larger than the size of Peterborough and it'll be a destination for 97,000 jobs," he said. 

New island opens door to a new community 

Along with unlocking potential to revitalize the eastern Waterfront, the project includes a new 39.6-hectare island expected to feature a new mixed-use community. It's designed to house 15,000 people, create 3,000 jobs, and include a park network, a trail, and an expanded transit system, according to the Waterfront Toronto. 

Next week, city council will vote whether to name the island Ookwemin Minising, meaning "place of the black cherry trees" in Anishinaabemowin/Ojibwemowin, to commemorate the black cherry trees that grew in the Port Lands area 200 ago. 

Waterfront Toronto previously released rendered illustrations showing what Port Lands could look like once construction is complete.

Zegarac said the newly constructed park network should be open to the public next year, describing it as "the largest park open in Toronto in a generation."

The development of new housing could soon follow, but funding for those homes is still running short, according to Chow. 

"But you know, when there's a big tidal wave of goodwill and a tidal wave with this clear vision, nothing can stop it, so I'm extremely optimistic," she said.