Harbourfront is a neighbourhood on the northern shore of

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

within

downtown Toronto Downtown Toronto is the main city centre of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Street to the nor ...

, Ontario, Canada. Part of the

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

, Harbourfront extends from Bathurst Street in the west, along Queens Quay, with its ill-defined eastern boundary being either

Yonge Street Yonge Street ( ') is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Great Lakes#Geography, Upper Great Lakes. Ontario's first colonial administrator, ...

or York Street. Its northern boundary is 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 exten ...

. Much of the district was former water lots filled in during the early 1900s to create a larger harbour district. After shipping patterns changed and the use of the

Toronto Harbour Toronto Harbour or Toronto Bay is a natural bay on the north shore of Lake Ontario, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Today, the harbour is used primarily for recreational boating, including personal vessels and pleasure boats providing scenic or p ...

declined, the area was converted from industrial uses to a mixed-use district that is mostly residential and leisure.

History

Engraving of Toronto by William Henry Blett 1841

Toronto's harbour has been used since the founding of Toronto for shipping and industrial purposes. The Town of York was founded to the west of the

Don River The 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 basin is betwee ...

, along the waterfront. When the town was founded, the water's edge was approximately where today's Front Street is located. Over time, the area south of Front Street to today's water's edge south of Queen's Quay was filled in with landfill, creating piers and area for industrial development. Prior to the 1972 federal election, Prime Minister

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...

announced the Harbourfront project, which would expropriate the industrial port lands from York Street west to Bathurst Street, south of Queen's Quay and convert them to a cultural and residential district for Toronto, similar to the

Granville Island Granville Island is a peninsula and shopping district in the Fairview neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, across False Creek from Downtown Vancouver, under the south end of the Granville Street Bridge. Formerly an industrial ...

district in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. The federal government has converted the industrial area to an area mixed with art galleries, performance spaces, boating areas and parks. The surrounding neighbourhood, formerly industrial has been converted by private land developers into a series of condominium towers overlooking the project and Lake Ontario. Harbourfront-Centre

From its beginnings as Harbourfront Corporation, a federal

Crown Corporation Crown corporation () is the term used in Canada for organizations that are structured like private companies, but are directly and wholly owned by the government. Crown corporations have a long-standing presence in the country, and have a sign ...

established in 1972, Harbourfront Centre was formed on January 1, 1991, as a non-profit charitable organization with a mandate to organize and present public events and to operate a site encompassing York Quay and John Quay (south of Queens Quay West). Since its inception, Harbourfront Centre has been used by artists whose work would not normally be seen in commercial venues in an effort to foster new forms of arts and expression. In July 2012,

Waterfront Toronto Waterfront Toronto (incorporated as the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation) is an organization that oversees revitalization projects along the Toronto waterfront. Established in 2001 as a public–public partnership between the City ...

began a major reconstruction of Queen's Quay West, requiring the 509 streetcar to be replaced with buses for the duration of the construction. On October 12, 2014, streetcar service resumed on 509 Harbourfront route after an absence of over two years in order to rebuild the street to a new design. With the new street design, two auto lanes south of the

Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the primary public transport agency in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operating the majority of the city's transit bus, bus and rail services. It is the oldest and largest of the urban transit service providers ...

's (TTC)

streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...

tracks were eliminated between

Spadina Avenue Spadina Avenue (, less commonly ) is one of the most prominent streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Running through the western section of downtown, the road has a very different character in different neighbourhoods. Spadina Avenue runs south ...

and York Street in order to extend Harbourfront parkland to the edge of the streetcar tracks. The

Martin Goodman Trail The Martin Goodman Trail is a Queen's Quay include a community centre, a

Toronto Fire Services Toronto Fire Services (TFS), commonly called Toronto Fire, provides fire protection, technical rescue services, hazardous materials response, and first responder emergency medical assistance in Toronto, Ontario. TFS is currently the largest mu ...

station, various boating uses, parkland and the Harbourfront Centre. To the north of Queen's Quay, all of the industrial lands along the street have been replaced with high-rise condominium towers. To the east of the federal government lands, the waterfront is mixed with industrial uses, a hotel, ferry docks, boating uses, a sugar factory and vacant lands.

Neighbourhood issues

The neighbourhood is separated from the rest of

by the elevated

. A project to link Lower Simcoe with Simcoe Street via tunnel was completed to provide a new link between Harbourfront and downtown, though access between the waterfront and the core remains an issue. Proposals have been made to demolish the expressway in the area. One proposal was to demolish the highway east of

. Another proposal, to demolish the highway from the

Jarvis Street Jarvis Street is a north-south thoroughfare in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, passing through some of the oldest developed areas in the city. Its alignment extends from Queens Quay East in the south to Bloor Street in the north. The segment ...

, is being actively studied by the City of Toronto.

Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is a regional airport located on the Toronto Islands in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is often referred to as Toronto Island Airport and was previously known as ''Port George VI Island Airport'' and ''Toronto C ...

, also known as Toronto Island Airport, presents other neighbourhood issues. The airport, located to the southwest of the neighbourhood, is opposed by local community groups and some city politicians, including Toronto's past mayor, David Miller, as an impediment to the redevelopment of the waterfront lands. Another former mayor of Toronto,

Rob Ford Robert Bruce Ford (May 28, 1969 – March 22, 2016) was a Canadian politician and businessman who served as the 64th mayor of Toronto from 2010 to 2014. Before and after his term as mayor, Ford was a city councillor representing Ward 2 Etobi ...

, backed an expansion of the airport, as it created jobs. The airport, built in the 1930s, is utilized for regional air travel. The airport generates hundreds of noise complaints monthly to its operator, the Toronto Port Authority, now PortsToronto. The Toronto Port Authority confirmed on September 12, 2008, that

Porter Airlines Porter Airlines (stylized in Letter case#All lowercase, all lowercase as porter) is a Canadian airline headquartered at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport in Toronto. It is the third largest airline in Canada, behind Air Canada and WestJet. Owned ...

was fined for breaking noise curfews in its operations at the airport. In 2008, a study by the Port Authority was conducted seeking ways to reduce noise from Porter's takeoffs and landings.

Notable buildings and facilities

Harbourfront is the site of the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal which provides transportation services to the

Toronto Islands The Toronto Islands are a chain of 15 small islands in Lake Ontario, south of mainland Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the only group of islands in the western part of Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands are located just offshore from the ...

from the foot of Bay Street. Captain John's Harbour Boat Restaurant was also a ship moored at the Yonge Street slip and removed in 2015. Toronto Maritime Museum was relocated from

Exhibition Place Exhibition Place is a publicly owned mixed-use district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located by the shoreline of Lake Ontario, just west of downtown. The site includes exhibit, trade, and banquet centres, theatre and music buildings, monuments, ...

in 1997, but closed in 2003. Harbourfront Centre, housing galleries and performance spaces is located at the foot of Lower Simcoe Street. Harbourfront houses four craft studios; ceramics, glass, metal and textiles. All studios began in 1974 and still operate, providing new craft artists with subsidized work spaces at the beginning of their careers. Harbourfront hosts an extensive program of arts and cultural events throughout each summer, including craft and artisan fairs, theatre and dance performances and musical concerts. A series of free concerts is staged at Harbourfront's outdoor concert stage every weekend throughout the summer and in winter there is a free open-air ice rink. Queens Quay Terminal 2009

Queen's Quay Terminal, next to Harbourfront Centre, is a former warehouse converted into a mixed-use building including a shopping centre designed for high-end retailers, commercial office space, and a residential condominium development. Today, the mall houses some stores and restaurants, predominantly catering to tourists. Harbourfront Canoe and Kayak Centre 02

The Canada Malting Silos along the waterfront at the western edge of Harbourfront, are one of the last vestiges of the industrial past of the neighbourhood. The buildings were long ago abandoned by the company that built them, but a proposal for demolition was cancelled when the estimated cost for demolition rose into the millions of dollars. The site is also now considered a heritage site, and any development must conserve some aspect of the industrial past. Two proposals have been made, a Canadian music museum and a Toronto history museum have both been proposed for the site. Both proposals keep the silos, but demolish other buildings on the site. The silos are one two remaining silos in the area (see Victory Soya Mills Silos) and reminder of the past uses of the area. To the south of the silos, Toronto's Ireland Park was inaugurated in 2004. The site commemorates the men and women who were forced to flee

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

during the Great Famine. To the east of Harbourfront, at the foot of Jarvis Street, is the Redpath Sugar Refinery, which is both an active sugar refinery and a sugar production museum.

Parks and open spaces

Although Toronto has often been criticized for not having a dynamic and beautiful waterfront park, Harbourfront has a network of parks, open spaces and trails that allow residents and visitors to access the public realm. Parks and public spaces like HTO Park, the

Martin Goodman Trail The Martin Goodman Trail is a WaveDecks at the foot of

, Rees Street and Lower Simcoe combine to beautify the area and bring people to the water's edge.

List of parks and open spaces

* HarbourfrontWater's Edge * HTO Park * Ireland Park * John Quay * John Quay North * Harbour Square Park *

Martin Goodman Trail The Martin Goodman Trail is a Maple Leaf Mills Silos * Maple Leaf Quay West *

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

* Simcoe WaveDeck *

Toronto Music Garden Toronto Music Garden is a park in Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

* Spadina WaveDeck * York Quay & Harbourfront Centre

Transportation

The area is served by the

Toronto streetcar system The Toronto streetcar system is a network of eleven tram, streetcar routes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It is the List of North American light rail systems by ridership, third busiest light-rail s ...

, with links to subway stations at Union, Spadina, and Bathurst. The 510 Spadina and

509 Harbourfront 509 Harbourfront is a Toronto streetcar system, Toronto streetcar route in Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission and connecting Union Station (Toronto), Union Station with Exhibition Loop. History 1990–2012 The 509 Harb ...

streetcar routes terminate at Union Station, travel underground along

Bay Street Bay Street is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District, Toronto, Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Economy of Canada, Canada's financial services indust ...

, and surface through in the centre right-of-way lane on Queens Quay west. The streetcar route travels along Queen's Quay in a separate right-of-way, either to the

Canadian National Exhibition The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), also known as The Exhibition or The Ex, is an annual fair that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the third Friday of August leading up to and including Labour Day (Canada), ...

(CNE) grounds, up to Spadina or to Bathurst, depending on day of the week and other factors. The area is accessible from the

, Yonge/Bay and Jarvis street off-ramps of the

. The

Toronto Island ferries The Toronto Island ferries connect the Toronto Islands in Lake Ontario to the mainland of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The main city-operated ferry services carry passengers (all) and commercial vehicles (some) from the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal ...

operate from the City / Bay Street Docks at the foot of

(all ferries excluding ''Trillium'') and the Yonge Street slip (''Trillium'').

Climate

Weather records are from Toronto Island Airport (Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport).

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Neighbourhoods in Toronto Parks in Toronto