FAQ Category: Progress and planning

Waterfront Toronto is working with the City of Toronto and the TTC on a Waterfront Transit Network Expansion. In the long-term, Light Rail Transit (LRTs) are planned along Queens Quay East, Cherry Street, Commissioners Street, and Broadview Avenue. For more information, visit the City of Toronto Webpage about the Waterfront Transit Network Expansion.

The timeline for this new transit is not yet firm. We will share updates via our newsletter and social media channels as they become available. Subscribe to the Waterfront Toronto newsletter.

Latest project updates on the Waterfront East LRT on the Waterfront Toronto website.

The plan for the new island is to build a mix of affordable and family-friendly housing. As planned, it will deliver approximately 9,000 new housing units, including as many as 2,700 affordable rental units, helping to address a critical need for housing in the city. Unlocking the Port Lands for revitalization will help address the critical need for housing as part of a development of new communities next to Toronto’s downtown core that are connected by transit and cycling networks. The new island community that will emerge as a result of this project is envisioned as an innovative model for a climate positive community.

The current work in the Port Lands is for flood protection and does not include any development or buildings. Development of the Island, including building affordable housing, will happen after the flood protection work is complete in 2025.

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Once we complete construction on the Port Lands Flood Protection project in 2025, a new river valley will run through the Port Lands, creating a new island called Ookwemin Minising. The new river’s natural landscape will become home to diverse plants and wildlife. Land that was once unusable and under the threat of flooding will be ready to transform into complete communities and thriving businesses.

Any development that takes place will be guided by the Port Lands Planning Framework, approved by Toronto City Council in 2017, and the Villiers Island Precinct Plan, which was updated in 2024.

Planning initiatives for the Port Lands have been underway for over a decade, and have resulted in not only the Planning Framework, but a number of other key studies and plans that will guide development.

For the latest information on development of the new Island, visit the Waterfront Toronto Webpage about Ookwemin Minising.

The new river valley will create what was temporarily called Villiers Island, now named Ookwemin Minising. However, the flood protection project doesn’t include the development of new buildings on the Island, or anywhere in the Port Lands. That development can begin once Port Lands Flood Protection is complete in 2025.

The guidelines for buildings, roads and more on the Island are in the Villiers Island Precinct Plan. The Villiers Island Precinct Plan was adopted by Toronto City Council in October 2017, along with the Port Lands Planning Framework, which sets the long-term vision for the Port Lands. As part of the planning process to finalize the Villiers Island Precinct Plan, we collaborated with the City of Toronto to consult the public. The precinct plan was updated in 2024.

The design work underway does consider parks, public spaces and roads on the Island to make sure what we build as part of Port Lands Flood Protection works as part of the larger, future system of parks in the Port Lands. It doesn’t deal with any new buildings. Find out more about what we are building as part of Port Lands Flood Protection.

Construction began on the Cherry Street Lakefilling Project in December 2017. We started digging the new river valley in summer 2018. The Port Lands Flood Protection Project is scheduled for completion in 2025.

See current construction impacts.