Item - 2025.MM34.11

Councillor James Pasternak, seconded by Councillor Rachel Chernos Lin, recommends that:

1. City Council endorse the proposed Minister’s Zoning Order that applies to the lands at 1875 Steeles Avenue West to protect the long-term operational viability of Sanofi Pasteur Limited’s manufacturing facilities and headquarters at 1755 Steeles Avenue West.

2. City Council forward this resolution to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

This motion is to express support for the provincial government’s proposal to ministerially zone the lands known as 1875 Steeles Ave West to limit building heights in order to safeguard the continued operational viability of Sanofi Pasteur Limited’s biomanufacturing campus at 1755 Steeles Avenue West.

The Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade has requested the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for the Minister’s Zoning Order which would limit all buildings and structures on the Subject Lands to a maximum height of 33 metres.

Currently the Subject Lands is occupied with an existing 4-storey, 120 unit rental apartment building. An application for a zoning by-law amendment and rental housing demolition to permit a 39- and 33-storey tower connected by a 14-storey podium was refused by City Council at its Meeting of July 2, and 25, 2024. The owner of the Subject Lands appealed the refusal to the Ontario Land Tribunal. One Case Management Conference was convened by the Ontario Land Tribunal. No hearing dates were set. 

The Sanofi facility is located within a Provincially Protected Employment Zone on a 21 hectare parcel comprising over forty buildings. Biomanufacturing and medical research have been located on this campus for over one hundred years and is a critical facility for the development and production of vaccines. In 2024, the Prime Minister, Premier of Ontario and Mayor attended the facility with me and other federal and provincial ministers for the opening of a new building being Canada’s largest biomanufacturing building located. The federal and provincial governments are also investing up to 540 million in public funding for each of the new influenza vaccine manufacturing facility and pandemic readiness capabilities. Currently the Sanofi facility employs 2,000 full time workers with an additional 1,00 jobs with the construction of the expansions.

Protecting the ongoing viability of this critical piece of infrastructure for the City, the Province and Canada is of utmost importance. The proposed Minister’s Zoning Order provides that protection. This Motion confirms the City’s support for the Minister’s Zoning Order. Further, the City supports the Minister, as noted in the attached Environmental Registry of Ontario Posting, commitment to consideration and consultation for utilizing other planning tools that may be needed to protect the Sanofi facility from encroachment of non-employment uses and development on adjacent lands.

 
The Environmental Registry of Ontario’s posted commenting period closes on November 13, 2025 and as such this Motion is urgent.