Toronto City Council to Vote on Strategic Review of Waterfront Revitalization

Parks like Corktown Common have helped us protect over 519 acres of the city’s eastern downtown from flooding. Over the next decade, a second phase of waterfront revitalization will invest in even more essential flood protection and critical infrastructure .

POSTED: JULY 7, 2014

This week, Toronto’s City Council will consider a proposal to conduct a strategic review of the next phase of waterfront revitalization. And this proposed review will have an impact on the next phase of our city’s waterfront revitalization.

The chair of our board, Mark Wilson, has written an open letter to Council in support of the proposal, saying:

“Waterfront Toronto welcomes the strategic review by the City of Toronto on the next phase of waterfront revitalization. Half way through our twenty-year revitalization mandate, progress on the waterfront is significant and visible.” 

Read Mark Wilson’s full letter here.

Part of the review will include an evaluation of our strategic business plan for the next ten years – running until 2023 – which will complete the essential work that will unlock the development potential of our city’s Port Lands and adjacent areas. This work includes the re-naturalization of the Don River and creation of flood protection for the Lower Don Lands and the Port Lands. It also includes construction of an East Bayfront LRT line that will connect emerging communities along our eastern waterfront to Union Station. Of course, it goes without saying, the next phase of revitalization will continue our investments in crucial infrastructure like stormwater treatment and sanitary sewers, as well as in the great parks and public spaces that are truly transforming our waterfront.

In short, an investment in waterfront revitalization is an investment in the future, as Peter Goffin recently pointed out in this post on Torontoist. And throughout our first decade, we’ve remained committed to realizing our mandate through open, transparent and accountable methods.

And it’s working: We've built beautiful new parks and public spaces, created new affordable housing and generated significant economic returns. Some of those economic returns are summarized in this infographic:

• $3.2 billion in output for the Canadian economy
• 16,000 full-time employment years
• $622 million in combined tax revenues to the federal and provincial governments and the City of Toronto

Read a full account of the economic returns being generated by Toronto’s waterfront revitalization here.