What is the port lands flood protection project?

The Port Lands Flood Protection Project is about taking action to protect Toronto’s southeastern downtown area. Right now, in an extreme weather event, floodwaters from the Don River would overwhelm portions of the Port Lands, South Riverdale and Leslieville. Our plan is to reconnect the Don River to Lake Ontario by creating a naturalized river mouth. To do this we are embarking on one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Toronto’s history.

Toronto’s Port Lands is considered one of the largest underdeveloped stretches of downtown waterfront in North America. Up until now we have been unable to make this industrial area a thriving part of our city because portions are at risk of flooding and the soil is contaminated.

We are creating two new outlets for the existing river so that floodwaters can run off into the inner harbour instead of damaging the surrounding neighbourhoods. This work involves digging a kilometer-long river valley, which ends in a new mouth that we are constructing for the Don River. We are also cleaning up polluted land at the same time as we build new roads, bridges, utilities and public trails. When this work is finally complete, we will have created 25 hectares of publicly accessible greenspace and parkland . This project is the beginning of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform the face of Toronto.