Nearly $1 billion in new funding to speed up waterfront development, including plan for 14K new homes

A conceptual rendering of the future development on Ookwemin Minising (formerly known as Villiers Island) and the eastern waterfront is pictured. (Courtesy Waterfront Toronto)

Toronto’s waterfront revitalization plan is getting a big boost to speed up development, with a $975 million investment from all three levels of government.

Mayor Olivia Chow says the agreement will mean 14,000 new homes for 25,000 people, with construction starting in 2026.

“This tripartite agreement means we’re building a city within a city,” Mayor Olivia Chow told reporters at an announcement at the waterfront.

The federal, provincial and municipal governments are each kicking in $325 million to speed up development. The federal government is also investing an additional $200 million to the completion of the Broadview Eastern Flood Protection project to match earlier contributions from the province and the city.

“This is a great day. Shovels will be in the ground shortly and hopefully people in 2031 will be living on the waterfront,” Waterfront Toronto Chair Jack Winberg told reporters.

The new housing will be built at Quayside and Ookwemin Minising, formerly known as Villiers Island, with the aim of having 24 per cent of the units slated for affordable housing.

Winberg said the development will also include lots of two, three and four-bedroom units.

Federal Housing Minister Nathaniel Erskine-Smith said affordability is an important component of the project.

“I really worry about affordability in our city. I see my generation moving out of the city because they can’t afford to live here,” Erskine-Smith said.

He noted that a pair of teachers likely can’t afford to own a home in the area where his parents – both teachers – raised him.

“We’re unlocking the value of the land and then we’ve got to realize that value to then drive affordability. There’s no question about it,” he said.

Ontario Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma called the project a “historic revitalization of Toronto’s waterfront to create a new, vibrant, mixed-use community with more housing, jobs, world-class attractions, parks and businesses.”

She said it’s also close to her heart as a project that’s been discussed with excitement since she worked at city hall more than decade ago.

Site servicing work to facilitate the new housing is expected to begin shortly, with the aim of having the first homes ready by 2031

“This is the first and most important step in delivering the critical infrastructure that is needed for housing,” Waterfront Toronto said in a statement.

It said the investment is expected to add 100,000 skilled trades jobs on Toronto’s waterfront and add $13.2 billion to the economy.

All three governments previously funded the $1.4 billion Port Lands Flood Protection Project to make the area safe to develop. The project included the creation of a new mouth for the Don River which flows through the area.

Asked whether expected provincial and federal regulations could put the funding in jeopardy, Chow said the money has already been committed.

“The city of Toronto has been assured that everything has gone through Treasury Board by both levels of government,” Chow said. “So the $325 million is coming to Waterfront Toronto as we speak.”

She said the same goes for the $200 million the federal government has committed to the Broadview Eastern Flood Protection project.