Metrolinx is set to seize more than 20 residential properties, including a newly opened daycare, in order to complete construction on a section of the Ontario Line, despite reportedly telling residents their properties would be unaffected.
Metrolinx says residents in 25 houses on Pape Avenue between Langley and Riverdale avenues, and a recently opened daycare centre, are required to move during the remaining duration of the construction in the interest of safety.
Residents will have to vacate their homes by Nov. 1. 2025, according to Metrolinx.
According to the CBC, residents of the Riverdale neighbourhood were initially told their properties would be unaffected.
But, Metrolinx told Now Toronto that upon further evaluation it deemed it necessary to acquire the properties.
“Updated assessments have revealed that 25 homes between Langley and Riverdale Avenue are vulnerable to potential structural impacts – mostly minor, such as cracks in foundations, walls and/or door frames – due to tunneling activities,” the transit company said in an email statement on Tuesday.
“We are acquiring these properties out of an abundance of caution, and to ensure absolute safety for the neighbourhood and its residents,” it continued.
Metrolinx says owners who opt to sell will receive fair market price for their homes based on external appraisals and that relocation specialists will work with tenants to find suitable housing alternatives on a like-for-like basis.
Additional engineering assessments will be conducted at each home once tunnel boring is complete to identify damages incurred during the process, which Metrolinx says will be repaired on its watch.
The company says it is exploring multiple avenues including the possibility of moving residents back into their homes once construction is completed.
“We work directly with every single property owner and tenant, from the onset, to reach amicable agreements as we know the process can be challenging,” its statement concluded.
Homeowners and tenants aren’t the only residents affected by the construction.
Riverdale Learning Loft, at 433 Pape Ave., opened just weeks ago, and will also have to vacate. Local residents have expressed sadness and frustration over its untimely seizure, including a Reddit user who toured the facility with his wife a matter of weeks ago.
“That daycare just opened. Like, a few weeks ago. It’s a beautiful space: my wife and I toured it while looking for a spot for our baby. We even talked about the construction with the owner, who was a lovely lady…For them to put in that work, get the permits, etc. and kids have just started there and now it’s all taken away? Makes me legitimately very upset,” they wrote.
“Joanna [the owner] is incredible. We literally almost put our 2 year old in that building last week to start in September. She’s been working on it for 5 years – her husband did much of the work.
Just devastating,” another person wrote.
“Joanna is amazing. We were with her when she was previously at All About Kids, before she decided to open up her own place. We feel devastated for her,” another user added.
Construction of the Ontario line is slated to be completed in 2031.
