What’s Happening

The Port Lands were created in the late 1800s and early 1900s by filling in Ashbridges Bay Marsh to extend Toronto's shoreline for industrial use. When they redirected the Don River to reach Lake Ontario, they created such a sharp 90-degree turn that the area became prone to severe flooding. For decades, the Port Lands have been home to garbage transfer stations, film studios, shipping depots, concrete plants, and the Portlands Energy Centre.

Waterfront Toronto, a city corporation funded by all three levels of government, decided the area was underutilized and initiated a massive transformation. The centerpiece is re-routing the Don River through a new, naturalized valley with flood protection, wetlands, fish habitats, and recreational trails. The new river system and parks are set to open in 2025. On top of that, the plan calls for 9,000 residential units across Villiers Island (originally 4,800 units in the 2017 plan), with the city owning around 80 percent of the land. First occupancy is expected in 2031, with full completion around 2040.

The city has set a target of 30 percent affordable housing and they've said they'll be insisting, not just requesting, that developers meet this goal. Transportation will be served by the proposed Waterfront LRT, which will run along Queens Quay, Cherry Street, and east on Commissioners Street, connecting to the Distillery Loop. But the LRT won't be operational until at least 2032, meaning early residents will rely on buses navigating one-way-in, one-way-out island roads.

Why it Matters

Villiers Island will be the second-most densely populated neighborhood in Toronto. With 9,000 units on 87 acres (0.35 square kilometers), you're looking at an estimated 18,000 to 21,000 people living there, roughly 52,000 people per square kilometer. For context, St. James Town is around 78,000 per square kilometer, and CityPlace is about 30,000. That means Villiers Island will be nearly double CityPlace's density.

This density matters because it affects quality of life in concrete ways: traffic congestion, overcrowded schools and parks, longer wait times for elevators and transit, and strain on local infrastructure. Villiers Island is essentially an island with one way in and one way out, just like Liberty Village, where residents are already calling for developers to stop building because the density has become unmanageable. And that's before you consider that the Waterfront LRT won't be ready until 2032 at the earliest, leaving early residents dependent on shuttle buses through bottleneck roads.

Then there's the housing mix. The city had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build missing middle housing and family-friendly, walkable neighborhoods. Instead, the plan is all high-rise condos. Toronto's own city planners, including Chief Planner Gregg Lintern, have confirmed that concentrating high-rises in small areas leads to lower quality of life and that missing middle housing supports the kinds of neighborhoods families actually want to live in. Yet none of that is planned for Villiers Island.

And while the green space and naturalized river valley are impressive feats of engineering, they risk becoming another carved-out amenity in a tightly packed concrete environment. The quieter, conservation-like feel of nearby Cherry Beach and Tommy Thompson Park exists because they're removed from dense residential areas. Once you pack thousands of residents onto this island, those green spaces will look very different.

My Take

This project had so much potential, and in a lot of ways, it still does. The flood protection work, the naturalized river valley, the fish habitats, the wetlands, it's genuinely impressive. Toronto doesn't do projects like this often, and when we do, we should be proud of the engineering and planning that went into making it happen. But the residential side of this development? That's where it falls apart.

The city owns 80 percent of the land here. They had a blank canvas. They could have built missing middle housing. Instead, they're building wall-to-wall high-rise condos that will make this the second-densest neighborhood in Toronto. And for what? To pack in as many units as possible without thinking about whether those units will actually create a livable community.

Let's talk about the density. At 52,000 people per square kilometer, Villiers Island will be nearly double CityPlace's density. And if you've spent any time in CityPlace, you know it's not exactly a model of urban planning success. Now imagine nearly double that density on an island with one way in and one way out. Liberty Village has the same problem, and residents there are begging developers to stop building. The traffic at peak times will be a nightmare. The Waterfront LRT won't be operational until 2032 at the earliest, and knowing Toronto's track record, it'll be later than that.

And let's be honest about the housing itself. Toronto isn't in a housing shortage, we have 10,000 condos for sale right now, with 3,500 of them sitting vacant. We also have 3,500 vacant condos for lease, most of which have been on the market for over a month. If we were in a real housing shortage, those units would be gone. The problem is that developers keep building 400-square-foot shoebox condos designed for investors, not end-users. And I have zero confidence that Villiers Island will be any different unless the city actually enforces livable unit sizes and layouts.

The 30 percent affordable housing target is a step in the right direction, and I'm glad the city is saying they'll insist on it rather than just request it. But targets aren't guarantees. The city is selling the land to developers, which means we're still dependent on the private market to deliver on affordability. And without enforceable requirements on unit sizes, layouts, and building types, we're going to end up with more of the same: small, poorly designed units that sit vacant or get flipped by investors.

Here's another issue: the Portlands Energy Centre. It's a natural gas plant that contributes significantly to local air pollution, particularly nitrogen dioxide, which can cause asthma, harm heart and lung health, and affect pregnancies. The highest levels of nitrogen dioxide are within one to two kilometers of the source, and Villiers Island is right in that range. Toronto East Residents for Renewable Energy (TERRE) has been fighting to have the plant phased out by 2030 and replaced with renewable energy. I hope they succeed, because asking families to move into a brand-new neighborhood with cancer-causing air pollution is unacceptable.

And finally, the green space. Yes, the naturalized river valley will be beautiful. But I worry it won't stay that way once you pack 20,000 people onto this island. The quiet, conservation-like feel of Cherry Beach and Tommy Thompson Park exists because they're removed from dense residential areas. Villiers Island's parks will be carved out of a tightly packed urban environment, and if Toronto's track record with high-density green spaces is any indication, they'll be covered in garbage, dog waste, and encampments.

The economic impact is great, thousands of jobs, new tourism opportunities, property tax revenue. But city-building isn't just about economics. It's about creating neighborhoods where people actually want to live. And right now, Villiers Island feels like a missed opportunity to do something different. We had a blank canvas, city-owned land, and the chance to build missing middle housing that families are desperate for. Instead, we're building another high-density condo neighborhood that will struggle with the same traffic, overcrowding, and livability issues we see everywhere else in Toronto. We can do better than this.

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