Item - 2021.PH27.6

The Planning and Housing Committee:

1. Requested the General Manager, Parks, Forestry, and Recreation, to work with the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to investigate the possibility of using parkland acquisition funds to acquire additional park space on the Canada Square site.

2. Requested the General Manager, Transportation Services, work with the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to review the feasibility of removing the planned “hockey stick” road from Berwick to Duplex on the Canada Square site.

3. Requested the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration, work with the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to review social service needs in the Midtown in Focus Secondary Plan area and explore partnerships with social service agencies to address those needs on the Canada Square site.

4. Requested the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture, to work with the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, and Oxford Developments to explore incentives and funding, from the City and senior levels of government, to attract arts-based, post-secondary, and commercial tenants to the Canada Square site.

5. Requested the Director, Environment and Energy, and the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture, work with the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to identify ways to incorporate green and sustainable initiatives into the Canada Square site by exploring incentives and funding, from the City and senior levels of government, for sustainable design, energy efficiency, and attracting green and sustainable businesses and post-secondary programs.

6. Requested the General Manager, Children’s Services, work with the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to identify opportunities to provide an affordable daycare facility on the Canada Square site.

7. Requested the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, meet with the Midtown Working group in the first quarter of 2022 to provide a status update on recommendations 1-6 above.

On December 21, 2020, a Zoning By-law Amendment (ZBA) Application was submitted for a phased 5-tower development including new TTC infrastructure, a new public road, public park, multiple Privately Owned Publicly-Accessible Open Spaces (POPS), and community space located at 2180-2210 Yonge Street, 15 Eglinton Avenue West and 20 and 46 Berwick Avenue, also known as Canada Square.

The scheduling of a community meeting regarding the ZBA application was put on hold at the request of Toronto and East York Community Council and City Council to engage with local area stakeholders, across three Wards, to develop guiding principles for the site and immediate area and to provide further information regarding the existing planning framework and the consolidated ground lease agreement for the site.

Following a number of meetings, the Midtown Working Group with the support of a facilitator, drafted a vision for the area with six priorities. City Council supported the vision report and requested the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to provide a feasibility review of the vision, in consultation with relevant City divisions and the Midtown Working Group, and to report to the October 18, 2021 meeting of the Planning and Housing Committee.

This Feasibility Review Report was prepared following input and consultation with the Midtown Working Group. The report assesses the extent to which the six priorities align with existing policy and other City priorities and identifies the challenges in balancing all six priorities. The report also explains how the six priorities can be implemented.

The next steps are to hold a community meeting for the ZBA application, to engage with the broader community, and work with the applicant all to achieve City Council's objectives of:

• securing the TTC infrastructure needed for the site;
• securing the community benefits identified in the planning framework and,
• where feasible, implementing the six priorities in the vision report.

Planning staff will work, to bring a Final Report with a draft Zoning By-law to City Council prior to July 1, 2022 which is the municipal approval condition date in the consolidated lease agreement.