Summer Ward 4 Updates

In this week's e-newsletter

  • Public Survey – Toronto Renovictions By-law
  • Upcoming Events at Lambton House
  • Taste of Junction
  • City of Toronto offers exciting activities for residents and visitors this long weekend
    • City Beaches
    • Outdoor pools, wading pools and splash pads
    • Dog-only swim
  • Toronto Island Park
  • Community Centres and Indoor Pools
  • Tennis and pickleball courts
  • Conservatories
  • Cultural Centres
  • Golf at municipal courses
  • High Park Animal Display
  • Riverdale Farm
  • St. Lawrence Market
  • Toronto History Museums
  • Road restrictions and closures
  • TTC
  • Toronto Zoo
  • Important Reminder about Fireworks
  • Waste Drop-Off Depots

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Public Survey – Toronto Renovictions By-law

The City of Toronto is inviting residents to provide input on the implementation of a new renovictions bylaw modelled after successful initiatives in other cities across Canada.  

In June, Toronto City Council directed City staff to create a bylaw in response to the growing trend of renovictions in Toronto, where a landlord illegitimately evicts a tenant by alleging that vacant possession of the rental unit is required to make renovations or repairs, leading to situations where landlords increase rents significantly or refuse to allow tenants to return to their homes. This results in the displacement of tenants, the permanent loss of affordable rental housing, and contributes to rising homelessness in Toronto.  

To inform the development of the bylaw, the City is engaging with tenants, landlords, and residents impacted by renovictions. Staff will report back to the Planning and Housing Committee with a proposed renovictions bylaw in October. 

Online survey 

Residents are encouraged to share their insights and experiences by completing the online survey by Monday, September 30 on the City’s website: toronto.ca/renoviction 

Drop-in sessions 

The City is also hosting in-person and virtual consultation meetings:

Toronto West 

Date: Thursday, September 5 

Time: 1 to 4 p.m. 

Location: Parkdale Activity Recreation Centre (PARC), 1499 Queen St. W. – Auditorium 

The City of Toronto is developing a new by-law to protect renters from being unfairly evicted for renovations (“renovictions”). As part of developing this by-law, the City has launched a public survey to gather input from tenants, landlords, and other Toronto residents. To complete the survey, visit www.toronto.ca/renovictions, before September 30. City staff will report to the City’s Planning and Housing Committee on October 30, 2024, with a proposed renovictions by-law.


Upcoming Events at Lambton House

Lambton House/Tavern (circa 1860), owned by the City of Toronto, is operated and curated on its behalf by its stewards, Heritage York, a registered charity.  It is a community gathering place, a proposed Lower Humber Interpretive Centre and a magical step into the past.

We look forward to seeing you at Lambton House/Tavern, to enjoy a great opportunity to gather with friends, old and new, in this unique, historic, former stage coach stop and tavern. 

  • Friday, 6 Sep 6 pm - Community Pub with Terry Jones
  • Thursday, 12 Sep 7:30p - Heritage Talk, Speaker to be Confirmed
  • Thursday, 19 Sep 1-3pm - Tea Time 55+
  • Friday, 20 Sep 7pm - Euchre
  • Friday, 27 Sep 7pm - Movie Trivia Night

Taste of Junction

The vibrant neighbourhood of the Junction is thrilled to announce the return of Taste of the Junction, an extraordinary event uniting 21 exceptional local businesses. Guests are invited to explore and indulge in delicious culinary delights, refreshing beverages and browse unique products from various retail vendors. Presented by The Junction BIA, in partnership with Stu Sells Realty, the second annual event will take place on Saturday, September 7th, from 12 PM to 9 PM at a new location off Jackson Place (51 Vine Ave). This year, Taste of the Junction will soar to new heights by integrating the beloved event with the official launch of The AR Laneway Project. In addition to enjoying mouthwatering delights offered by local restaurants and shopping an array of retail vendors, attendees are invited to the unveiling of the vibrant new animated mural, “Rhapsody in Gold,” located in the rear laneway of 2896 Dundas St W. This captivating 765-square-foot animated mural can be experienced through the FREE Artivive app, which uses augmented reality (AR) to bring the artwork to life. Guests can simply point their smartphone at this NEW mural, and five existing murals in the laneway and witness the art in a new and magical way!

More information here!

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City of Toronto offers exciting activities for residents and visitors this long weekend

The City of Toronto invites residents and visitors to enjoy the upcoming long weekend with fun activities and attractions. Whether you're looking to soak up the sun, explore the city's cultural gems or enjoy a relaxing day outdoors, there is something for everyone to enjoy this long weekend.

City Beaches
Soak up some sun and enjoy one of the city’s beaches this long weekend. The City encourages residents and visitors to enjoy the water safely by:

  • Swimming only when lifeguards are on duty and within supervised swimming areas.
  • Staying within arm’s reach of children who are in or near water.
  • Never swimming alone or while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
  • Staying hydrated, wearing sunscreen and limiting exposure to heat and sun.
  • Calling 911 in case of emergency.

The following beaches will continue to have supervised swim zones from Tuesday, September 3 to Sunday, September 8. Lifeguards will be on duty between 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m.:

  • Woodbine Beach
  • Kew-Balmy Beach
  • Cherry Beach
  • Sunnyside Beach

Find more information and a map with all the beaches on the City’s Beaches webpage: www.toronto.ca/beaches.

Outdoor pools, wading pools and splash pads
Outdoor pools, splash pads and wading pools are all great options for staying cool this summer. They will be open throughout the weekend with select sites open on Monday.

Dog-only swim

Dogs who have been waiting all summer for their chance to swim are invited to enjoy a free swim at select pools. Dog-only swim sessions will take place at ten locations on Sunday, September 1, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Dogs must be accompanied by an adult aged 18 or older, who must remain on the pool deck. One adult can bring a maximum of two dogs.

Pet donations to Toronto Animal Services including peanut butter, freeze-dried treats and dog toys will be accepted at the pools. Residents can also support shelter pets by donating items from the City’s Our Wish List webpage: www.toronto.ca/business-economy/partnerships-sponsorships-donations/donate/donate-to-animal-services/our-wish-list.

More information about outdoor pools, wading pools, splash pads and the dog-only swims is available on the City’s Swimming & Water Play webpage: www.toronto.ca/swim.

Toronto Island Park
Toronto Island Park is a popular destination and – like other major attractions – will be busy this weekend. The City strongly encourages residents and visitors to:

  • Be patient and plan ahead.
  • Plan travel during non-peak hours—the ferry is busiest from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. when heading to Toronto Island Park and from 5:30 to 9 p.m. for return trips to the mainland, especially from Centre Island.
  • Buy tickets online before heading to the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal. Online ticket holders enter the terminal through a separate line during peak travel times.

More information about ferry services including online ticket purchases can be found on the Ferries to Toronto Island Park webpage: www.toronto.ca/ferries.

Community Centres and Indoor Pools
Indoor pools and community centres will be open on Saturday, August 31 and Sunday, September 1 but will be closed on Monday, September 2. More information can be found on the City’s Parks & Community Recreation Centres Map webpage: www.toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/parks-recreation/places-spaces/parks-and-recreation-facilities/parks-and-community-recreation-centres-map.

Tennis and pickleball courts
Public tennis and pickleball courts will be available across the city throughout the long weekend. Players are asked to share the courts by limiting their play time to half-hour intervals if others are waiting to use them.

More information about public courts is available on the City’s Tennis Court Listing webpage: www.toronto.ca/tenniscourt.

More information can also be found on the City’s Pickleball Court webpage: www.toronto.ca/data/parks/prd/facilities/pickleball-court/index.html.

Conservatories

Allan Gardens Conservatory and Centennial Park Conservatory are free and open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. this long weekend. More information is available on the City’s Conservatories webpage: www.toronto.ca/conservatories.

Cultural Centres
Cultural Centres will operate limited weekend hours and close on Monday, August 5. More information about the Cultural Centres including hours of operation are available on the City’s website: www.toronto.ca/culturalcentres.

Golf at municipal courses
Toronto’s five municipal golf courses are open daily throughout the long weekend. Golfers are encouraged to book in advance. Tee times can be booked:

  • online by visiting the individual course page
  • by phone by calling the golf course.

More information is available on the City’s Golf webpage: www.toronto.ca/golf.

High Park Animal Display
The High Park Animal Display will be open to visitors from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. all weekend. Residents and visitors are reminded that roads within High Park are closed to vehicular traffic on weekends and holidays. More information is available on the City’s Zoos & Farms webpage: www.toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/parks-recreation/places-spaces/beaches-gardens-attractions/zoos-farms/high-park-animal-display

Riverdale Farm
Admission is free to Riverdale Farm, which will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. throughout the long weekend. More information is available on the City’s Riverdale Farm webpage: www.toronto.ca/riverdalefarm.

St. Lawrence Market
Join Balfolk Toronto at St. Lawrence Market on Saturday, August 31, for a community dance class at 1:30 p.m., followed by a live music social from 2 to 3:30 p.m. featuring traditional and modern folk dances from French and Western European regions. More information can be found on the St. Lawrence Market webpage: www.stlawrencemarket.com/events/event_detail/698/Music%20&%20Dance%20Class%20with%20Balfolk%20Toronto.

Taste of the Caribbean returns to Market Street on Sunday, September 1. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., enjoy authentic flavours, live music and unique artisan crafts. More information can be found on the Taste of the Caribbean website: www.tastethecaribbean.ca.

The St. Lawrence Market will also be open during regular hours over the long weekend. The main building will be open on Saturday, August 31, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday, September 1, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The weekly Farmers’ Market will be open on Saturday from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. The market is closed on Mondays. For more information, visit the St. Lawrence Market website: www.stlawrencemarket.com

Toronto History Museums
Toronto History Museums are open on Saturday, August 31 and Sunday, September 1, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with free activities and programs available throughout the weekend. Fort York is open on Monday, September 2, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. All other museum sites are closed on September 2.

More information is available on the City’s Festival and Events calendar: www.toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/history-art-culture/exhibits-events.

Road restrictions and closures
Several road restrictions and closures related to events and critical City-led infrastructure work are in effect which may impact travel throughout the long weekend. Residents are encouraged to plan ahead and visit the City’s Road Restrictions and Closures webpage for more information:  www.toronto.ca/roadrestrictions.

More information about festivals and events is available on the City’s Festivals & Events Calendar webpage: www.toronto.ca/eventscalendar.

TTC
The TTC will operate on its Holiday service schedule on Labour Day. More information is available on the TTC webpage: www.ttc.ca.

Toronto Zoo
As part of the Zoo's 50th birthday celebrations, guests can visit the Wildlife Marquee starting through the Labour Day long weekend to join two LEGO Master Model Builders as they construct a 22-foot LEGO mosaic wall and a 3D animal ‘big build’!

Presented in partnership with LEGOLAND Discovery Centre and LEGODREAMZzz: www.torontozoo.com/events/legodreamzzz#evt.

Important Reminder about Fireworks
The Labour Day long weekend is not a designated day for fireworks. Residents are only permitted to set off fireworks on their property if they have obtained a permit from Toronto Fire Services. Fireworks are not allowed in City parks or on beaches, balconies, streets, parking lots or other private property.

The misuse or illegal sale of fireworks can be reported to 311 by phone or by submitting a service request on the City’s 311 webpage: www.toronto.ca/311. More information about fireworks rules is available on the City’s Fireworks webpage: www.toronto.ca/fireworks.

Waste Drop-Off Depots
The City’s Drop-off Depots will be closed for residential drop-offs of garbage, yard waste, recyclables, household hazardous waste and electronics on Monday, September 2. For more information, visit the City’s Holiday Collection & Drop-off Depot Impacts webpage: www.toronto.ca/holiday-impacts.


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Friends,

As part of the George Street Revitalization (GSR) project, the City continues to relocate existing shelter programs to new and enhanced facilities across Toronto. The 2299 Dundas St. W. Men’s Shelter will create a safe space for 80 men experiencing homelessness. This program will provide case management to assist clients in securing permanent housing and access to onsite healthcare and mental health supports, including a Managed Alcohol Program. The anticipated construction completion date for this shelter is Winter 2026.

The shelter will be staffed 24-hours a day, seven days a week and offer specialized programs that will provide health and housing support to help residents improve their health and move toward permanent housing.

Services and features of the shelter will include:
• Onsite healthcare, including personal support workers, nursing, medication support, and access to an in-house physician.
• Access to health services, including a Managed Alcohol Program (MAP) and the Annex Infirmary program which provides short-term medical observation, care, and recovery support to clients experiencing health challenges.
• Case management to support clients secure permanent and supportive housing.
• Mental health services and referrals to a wide range of additional community supports

Shelters in our city provide essential support to individuals in immediate housing crisis, act as a stepping stone to permanent housing, reduce reliance on other high-cost services (e.g emergency rooms), and bring people indoors, by providing an alternative to sleeping in parks, sidewalks, or transit shelters.

If you are interested in supporting the shelter, through the offer of programs that benefit shelter residents, participating in community events or partnerships, or donating goods, please email [email protected].

There will be a community event to welcome the shelter to the neighbourhood once construction is completed. Updates will continue to be shared as the project progresses on the City’s webpage at toronto.ca/2299dundas.

If you would like to receive future updates, ask a question or share an idea, you can reach the project team at [email protected] .

 

Sincerely,

Gord


In This Week's Newsletter

City-Wide News

  • TRCA Flood Safety Information
  • CultureLink Career Workshop
  • Grassy Narrows River Run Rally Save the Date

Ward 4 news

  • Pat Capponi Parkette Opening Event
  • Toronto East York Community Council
    • 1464 King Street West and 10 to 12 Maynard Avenue
    • 1497 and 1501 Queen Street West and 89 and 91 Beaty Avenue
    • 1 & 3 Close Ave & 78 Springhurst Ave
    • 1730 Bloor Street West
    • 2273, 2277 and 2279 Bloor Street West
    • 34 to 50 Southport Street
    • Renaming Close-Springhurst Parkette in Honour of Diane Rajaram
    • Transportation Items
      • CNE Traffic and Parking Regulations
      • King Street Construction
      • Armadale and Mayfield - All-Way Stop
      • Traffic Calming Various Streets
      • St. John's Road - Additional Speed Humps
  • Parkdale Parking Restrictions during FIFA  

Friends,

On June 10, 2026, the Infrastructure and Environment Committee voted in favour of urging the Ontario government to immediately implement a deposit-return program for non-alcoholic beverage containers.

Currently, Ontario operates a successful deposit return system for alcohol, seeing an average of 75 percent of all empties returned to Beer Stores each year. The deposit return provides a consumer incentive to consciously recycle. This system must be expanded to include all beverage containers.

Ontario is one of Canada’s only provinces without a deposit-return program for non-alcoholic beverages. As a result, Ontario has the lowest beverage container recovery rate in Canada—at roughly 50% of containers being recycled. Other provinces such as Alberta, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia have an expanded deposit return program and see recovery rates 50% higher than Ontario. The Ontario government proposed expanding the deposit return program to include non-alcoholic containers in 2023 but has yet to do so.

The City of Toronto will join the Peel Region, the City of Waterloo, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative in urging the Ontario government to immediately implement a deposit-return program for non-alcoholic beverage containers.

The IEC Committee received a letter of support from the Canadian Beverage Association to expand the Deposit Return Program as the current mixed recycling system is inefficient, resulting in higher cost for producers with worse outcomes.

You can hear my comments on the matter at the IEC meeting here: https://youtu.be/73ZTlD1yDIU

As we push for ways to be more sustainable, I encourage you to participate in the Plastic Free July challenge, a global campaign encouraging individuals and communities to cut down on single use plastics throughout the month of July.  We can use this movement to make incremental changes in individual habits but also to mobilize as a community to influence our governments and businesses to adopt sustainable practices.

 

Sincerely,

Gord


In This Week's Newsletter

City-Wide News

  • FIFA Related Nighttime Waste Collection Changes

Ward 4 news

  • Sorauren Construction Progress Update – June 18,2026  
  • Swansea Town Hall: Clean Indoor Air Toronto
  • Summer Fest - Baby Point Gates BIACommunity Environment Day - June 27
  • Community Environment Day - June 27
  • Parkside Live: A Summer Music Series
  • Taste of the Junction 2026
  • Parkdale Parking Restrictions during FIFA  

Friends,

This week at City Council we adopted a landmark funding deal in which $1.5 billion in funding will be provided to the City of Toronto to reduce development charges in partnership with the provincial and federal governments. The full City Council agenda can be reviewed here: City Council - Meeting 42 - TMMIS

The City can now reduce its residential development charges by 40 to 60 per cent for the next three years, and use this funding to pay for major infrastructure projects including our road network, water infrastructure, and enhanced transit capacity to support a growing population.  These reductions will apply across the board for residential development. Deeper development charge discounts (60 per cent) will be offered to units with two or more bedrooms, to help incentivize building more housing for families.

At a time when our housing market has slowed down, these development charge reductions will help make projects more financially viable, build more of the kind of housing we need, and make homes more affordable for residents. It will also help generate an estimated 143,000 jobs through construction and related industries.

This funding deal was inspired by the City’s successful Purpose-Built Rental Housing Incentives program.

The first phase of the program, launched in fall 2024 with more than $1.2 billion in financial contributions from the City of Toronto, supported more than 8,000 rental homes, including more than 2,000 affordable homes.

Building on that success, with the greater financial stability provided through the $1.5 billion in federal and provincial infrastructure funding, the City of Toronto is now in a position to launch a new phase of Purpose-Built Rental Incentives.

The second phase of the program will support up to 10,000 new rental homes, including a minimum of 2,000 affordable rental homes. We will prioritize shovel-ready projects and City staff will review and approve applications on a rolling basis over the coming weeks and months.

We are proving as a city that there is a crucial role for government to steer development towards building housing that Torontonians can afford to live in.  In doing so as a municipal government, we are influencing other orders of government to invest in Toronto with us.

 

Sincerely,

Gord


In This Week's Newsletter

City-Wide News

  • Celebrate Canada Day
  • Pride Weekend
  • Outdoor Swimming Pools
  • FIFA Related Nighttime Waste Collection Changes

Ward 4 news

  • Toronto East York Community Council
    • 1464 King Street West and 10 to 12 Maynard Avenue
    • 1497 and 1501 Queen Street West and 89 and 91 Beaty Avenue
    • 1 & 3 Close Ave & 78 Springhurst Ave
    • 1730 Bloor Street West
    • 2273, 2277 and 2279 Bloor Street West
    • 34 to 50 Southport Street
    • Renaming Close-Springhurst Parkette in Honour of Diane Rajaram
    • Transportation Items
  • Sorauren Ave Construction Update
  • Celebration of Compassion at Roncesvalles United Church
  • Celebrate Around the World on Roncy in Roncesvalles Village!
  • Swansea Town Hall: Clean Indoor Air Toronto
  • Summer Fest - Baby Point Gates BIA Community Environment Day - June 27
  • Community Environment Day - June 27
  • Parkside Live: A Summer Music Series
  • Taste of the Junction 2026
  • Parkdale Parking Restrictions during FIFA  

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