Suspected arson leads to destruction of iconic red canoe at downtown park

An iconic red canoe destroyed by fire is deemed as suspicious. CP24’s Steve Ryan reports from the scene.

A giant red canoe that has become a well-known landmark at a downtown Toronto park has been destroyed in an act of suspected arson, police say.

Emergency crews responded to a call at Toronto’s Canoe Landing Park, near Fort York Boulevard and Dan Leckie Way, just before 3 a.m.

Toronto fire says that crews arrived to find the canoe on fire and have since extinguished the blaze.

Footage from the scene shows that the canoe has been reduced to rubble.

The cause of the fire is unknown but is under investigation, police say.

In a message posted to X, Toronto Deputy Mayor Ausma Malik said that she is “disheartened” and “upset” by news of the fire.

She said that the canoe was a “beloved” piece of public art and an “iconic spot” in downtown Toronto.

“We know it as Tom Thomson’s canoe, but most of us have connected to it as the big red canoe,” Malik said during a press conference, adding that it was one of her “favourite spots in one of her favourite parts of the city.”

The Tom Thomson’s canoe was built by Vancouver artist Douglas Coupland, who was an Officer of the Order of Canada. The official name is a tribute to another Canadian artist, Tom Thomson, who died while canoeing.

The canoe was just one of Coupland’s exhibits in the park, but with its position overlooking the Gardiner Expressway it was “a symbolic entrance marker to the heart of downtown Toronto,” according to the Toronto Downtown West BIA. The canoe has been a part of the park since it opened in 2009, according to Malik.

Aside from working with Toronto police and fire as they investigate, Malik said that she will be speaking with city officials and community stakeholders “about the steps that need to be taken in order to explore replacement of that iconic public art piece.”

The estimated cost of the damage “is still being worked out,” Malik said.

When asked why the canoe in particular was vandalized, Malik could only express uncertainty about “why anyone would want to take action like this that would harm an iconic part of our neighbourhood and an iconic part of our community, and I am looking for answers.”