What to know
- Biidaasige Park is expanding with a new 10-acre northwestern section, opening on July 25, which will add more space and attractions to Toronto’s newest waterfront park.
- Features will include a section for paddling and unmotorized boats, 4 km of outdoor art, a waterside promenade, and the historic 300-ton Atlas Crane on full display, one of the last cargo cranes of its kind on the Great Lakes.
- The park, which first opened in 2025, already offers popular attractions, including a giant climbable owl, barbecue areas, and two ziplines.
- Biidaasige Park is part of the $1.4-billion Port Lands Flood Protection project, which aims to reduce flood risk, restore the Don River mouth, honour Indigenous placekeeping, and transform Toronto’s eastern waterfront into a new mixed-use community.
Toronto’s newest park is still growing, with a northwestern stretch of the space opening up near the end of the month.
Biidaasige Park, which initially opened in 2025, already has unique features open to visitors, such as a giant explorable owl, barbecue spots, and two ziplines.
Now, the opening of the northwestern section will bring 10 additional acres of land to the gathering space.
Residents will have access to many new activities to explore, including:
- Canoe Cove: a section on the waterfront dedicated to non-motorized boats and paddling activities
- The Lassonde Art Trail: a walkway that gives visitors four kilometres of free immersive outdoor art through the river valley up to a small raised part of land that overlooks downtown Toronto
- Waterside Promenade: A scenic walkway tracing the eastern side of Toronto’s harbour.
- The Atlas Crane: The highlight of the new area. Visitors will be able to get up close and personal with a decommissioned cargo crane used at the old Marine Terminal 35.
Residents will have access to many new activities to explore, including:
The 300-ton Atlas Crane is an “unusual” park feature that was placed at Biidaasige Park as a heritage structure, as it’s one of the last cranes of its kind on the Great Lakes.
The crane was initially installed in 1961 and was used to load and unload cargo at the Marine Terminal 35, originally located in the Port Lands at 242 Cherry Street.
The northwestern section is set to have its grand opening on July 25.
What is Biidaasige Park?
Biidaasige Park was opened in summer 2025 as part of the Port Lands Flood Protection project, a $1.4-billion, multi-government initiative to restore the Don River mouth, where the river flows into Lake Ontario.
With the collaboration of all three levels of the Canadian government, including Waterfront Toronto and Parks, Forestry and Recreation, the project aims to protect 174 hectares of the eastern waterfront from severe flooding and transform previous industrial land into a new mixed-use neighbourhood.
The project took into account Indigenous placekeeping, ensuring the integration of Indigenous values and teachings into the island’s design.
The manmade island’s name was changed from Villiers Island to incorporate this practice. The new name, Ookwemin Minising (pronounced Oh-kway-min Min-nih-sing), is Anishinaabemowin/Ojibwemowin and translates to “place of the black cherry trees,” while Biidaasige means “sunlight shining toward us.”
The entire project has a full 50-year vision for the Port Lands area and includes an approved Quayside project, which transforms 12 acres into an affordable housing community on Toronto’s downtown eastern waterfront. It also considers Waterfront Toronto’s fiscal and organizational capacity as the project nears completion, as well as their legislative mandate, which has a wind-up date in 2028.
