What to know
- Doug Ford says the province is exploring filling in part of Lake Ontario to create new land for a larger convention centre aimed at attracting major global events to Toronto.
- Ford said he discussed the idea with Mayor Olivia Chow and noted the proposal would still need to go through environmental review before any in-fill project could proceed.
- The idea sparked mixed reactions online, with critics calling the plan wasteful while supporters pointed to past land-reclamation projects like Ontario Place as a precedent.
Premier Doug Ford said he’s looking into filling in a portion of Lake Ontario in order to build a new convention centre and increase tourism in Toronto.
During a question and answer period with reporters, Ford confirmed he’s looking into adding more land to Toronto artificially, using in-fill, often made from silica sand, recycled tire parts, sand, cork, and/or coconut fibers.
By doing this, he says he hopes to create enough of a plot to build a new convention centre to create more opportunities.
“We’re losing out on so many large conventions in the world, because we just don’t have the size and [the Metro Convention Centre] is a dated convention [centre], but we’re exploring that,” Ford said in a video posted to X (formerly Twitter)
This move is something Ford said he spoke to Mayor Olivia Chow about. He claims the mayor endorses the idea.
Now Toronto reached out to the office of the mayor, but hadn’t received a reply by publication.
Ford added that, in order to get started on the potential filling, the city’s environmental process would have to move forward.
“But, we have a tremendous amount of fill right now,” he said. “And we need to expand the land.”
Some people online did not like this idea.
“This needs to be stopped,” one X user said. “That is insane.”
Another X user agreed, saying the premier was not using taxes effectively.
“We are allowing one person and his minions to destroy Ontario with our tax dollars #DougFordIsCORRUPT,” they said.
Meanwhile, some supported the idea and backed Ford.
“[The] original Ontario Place was built that way, seemed to work out,” one X user said.
“Montreal did it for Expo 67. Now they race Formula 1 there,” said another X user.
Ford did not disclose when he would be going forward with the proposal process for his in-fill plans.
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Environmental reaction
Multiple conservation groups, including the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and the Friends of Hanlan’s, have told Now Toronto they would need additional information from Ford on his plan, before making a judgement call on how filling a portion of Lake Ontario would affect the environment.
While environmental impacts are not yet known, the Friends of Hanlan’s group suggest if Ford plans to add in-fill to the lake, the city should tackle other restorations that they say are needed as well.
“We would hope that any construction project that involves more lake fill… would involve a desperately needed restoration of the outer shoreline of Toronto Island and an investment in Toronto’s forgotten beaches,” the Friends of Hanlan’s added in an email. “Any construction project that involves lake fill, barges, and shoreline engineering offers the opportunity for the City and Province to restore and enhance 10 linear kilometres of beaches at a very low additional cost to the larger project.”
The group explained that restoring the island’s 6 km long beach that had initially run from Ward’s west to Gibraltar Point, and north to the airport, would provide residents with a freshwater dune beach and would be simple alongside the in-fill meant for the potential convention centre.
Not the first proposal
This isn’t the first time artificial land being added to the lake was proposed. A proposal to add multiple artificial islands off of Humber River, in order to create a water filtration system for nearby beaches, was denied in 2002 and again in 2012, originally reported by The Globe and Mail.
While not formally denied, that proposal was overshadowed by other watershed improvement projects that took priority.
Additionally, Leslie Street Spit, home of Tommy Thompson Park, was a man-made dumping ground, with items such as tea cups, bricks, and other scraps discovered that dated back to redevelopments in the 1960s. The Spit gradually grew out of waste dumped into the area.
As the land slowly developed over time, there were plans to add an amusement park, hotel and marina to the area in the late 1970s, but local activists successfully thwarted the idea, in order to preserve it as a natural space.
