Sources

Evidence and Background

Toronto Harbourlands is a conceptual civic proposal. The sources below support key factual claims and provide background for the planning, transportation, economic and comparative ideas discussed on this website.

The inclusion of a source does not imply that its author or organization endorses Harbourlands. The Harbourlands concept, interpretations and recommendations are our own.

Toronto’s Waterfront, Growth and Connectivity

City of Toronto — Official Plan: Chapter 1, Making Choices
Toronto expects to add more than 700,000 residents and almost half a million jobs by 2051. The Official Plan identifies maintaining quality of life, services and amenities as an important part of accommodating that growth.

City of Toronto — Central Waterfront Secondary Plan
Toronto’s long-term waterfront planning framework is built around four core principles: removing barriers and making connections; creating a network of waterfront parks and public spaces; promoting a clean and green environment; and creating dynamic and diverse communities.

Waterfront Toronto — Port Lands
The Port Lands encompass approximately 356 hectares of Toronto’s eastern waterfront and represent one of the city’s largest long-term city-building opportunities.

Waterfront Toronto — Waterfront East Transit
Waterfront East Transit is intended to extend higher-order transit from downtown into the Port Lands and Ookwemin Minising, connecting people with neighbourhoods, jobs and destinations across the eastern waterfront.

City of Toronto — Toronto Island Park Master Plan
Toronto Island Park receives approximately 1.5 million visitors annually. Improving access, protecting natural and cultural assets and enhancing the visitor experience are central elements of the Island’s long-term planning.

Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport

Transport Canada — Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport Runway End Safety Area Project
The Tripartite Agreement governing Billy Bishop Airport has been extended to December 31, 2045 as part of the airport’s required runway safety improvements.

City of Toronto — Exhibition Place Master Plan: Phase 1 Proposals Report
City planning documents identify Billy Bishop Airport as occupying approximately 85 hectares on the Toronto Islands and note that airspace restrictions associated with airport operations extend beyond the airport property.

City of Toronto — Billy Bishop Airport Proposed Expansion: Housing and Transportation Impacts
City Planning examined the relationship between proposed airport changes and surrounding housing, development, transportation and waterfront planning.

Transport Canada — Public Consultation on the Future of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, 2026
The federal consultation considered transportation, economics, environmental impacts, noise, housing and quality of life in assessing the airport’s future.

Canadian Press / CityNews — Federal Decision on Billy Bishop Expansion, July 24, 2026
The federal government announced that it would not proceed with the proposed expansion of Billy Bishop Airport to accommodate larger jet aircraft.

Toronto’s Visitor Economy

Destination Toronto — 2025 Visitor Economy Results
Toronto welcomed a record 28.2 million visitors in 2025, generating $9.1 billion in direct visitor spending and nearly $13.5 billion in total economic impact. Major meetings generated an estimated $982 million in economic impact.

Destination Toronto — Toronto Destination Master Plan, 2026
Toronto’s ten-year tourism strategy calls for better connections within the city, stronger public spaces, new attractions and demand drivers, increased competitiveness for major events and greater year-round appeal. It also identifies a new convention centre among Toronto’s potential transformational opportunities.

Chicago’s Connected Lakefront

Chicago is used throughout this site as a comparison, not as a blueprint. Its value as an example lies in how parks, beaches, trails, cultural attractions, major visitor destinations, and convention facilities have developed as part of a larger waterfront system.

Chicago Park District — Lakefront Planning and Lakefront Trail
Chicago’s public Lake Michigan waterfront includes approximately 26 miles of shoreline, 18 miles of recreational trails and 29 beaches.

City of Chicago — Central Area Existing Conditions and Trends
City planning documents reported nearly 20 million visitors to Millennium Park in 2022, illustrating the scale a major downtown public space can achieve as a civic and visitor destination.

Navy Pier — Official Visitor Information
Navy Pier is one of the Midwest’s largest visitor destinations and combines public space, attractions, restaurants, cultural programming, cruises and event facilities on Chicago’s waterfront.

McCormick Place — Official Facility Information
McCormick Place is North America’s largest convention centre, with approximately 2.6 million square feet of exhibition space on Chicago’s lakefront.

The Hearn and Adaptive Reuse

City of Toronto — Richard L. Hearn Generating Station Heritage Designation
The Hearn is a designated heritage property and a landmark of Toronto’s Port Lands.

Apple — Battersea Power Station
London’s historic Battersea Power Station has been transformed into a major mixed-use destination and has housed Apple’s UK headquarters since 2023. It provides an international example of the adaptive reuse of monumental industrial architecture.

A Framework for Comparing the Alternatives

Government of Canada — Policy on Cost-Benefit Analysis
Federal cost-benefit analysis provides a useful precedent for comparing alternatives rather than examining a proposal in isolation. It considers economic, environmental and social effects, positive and negative impacts, feasible alternatives, uncertainty and impacts that cannot readily be monetized.

Toronto Harbourlands proposes that an independent Net Public Benefit Study apply a similarly broad approach to Toronto’s downtown harbour—comparing continued airport operations, alternative aviation models, Harbourlands and other credible waterfront futures.

The methodology, assumptions and evaluation criteria should be established independently and transparently. Harbourlands should be tested by that process, not presumed to be its outcome.

Sources and statistics are reviewed periodically. Last updated August 2026.