Item - 2025.NY25.5

North York Community Council recommends that:

1. City Council include 123 Garratt Boulevard on the City of Toronto's Heritage Register in accordance with the Listing Statement (Reasons for Inclusion) attached as Attachment 1 to the report (June 13, 2025) from the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning.

This report recommends that City Council include buildings at 123 Garratt Boulevard on the City of Toronto's Heritage Register for their cultural heritage value and interest according to the Listing Statement (Reasons for Inclusion) found in Attachment 1.

The subject property at 123 Garratt Boulevard contains a former aircraft manufacturing complex located in the southwestern portion of the Downsview Area Secondary Plan.  It is located west of Allen Road, east of the Barrie GO rail line (also known as the GO Transit Newmarket Subdivision line), and north of the Ancaster residential neighbourhood. A location map and current photographs of the buildings that form the subject of this report are found in Attachment 1.

The property at 123 Garratt Boulevard traces its development to the early 1950s as the second Downsview location of the aircraft manufacturer, de Havilland Canada. The company’s record of innovation in Canadian aviation continued during the time, with additions to existing buildings and new hangars constructed in periods of growth related to the launch of new aircraft, including in the 1960s for the Twin Otter, and again in the late 1970s and 1980s for the Dash 7 and Dash 8. The property was subsequently occupied by Bombardier until March 2024, when Bombardier left the site. The aerospace complex is comprised of hangars, offices, ancillary structures, open space for aircraft circulation, surface parking lots, and a portion of the taxiway providing access to the Downsview Airport runway and has facilitated aircraft manufacturing and aerospace innovation for over 70 years.

The property at 123 Garratt Boulevard has been researched and evaluated by staff using the criteria prescribed in Ontario Regulation 9/06 and the buildings indicated in the Listing Statement meet one or more of the provincial criteria for determining cultural heritage value or interest.

On January 1, 2023, amendments to the Ontario Heritage Act (the Act) through the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 (Bill 23) came into effect. Under the Act, as amended, a municipal heritage register may include properties that have not been designated but Council believes to be of “cultural heritage value or interest", and that meet one or more of the provincial criteria for determining whether they are of cultural heritage value or interest. The Act now also limits listing to a period of two years.

As of January 1, 2023, should a property be subject to an Official Plan Amendment, Zoning By-law Amendment and / or Draft Plan of Subdivision Application, properties must be listed on the heritage register prior to Part IV designation and before the occurrence of a prescribed event. A prescribed event is a point of time when the application for an Official Plan Amendment, Zoning By-law Amendment and / or Draft Plan of Subdivision Application has been deemed complete and the City Clerk provides notice of that complete application to the public in accordance with the Planning Act. 

The listing of non-designated properties on the municipal heritage register under the Act also extends interim protection from demolition and provides an opportunity for City Council to determine whether the property warrants conservation through designation under the Act should a development or demolition application be submitted.

Properties on the Heritage Register will be conserved and maintained in accordance with the Official Plan Heritage Policies. Heritage Impact Assessments (HIA) are required for development applications that affect listed properties.

At its meeting on June 30, 2025 the Toronto Preservation Board considered Item PB33.3 and made recommendations to City Council.

Summary from the report (June 13, 2025) from the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning:

This report recommends that City Council include buildings at 123 Garratt Boulevard on the City of Toronto's Heritage Register for their cultural heritage value and interest according to the Listing Statement (Reasons for Inclusion) found in Attachment 1.

The subject property at 123 Garratt Boulevard contains a former aircraft manufacturing complex located in the southwestern portion of the Downsview Area Secondary Plan.

It is located west of Allen Road, east of the Barrie GO rail line (also known as the GO Transit Newmarket Subdivision line), and north of the Ancaster residential neighbourhood. A location map and current photographs of the buildings that form the subject of this report are found in Attachment 1.

The property at 123 Garratt Boulevard traces its development to the early 1950s as the second Downsview location of the aircraft manufacturer, de Havilland Canada. The company’s record of innovation in Canadian aviation continued during the time, with additions to existing buildings and new hangars constructed in periods of growth related to the launch of new aircraft, including in the 1960s for the Twin Otter, and again in the late 1970s and 1980s for the Dash 7 and Dash 8. The property was subsequently occupied by Bombardier until March 2024, when Bombardier left the site. The aerospace complex is comprised of hangars, offices, ancillary structures, open space for aircraft circulation, surface parking lots, and a portion of the taxiway providing access to the Downsview Airport runway and has facilitated aircraft manufacturing and aerospace innovation for over 70 years.

The property at 123 Garratt Boulevard has been researched and evaluated by staff using the criteria prescribed in Ontario Regulation 9/06 and the buildings indicated in the Listing Statement meet one or more of the provincial criteria for determining cultural heritage value or interest.

On January 1, 2023, amendments to the Ontario Heritage Act (the Act) through the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 (Bill 23) came into effect. Under the Act, as amended, a municipal heritage register may include properties that have not been designated but Council believes to be of “cultural heritage value or interest", and that meet one or more of the provincial criteria for determining whether they are of cultural heritage value or interest. The Act now also limits listing to a period of two years.

As of January 1, 2023, should a property be subject to an Official Plan Amendment, Zoning By-law Amendment and/or Draft Plan of Subdivision Application, properties must be listed on the heritage register prior to Part IV designation and before the occurrence of a prescribed event. A prescribed event is a point of time when the application for an Official Plan Amendment, Zoning By-law Amendment and / or Draft Plan of Subdivision Application has been deemed complete and the City Clerk provides notice of that complete application to the public in accordance with the Planning Act. 

The listing of non-designated properties on the municipal heritage register under the Act also extends interim protection from demolition and provides an opportunity for City Council to determine whether the property warrants conservation through designation under the Act should a development or demolition application be submitted.

Properties on the Heritage Register will be conserved and maintained in accordance with the Official Plan Heritage Policies. Heritage Impact Assessments are required for development applications that affect listed properties.