News and Updates

City of Toronto Modular Housing Initiative progressing quickly; initial site locations identified

Within a month of receiving Council approval, the plan to expedite delivery of Phase 1 of the City of Toronto’s Modular Housing Initiative is well underway and the program is on track to provide stable, affordable, high quality housing and support services to 100 individuals experiencing homelessness by the fall of 2020.

A key component of the expedited delivery is site identification. City and CreateTO staff have been evaluating City-owned land across Toronto using criteria that included local demand for affordable housing, development potential of the site, local infrastructure, access to public transit, access to health and other community services, as well as zoning and other bylaw considerations. Following the rigorous evaluation process, the following two sites are being recommended for Phase 1 of the Modular Housing Initiative:

Construction Notice #16: Port Lands Flood Protection

Click here to read the full notice.

Traffic Notice

Partial Lane Closure on Lake Shore Boulevard May 28-June 3 From Wednesday, May 28 to Wednesday, June 3, there will be partial lane closures on Lake Shore Boulevard between Don Roadway and Carlaw Avenue. Closures will take place between the hours of 10pm-5am. This is to allow crews to take water samples to support ongoing design work.

City of Toronto to reopen parks washrooms

The City of Toronto will begin to open some of its approximately 200 parks washrooms this week across the city following the Province of Ontario’s amendments to an order under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act.

The reopening will occur in two phases. The first phase will have roughly 50 washroom sites opening by June 6, followed by the remaining locations by mid-June. A list of locations and health guidelines for washrooms are available on the City Services webpage.

Mayor Tory raises rainbow and transgender flags and proclaims Pride Month in Toronto

Today, Mayor John Tory, joined by Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam (Ward 13 Toronto Centre), and a representative of Pride Toronto, officially proclaimed June as Pride Month in Toronto and raised the rainbow and transgender flags at City Hall. The ceremony was recorded and streamed live, kicking off Pride Toronto’s 2020 Virtual Pride Festival.

This year’s festival, planned for June 1 to 28, runs virtually to celebrate Pride in a new, creative, and unique way to showcase the history, courage and diversity of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, queer, questioning and Two-Spirit communities (LGBTQ2S+), while ensuring the safety of residents and proper physical distancing. The month-long festival will culminate with the Virtual Pride Festival Weekend from June 26 to 28. Information about Pride Toronto and the Virtual Pride Festival is available at pridetoronto.com.

City working with large downtown employers to extend working from home efforts, invites public input on Recovery and Rebuild efforts

Mayor John Tory announced today that the City of Toronto and a number of the city’s other major downtown employers, as well as Toronto's post-secondary institutions, will continue to support employees, where possible, to work from home until September at the earliest.

This effort is part of the work the City is doing to keep pressure off the TTC and Metrolinx as we move into the restart and recovery period, along with the ActiveTO plan to build up Toronto's bike network and the strong recommendation for all people who travel on transit to wear a mask.

Toronto City Council approves 40 km of expanded and accelerated bike routes for ActiveTO

Toronto City Council today approved expanding and accelerating a total of 40 kilometres of the city’s cycling network as part of Toronto’s ActiveTO program.

This initiative includes approximately 25 kilometres of new bikeways along with the final approval and acceleration of 15-kilomtres of cycling routes previously planned for this year, for a total of approximately 40 kilometres of new on-street cycling lanes in 2020 to be installed.

City of Toronto to resume waste bin exchanges and reopen all closed drop-off depots

The City of Toronto, under the guidance of the Medical Officer of Health, is gradually reopening City facilities and restarting operations where it is safe to do so. As part of our phased resumption of services, 311 will now begin taking requests for waste bin exchanges. Requests to upsize or downsize a recycling or garbage bin can now be made by calling 311. Requests for a new garbage, recycling or green bin, additional bin or bin repair can also be made by calling 311.

Expanded patio space sought for Queen Street East and Danforth Avenue restaurants May 25, 2020

By Ali Raza, Beach Metro News May 25, 2020

Restaurants, bars, and cafés on Danforth Avenue and Queen Street East could get a desperately needed boost as the City of Toronto assesses the possibility of “outdoor dining districts” to help small businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

It might even involve closing down adjacent road lanes to allow adequate space for restaurants and bars to configure their seating in accordance to physical distancing guidelines to allow for sitting customers.

Second Phase of the Housing Now Initiative released; new City-owned sites identified to create more affordable homes in Toronto

Today, Mayor John Tory announced the release of the Phase Two sites of Housing Now, a signature initiative to increase the supply of new affordable rental housing within mixed-income, mixed-use and transit-oriented communities on City-owned lands across Toronto.

Housing Now is a key component of the City’s HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan (HousingTO) and contributes towards the City's target of approving 40,000 affordable rental homes, including 18,000 supportive homes over the next 10 years. HousingTO is a comprehensive blueprint to assist more than 341,000 households over the next ten years by addressing the need across the housing spectrum – from homelessness to affordable rental and ownership housing. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an even greater number of residents experiencing housing challenges while also underscoring the importance of having a home in order to practice physical distancing and self-isolation. The City is looking to expedite delivery of the HousingTO plan in partnership with other levels of government in order to quickly provide more housing options for residents.

City of Toronto ActiveTO cycling network plan proposes 40 kilometres of expanded and accelerated routes

25-May-2020

Today, Mayor John Tory announced that a City of Toronto staff report scheduled for consideration by City Council later this week proposes that key parts of the cycling network be expanded, through accelerated installation of routes in the council-approved Cycling Network Plan, as part of the ActiveTO program.

During the April 30 Toronto City Council meeting, staff were requested to look at more active transportation as a crucial part of the city’s COVID-19 restart and recovery and in anticipation of changes in traffic patterns.