Quayside

The Quayside development area is bounded by 
Bonnycastle Street in the west from
Queens Quay East north to Lake Shore Boulevard,
and the Victory Soya Mills Silos in the east,
from Lake Shore Boulevard south
to Lake Ontario and the Water’s Edge. 

Parks and Public Realm 
 

At Quayside, Waterfront Toronto is delivering groundbreaking public spaces to activate the waterfront, meet the needs of residents and establish Quayside as a destination, including:   

• Queens Quay East and Parliament Street: Queens Quay East will be extended east to Street A and ultimately connecting to Cherry Street, and Parliament Street will be realigned, creating a more normalized intersection and enhanced experiences for pedestrians and cyclists.  

• Water’s Edge Promenade: The Water’s Edge Promenade, featuring the signature granite mosaic with a double row of trees, provides a continuous public space along the lakefront. Nearly 4.3 kilometers of promenade have already been completed and soon will be extended into Quayside.  

• Local Streets: A series of local streets will support Quayside. Two existing streets (Bonnycastle Street and Small Street) will be revitalized, and two new streets will be created – each designed in a manner consistent with others delivered elsewhere in East Bayfront.   

• Parliament Plaza: On either side of a realigned Parliament Street will be two green spaces totaling about 0.3 hectares (0.8 acres). The aspiration is for these spaces to provide a lush green transition from Lake Shore to Queens Quay and complement the retail and other nearby ground floor amenities. 

• Silo Park: This local park will be 0.4 hectares (1.1 acres) and serve the Quayside and Keating communities. Waterfront Toronto will host a design competition seeking a proposal for Silo Park. 

Construction on the Infrastructure and Public Realm is anticipated to begin in Spring 2025. Stay up to date on construction related activities by signing up for our newsletter or following us on social. 

And, it’s hard to talk about the public spaces at Quayside without talking about Parliament Slip. The Quayside community and its public spaces wrap around this underused industrial berth called Parliament Slip. Waterfront Toronto views this as a special opportunity to create a bustling year-round gathering place by the water – offering recreation, entertainment and dining.

More on the Parliament Slip project page.  

Quayside Aerial - Full view of proposed development. Building heights and densities are conceptual and subject to City approvals as well as review by the Design Review Panel and public consultation. Image courtesy of Waterfront Toronto. 

Artist Rendering - Rooftop Urban Farm

Artist Rendering - Community Forest

Development 

Working together, local developers Dream Unlimited and Great Gulf Group (known as Quayside Impact) will transform Quayside into an extraordinary mixed-use, mixed-income community where residents can live, work and play. When complete, Quayside will be Canada’s largest all-electric, zero-carbon master-planned community and be home to about 7,500 people and 1,600 jobs.   
 

Quayside will be developed in two phases. Included among the highlights are:  
  

• More than 800 affordable housing units with more than half the units being family-sized (2+ bedroom). And, affordable housing will be included in each phase of the development, including approximately 550 units in the first phase of development.  

• More than 1,250 purpose-built rental homes in the first phase of development. 

• 2 acre green space, called the Community Forest, stretching from Bonnycastle to Parliament Streets  

• A rooftop urban farm  

Like all projects, the development of Quayside is following the municipal approvals process, including development approvals, as well as review by Waterfront Toronto’s Design Review Panel and public consultation.   

On July 24, 2024, Toronto City Council adopted a Zoning By-law Amendment for the first phase of development (Blocks 1 and 2). The rezoning increases the permitted density for these blocks and allows for taller buildings with reduced building footprints.  In addition to advancing housing, the rezoning includes requirements for retail animation, and secures other community benefits – like childcare space, community space, and publicly accessible greenspace with patios, pathways, outdoor seating, children’s play areas and pet facilities. This sets the stage for much needed housing and a complete community on the waterfront. 

Following Zoning approval, Quayside was selected as part of the City of Toronto’s Build More Homes: Expanding Incentives for Purpose Built Rental Housing [PDF] stream. Through close collaboration with our government partners and Quayside Impact, the housing plan has been modified to introduce more than 1,250 purpose-built rental homes, replacing some of the market condominiums originally planned, and accelerating the delivery of approximately 550 affordable rental homes, about 100 more homes in the first phase of development than originally proposed.  

The next step is to advance the designs for the public spaces and buildings through the City’s site plan approval process and to advance the planning applications for phase two of the development (Blocks 3, 4 and 5). 

Continued public engagement will be a defining characteristic of how Quayside evolves as it gets further designed and built.  All upcoming applications will be refined and informed by Waterfront Toronto, the Waterfront Design Review Panel, and the Quayside Stakeholder Advisory Committee.