Waterfront Toronto (incorporated as the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation) is an organization that oversees revitalization projects along the

Toronto waterfront The Toronto waterfront is the lakeshore of Lake Ontario in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It spans 46 kilometres between the mouth of Etobicoke Creek in the west and the Rouge River in the east. History Lake Ontario is a recent lake. A ...

. Established in 2001 as a public–public partnership between the

City of Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Province of Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Cana ...

and

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

, the organization is administering several blocks of land redevelopment projects surrounding

Toronto Harbour Toronto Harbour or Toronto Bay is a bay on the north shore of Lake Ontario, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a natural harbour, protected from Lake Ontario waves by the Toronto Islands. Today, the harbour is used primarily for recreational b ...

and various other initiatives to promote the revitalization of the area, including

public transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

, housing developments, brownfield rehabilitation, possible removal of the

Gardiner Expressway The Frederick G. Gardiner Expressway, commonly known as the Gardiner Expressway or simply the Gardiner, is a partially at grade and elevated municipal expressway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Running close to the shore of Lake Ontario, it extends ...

in the area, the

Martin Goodman Trail The Martin Goodman Trail is a Don River The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire. Its ...

. Actual development of the projects is done by other entities, primarily private corporations. The projects include a series of wavedeck walkways and gathering places designed by

West 8 West 8 is an urban planning and landscape architecture firm founded by Adriaan Geuze and Paul van Beek in Rotterdam, Netherlands in 1987. It is known for its contemporary designs and innovative solutions to urban planning problems using lighting, ...

and DTAH.

Overview

The Waterfront Revitalization Task Force, a task force of the municipal, provincial and federal governments, was established in November 1999 to study the future of the Toronto waterfront. The task force, headed by financier Robert Fung, reported in March 2000. It estimated the total cost of revitalization at billion in public investment and a further billion in private-sector investment. It proposed the following general recommendations for the Toronto waterfront: * Make the water's edge an accessible, public amenity from Etobicoke through the Central Waterfront to Scarborough; * Remove the elevated Gardiner Expressway in the Central Waterfront and provide a new road and transportation network to better serve Toronto's downtown and revitalized waterfront; *Create in the core of the City major new neighbourhoods for working, living and recreation, resulting in a substantial increase in the City's stock of affordable and market housing; * Create a "convergence community" that crosses all disciplines of creativity to take advantage of Toronto's unique position in New Media, communications, music, biotechnology, software and high technology. * Provide a clean environment by improving water quality, cleaning up contaminated soils, eliminating the risk of flooding and naturalizing appropriate areas. * establishment of a corporation separate from the government to oversee the revitalization. Source: City of Toronto. The Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation was formed in 2001 to oversee and lead waterfront renewal. It has subsequently been renamed as Waterfront Toronto. The organization is jointly funded by the three levels of government. The organization is overseen at the federal level by the Department of Finance, at the provincial level by the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, and at the municipal level by the Waterfront Project Secretariat. The organization is directed to support the following policy objectives of the three levels of government: * Reducing urban sprawl * Developing sustainable communities particularly in the area of energy efficiency * Redeveloping brownfields & cleaning up contaminated land * Building more affordable housing * Increasing economic competitiveness * Creating more parks and public spaces Source: Waterfront Toronto

Governance

The interim President and CEO is Michael Nobrega, who was formerly the President and CEO of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), one of Canada’s largest pension plans with more than billion in assets. The organization is governed the following board of directors: * Stephen Diamond (chair) * Sevaun Palvetzian * Mazyar Mortazavi * Jeanhy Shim *

Joe Cressy Joseph Cressy (born July 10, 1984) is a former Canadian politician and activist who served on the Toronto City Council from 2014 to 2022. Cressy represented Ward 10 Spadina—Fort York, and was the chair of the Toronto Board of Health. He resign ...

* Kevin Sullivan * Christopher Voutsinas * Patrick Sheils * Andrew MacLeod * Wende Cartwright * Michael Galego * Jack Winberg Source: Waterfront Toronto

Projects

Corus Quay

Corus Quay Corus Quay, originally named First Waterfront Place, is an eight-storey commercial office tower located on a waterfront site in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building is the first major development planned for the East Bayfront district, and co ...

, originally named First Waterfront Place, is an eight-storey commercial office tower located on a Toronto waterfront site. Corus Quay is

Corus Entertainment Corus Entertainment Inc. is a Canadian mass media company. Formed in 1999 as a spin-off from Shaw Communications, it has prominent holdings in the radio, publishing, and television industries. It is headquartered at Corus Quay in Toronto, Onta ...

's new Toronto headquarters, consolidating its 10 locations and 1,200 employees into one site. The building is a collaboration between the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation and the Toronto Economic Development Corporation. The

East Bayfront East Bayfront, or the East Bayfront Precinct, is an emerging neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is currently undergoing a transformation from industrial use to mixed-use as part of Waterfront Toronto's plans to create a residential and ...

Precinct, where the building is located, is intended to be an important public destination as well as provide a range of housing and commercial opportunities. The development achieved LEED (

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...

) Gold status for the project's environmental sustainability. The LEED rating system recognizes leading-edge buildings that incorporate design, construction and operational practices that combine healthy, high-quality and high-performance advantages with reduced environmental impacts. In addition, Corus Quay has several green roof areas, a massive five-storey green living wall, 100 bicycle parking spaces, and

public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...

installations created by award-winning U.K. artists, Troika.

Planned districts

Port Lands The Port Lands (also known as Portlands) of Toronto, Ontario, Canada are an industrial and recreational neighbourhood located about 5 kilometres south-east of downtown, located on the former Don River delta and most of Ashbridge's Bay. Approxi ...

Quayside The Quayside is an area along the banks ( quay) of the River Tyne in Newcastle upon Tyne (the north bank) and Gateshead (south bank) in Tyne and Wear, North East England, United Kingdom. History The area was once an industrial area and busy co ...

West Don Lands The West Don Lands are the site of a neighbourhood under construction in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The area is bordered by the Don River (Toronto), Don River, King Street, Toronto, Ontario, King Street, Parliament Street and the rail line adjac ...

Other projects

The Bentway The Bentway, formerly Project: Under Gardiner, is a public trail and corridor space underneath the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is repurposed land that was in sections vacant , rail lines, parking lots and outdoor storage. ...

- Active space created from repurposing of under-utilized lands under the elevated

. *

Corktown Common Corktown Common is a park in the south eastern portion of the West Don Lands neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada which opened in 2013. It borders the Don River (Ontario), Don River to the east. It was built on remediated industrial lands t ...

- New park in the West Donlands development. *

HTO Park HTO Park (stylized as HTO) is an urban beach in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that opened in 2007. It is located west of Harbourfront Centre, on Lake Ontario. History The park is built on quays once used by ships berthing in Toronto's Inner Harbour ...

- New park along Toronto Harbour. *

Sherbourne Common Sherbourne Common,''http://urbantoronto.ca/database/projects/sherbourne-common-canadas-sugar-beach-and-waters-edge-promenade Map and the article from Urban Toronto website devoted to development and construction in the GTA and the leading source fo ...

- Public space incorporating play areas and stormwater-driven fountains. *

Sugar Beach Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double s ...

- A public space with sandy areas and permanent umbrellas for sunbathing. * Underpass Park - An active play space area located under the Gardiner Expressway in a former 'dead' area. Inaugurated on August 2, 2012, it's the 18th public space built or revitalized by Waterfront Toronto since 2005. *

Villiers Island Villiers Island is a area in Toronto's Port Lands being converted to an island. The project is a part of Port Lands Flood Protection Project by Waterfront Toronto. To prevent flooding from the Don River, a channel is being created to extend th ...

- Island being constructed as part of the naturalization of the mouth of the

Don River The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire. Its ...

. *

WaveDecks The Toronto Waterfront Wavedecks are a series of wooden structures constructed on the waterfront of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, as part of the revitalization of the central waterfront. Waterfront Toronto committed to constructing a series of unique ...

- A series of wooden deck structures designed with wave-like undulations that also serve as fish habitats. Future projects include: * Rees Street Park - new park from the parking lot south of the Rogers Centre, * York Street Park - new park from a former highway interchange, * Port Lands Flood Protection Project - Naturalization of the Don River mouth is expected to complete by 2024. The project includes a new channel for the Don River. * Revitalized Jack Layton Ferry Terminal * Waterfront Walk - a continuous promenade along the Toronto Harbour waterfront.

References

External links

* *{{cite web , last = , first = , authorlink = , year = 2007 , title = Toronto Waterfront – The Waterfront Trail , url = https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=105047441964785653381.0004352e77c042c201581&ll=43.647939,-79.346352&spn=0.039189,0.079479&z=14&om=1 , format = Google Maps , publisher = , accessdate = July 13, 2007 Planned developments Organizations based in Toronto Harbourfront, Toronto Waterfront redevelopment organizations