The Ford government has recently announced several new construction projects worth billions of dollars to reshape Toronto’s waterfront. These projects include plans for a new convention centre, the expansion of Billy Bishop airport to accommodate jets and the construction of a new Ontario Science Centre.
The Ford government’s plans for a new Toronto convention centre are based off an Ontario Auditor General report conducted in 2023 that substantiated the claim that the current Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) was losing international conventions due to being too small.
The auditor’s report compared the MTCC to other North American convention centres. The MTCC ranked “18 out of 21 in terms of the size of its contiguous rentable space (space that is adjourning, with no obstructions or gaps),” according to the report.
It was determined that the MTCC “did not have enough space to host 27 per cent” of potential trade shows and conventions that could have come to Toronto. The lack of space has been connected to “20 international conventions” relocating from Toronto to other North American cities.
The auditor’s report also highlights that international events have “generated an estimated $490 million in economic impact for Ontario” but that these events have also outgrown the MTCC’s capacity.
While the Ford government has yet to announce a location for the new convention centre, Ford has stated that filling in a portion of Toronto’s waterfront is an option he is considering.
Ford also stated that the new convention centre would be three times the size of the current MTCC.
The proposed expansion of the runway on Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport has been another waterfront project that has garnered attention from the Ford government recently.
The Toronto Islands are host to a residential neighbourhood, the largest parklands in the city and Billy Bishop airport. The airport currently sits on land owned by the City of Toronto, however, the Ford government has stated that it plans to expropriate the land to remove it from city control.
Plans to expand the airport to accommodate jets as opposed to its current propeller-only rating are nothing new, with Porter Airlines having made a proposal to do so in 2013.
Those opposed to expansion plans have raised concerns about noise levels from jet operations on the island, with jets exceeding a noise threshold being banned from using the airport.
During the same time, the federal government approved pre-clearance at Billy Bishop allowing travelers flying to the United States to clear customs before departing the airport.
Airport runway expansion or some form was necessary under the Amended Tripartite agreement between the Toronto Port Authority, Transport Canada and the City of Toronto to meet Transport Canada’s Runway End Safety Area (RESA) regulations.
The city had plans to achieve RESA compliance by July 2027. The level of expansion needed to meet RESA, however, has been described as “a minimal landmass extension.”
The Ford government has the support of the Toronto Port Authority and the Island owners in pursuing a larger expansion to enable jets on the island.
In addition to these two projects, the province has announced plans to build a brand-new Ontario Science Centre that aims to be “completed as early as 2029.”
The announcement follows years of criticism following the closure of the original Ontario Science Centre, based on an engineering report that raised concern about a section of the building’s roof.
Critics claim the move was politically motivated and the architecture firm behind the original building even offered to conduct free repairs on the facility.
The new Science Centre is slated to be only 400,000 square feet, which is smaller than the original Science Centre’s 550,000 square foot profile.
The new facility has been moved to Ontario Place. It is described as being the cornerstone of a “revitalized Ontario place.”
The new Science Centre will contain an upgraded Cinesphere, renovated and enhanced pods and a focus on interactive and immersive experiences.
Toronto’s waterfront is set to undergo drastic changes in the coming decade.