Large lowrise building with city in background

Data centres

FoNTRA strongly supports the Toronto City Council Member Motion that links a specific data centre application to the staff work directed as a result of an earlier Motion introduced by Councillor Rachel Chernos Lin and approved by City Council on March 25, 2026. Titled “Maintaining Toronto’s Climate and Energy Priorities Through the Review Process for Artificial Intelligence Data Centre Proposals,” it directed City staff to review and improve regulations around AI data centres to protect local climate, energy, and affordability goals.

Read more

People rushing for a subway car.

Transit infrastructure capacity and development

FoNTRA strongly supports the Toronto City Council Member Motion that essentially requests the TTC to comment on development applications regarding the ability of transit to accommodate, both through station capacity and line capacity, the cumulative impacts of developments. In addition the Motion directs City staff to develop strategies for funding transit infrastructure growth requirements that support City approved development.

Read more

Boarded-up building surrounded by fencing and weeds, with faded development notice sign.

Addressing moribund development sites

FoNTRA strongly supports the Toronto City Council Member Motion that directs staff to undertake a comprehensive review of the City’s ability to manage “moribund sites”. The City is experiencing a growing number of development sites where planning approvals have been granted, but construction has not proceeded due to broader economic conditions, financing challenges, and market uncertainty.

Read more

Park surrounded by tall buildings and historic yellow brick firehouse with clock tower

Comprehensive urban policy and design guidebook

Recent redevelopment pressures are significantly reshaping neighbourhoods across Toronto, particularly around major transit corridors. In the Bayview–Eglinton area, these changes highlight several key issues related to density, affordability, transportation infrastructure, and community engagement.

The goal of the Guidebook is to draw from not only policies, but also the direct experiences and connection that the MUCP team built over the academic year 2025-26 with Bayview/Leaside residents.

Read more

Signpost with cloudy sky and hills in background

Provincial overreach

Toronto, along with municipalities across Ontario, has suffered an avalanche of provincial laws, regulations, and policies affecting planning and development, all without prior consultation or engagement with the City of Toronto and its residents. As a result, residents are largely unaware both of the changes, and their impacts, and of how the City has responded to them.

Read more

Large deciduous street trees with fall colours lining a street.

Growing space for trees: : Protecting and enhancing the tree canopy while supporting infill housing and addressing concerns with iceberg homes – Recommendation Report

We strongly support the Growing Space for Trees concept and the proposed policy direction intended to (a) protect and enhance the tree canopy while supporting Infill Housing and (b) address concerns with Iceberg Homes.

Read more

Mid-rise building on busy street

Housing Action Plan: Avenues Policy Review Phase 2, Wards 9 & 11

The report, dealing with Wards 9 and 11, represents the first stage in the implementation of the Avenues Policy Review to “modernize” policies and zoning to enable mid-rise buildings along Avenues. The report studies new and previously re- examined Avenues to determine where redesignation to Mixed Use Areas or Apartment Neighbourhoods with corresponding zoning is appropriate to enable mid- rise development.

Read more

map of major transit areas city of toronto

Major Transit Station Areas (MTSAs) & Protected Major Transit Station Areas (PMTSAs) in-effect

On August 15, 2025, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing approved six OPAs bringing new policies for 25 MTSAs and 95 PMTSAs into force and effect. The Minister’s Decisions made modifications to the height and density of the Council-adopted OPAs, increasing permitted building heights and densities near transit. The approval of these OPAs brings Inclusionary Zoning policies into effect in certain PMTSAs.

Read more

Corner store in residential area in Toronto.

Retail on major streets

The initiative would permit a range of businesses with patios, including cafés, restaurants, bars, retail stores, and professional offices. This would apply  residential properties currently located on Major Streets, and selected corner lots on Community Streets. The by-laws allowing these uses were adopted and partially adopted on November 12, 2025.

Read more

Annual General Meeting 2025 and Monthly General Meeting

We invite all members of FoNTRA to the Annual General Meeting. We encourage all member organizations to register for the AGM with Eventbrite to assist us in managing the attendee list.

The AGM will start at 6:00 pm and will precede the General Members Meeting (GMM) that will begin at the regularly scheduled time of 7:00 pm.

Read more

Cyclist in bike lane at edge of road with truck and 4-storey building in background

Ford government to appeal injunction blocking Toronto bike lane removals

Doug Ford says the provincial government will appeal the Ontario Superior Court’s decision to grant an injunction that blocks the removal of several bike lanes in Toronto. “But those bike lanes are coming out one way or another,” Ford said at a press conference in Mississauga Wednesday morning “We’re appealing it, because judges should not determine items like bike lanes.”

Read more

Path through forest in spring as leaves are just emerging.

Ford Government’s Bill 5 is its latest “Trump like” assault on the environment and democracy

On April 17, 2025 the Ford Government quietly tabled the omnibus Bill 5, the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act. While the bill introduces some added authority to restrict foreign ownership/investment in government procurement of things like electricity generation and mining claims/mines, the guts of the bill include a full-on attack on vulnerable species; and a new authoritarian “override power” of all environmental and other provincial/municipal laws.

Read more

Ice-skating track and urban park with walkways and benches in midst of tall buildings (College Park, Toronto)

Think Toronto is shabby and ugly? Changing this one thing could help halt the city’s race to the bottom

Toronto often feels shabby. There are many examples but the renovation of College Park comes to mind. The general idea was good — skating trail, landscaping, sculptural giant frogs — but the execution seems cheap and the details look rough and unthoughtful. There’s a clunky Zamboni-storing field house, expanses of lawn turned to mud and natural pedestrian routes blocked by obstacles. It should be great, like New York’s Bryant Park, but it’s shabby.

Read more

map of Toronto-area federal riding boundaries as of 2023

Have your federal riding boundaries changed?

In 2023 the federal riding boundaries were redrawn, and they now no longer correspond to the provincial riding boundaries (as they formerly did). 

“A redistribution of federal electoral districts (“ridings”) began in Canada following the results of the 2021 Canadian census.”

There were many changes in particular to the federal electoral district boundaries within the City of Toronto, which take effect for the 2025 Canadian federal election. You can search for your district information by a number of means.

Read more

polluted water from sewage pipe flowing into lake

Ontario Place sewer plan an environmental disaster

We are writing in opposition to the Ontario Government’s combined sewer overflow work (CSO) at 955 Lakeshore Boulevard West (Ontario Place) that has the clear potential to spread polluted water, including sewer run off, into the West Channel around West Island at Ontario Place and the planned ‘new beach’. Combined overflow outlets run counter to herculean efforts to clean up Lake Ontario: the discharge will pollute a heavily used part of the waterfront.

Read more

Construction cranes at sunset

Toronto city council passes plan to entice developers to build rental homes

Toronto city council has approved a plan to support the building of 20,000 new rental homes in the city.

The plan, approved Wednesday by a vote of 23 to 1, would see the city offer monetary incentives to private developers to build rental housing. The incentives include a deferral of development charges, a property tax reduction and foregone taxes and fees for affordable rental units.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow told reporters before the vote that rental housing is desperately needed in the city because of the housing crisis. She said 50 per cent of Toronto residents are renters. She said the city met with builders last week to discuss the plan.

Read more

Construction cranes - Toronto

Mayor Chow proposing big change that would see buildings go up all over Toronto

Mayor Olivia Chow has proposed a major change to the process of how housing is built in Toronto, one that would allow a new generation of buildings to pop up on major streets across the city.

Chow is looking to implement sweeping as-of-right zoning on Toronto’s avenues that would allow for drastic changes in the city’s built form.

Toronto’s development scene has been dominated by tall towers in recent years, but Chow’s new push to change zoning regulations could result in a more Parisian style of residential density becoming the norm in town.

Read more

Rachel Chernos Lin - Ward 15 Councillor 2024

Rachel Chernos Lin Wins Don Valley West By-Election

Rachel Chernos Lin has won the Don Valley West by-election with nearly 55 percent of the vote, beating competitor Anthony Furey by more than 20 points in what began as a wide-open race, but had in recent weeks become a battle of political polarization between the two leading candidates.

Chernos Lin, a Toronto District School Board trustee and the current chair, ended the night with 12,899 votes, followed by Furey with 7,343. Sam Robinson, son of former ward councillor Jaye Robinson, came in third with 1,271 votes.

Read more

Heritage buildings at 45-47 Front St. in Toronto

Heritage planning and designation

FoNTRA recognizes the immense challenge imposed by the provincial government’s deadline for designation of listed properties, and the threat to loss of Toronto’s cultural heritage. We strongly support the City’s approach to moving forward with prioritization of listed properties, and measures to maintain an ongoing inventory going forward.

As such, we are also strongly in support of the Toronto Preservation Board’s recommendations concerning the report, namely that:

  1. City Council request the Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism to extend the deadline for elimination of listed properties from the Heritage Register to Jan 1, 2030.
  2. City Council direct the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to maintain a publicly accessible inventory of all listed properties eliminated from the Heritage Register.

Read more