Item - 2026.PB40.1

The Toronto Preservation Board recommends that:

1. City Council state its intention to designate the property at 40 Wabash Avenue (including entrance address at 50 Wabash Avenue) under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act in accordance with the Statement of Significance for 40 Wabash Avenue (Reasons for Designation) attached as Attachment 1 to the report (January 23, 2026) from the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning.

2. If there are no objections to the designation, City Council authorize the City Solicitor to introduce the Bill in Council designating the property under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act.

The Toronto Preservation Board:

1. Requested the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning consider the ghost sign on the exterior of its building, for the Canada Linseed Oil Mills, be recognized as a heritage attribute.

This report recommends that City Council state its intention to designate the property at 40 Wabash Avenue (including entrance address at 50 Wabash Avenue) under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for its cultural heritage value according to the Statement of Significance which includes a description of heritage attributes found in Attachment 1.

The subject property at 40 Wabash Avenue is located on the north side of Wabash Avenue between Sorauren Avenue to the west and MacDonell Avenue to the east, west of the CNR/CPR railway, in the Roncesvalles neighbourhood. A location map and current photograph of the heritage property are found in Attachment 2.

The City-owned property at 40 Wabash Avenue contains a former linseed oil mill factory comprised of several buildings constructed in phases from 1910 into the 1940s, and varying from one- to three-storeys in height and featuring a prominent chimney stack that is visible from Dundas Street West and the adjacent rail corridor. The factory was purpose built for the Canada Linseed Oil Mills Ltd., a Montreal-based company in operation from 1901 until circa 1970, and portions of it were designed by the architectural firm Langley & Howland. The property is closely associated with the industrial activity of the Wabash-Sorauren area, the development history and character of which was influenced by the location of the railways to the east.

Staff have determined that the property at 40 Wabash Avenue (including entrance address at 50 Wabash Avenue) has cultural heritage value and meets 5 of the Ontario Regulation 9/06 criteria prescribed for municipal designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act. A property may be designated under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act, if it meets two or more of the nine criteria.

The property was listed on the City's Heritage Register on June 26 and 27, 2024.

Vacant since 1969-70, the former Canada Linseed Oil Mills Limited factory at 40 Wabash Avenue was acquired by the City in 2000. It is adjacent to the Sorauren Avenue Park and the Sorauren Fieldhouse, the former office building of the Canada Linseed Oil Mills factory.

In 2016, Council approved a budget for the redevelopment of the remaining lands at 40 Wabash Avenue, including the adaptive re-use of the former industrial buildings as a community centre. A city-initiated Site Plan application was submitted in July 2024 that proposes a Community Recreation Centre adjacent to Sorauren Park. The project is now in the detailed design phase. The designation of the property under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act will conserve the cultural heritage value of the property and help to inform the detailed design of the City's adaptive re-use of the building into the new community centre.