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2021
A YEAR IN REVIEW
This year has not been without its challenges and we continue to come together to overcome and learn from the pandemic. It’s also been an inspiring year for id8 Downsview as we collaborate with the community and the City to plan for the years—and decades—ahead. Our efforts culminated in the submission of a Framework Plan, which lays out our vision for Downsview informed by what we heard from residents, groups, experts, and individuals across the city. Our overriding goal is to improve the quality of life for all those who live in the Downsview community, with a particular emphasis on equity and inclusion. That’s the
only way to build for a future for everyone.
Discover what we’ve accomplished together in 2021 and what’s planned for the year to come!
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3
+
Rounds of community engagement over the last 18 months to help us better understand the priorities for the future of these lands, including community and stakeholder priorities, public policy priorities, and our priorities as landowners.
30
+
Years over which the project will unfold, proceeding deliberately and carefully to ensure that shared objectives are met, progress is achieved, and everyone can share their feedback in many
ways throughout the entire process.
3,000
+
Participant responses, including individuals and organizations from a wide range of sectors and interests. Information and feedback were shared through online surveys, virtual meetings, emails, calls, social media, mail, and in person.
ACRES OF LAND REIMAGINED
WITH YOUR CONTINUED INPUT
520
&10
DISTINCT DISTRICTS PROPOSED WITH EVERYTHING FROM EMPLOYMENT LANDS TO NEW PARKS TO HOUSING TO COMMON SPACES
Along with new connections to help people get around & across the area
30+ YEARS
First 3 rounds of community engagement
Decades-long redevelopment process
We’re here!
Downsview Park will remain the heart of this community.
+
100
ACRES OF NEW PARKS & OPEN SPACES TO BE ADDED
In addition to the 291 acres of Downsview Park
You told us that local history, culture & arts should be celebrated, so we launched XOXO Downsview!
XOXO Downsview is a celebration of public art, culture, and local heritage launched in coordination with Toronto’s Year of Public Art. It involves dynamic installations, murals, multimedia works, and an audio walking tour on the Downsview Lands and in Downsview Park. The projects highlight local artists and collaborations, bring people together, and showcase the history and potential of Downsview as a destination and generator of cultural works.
12
+
Local and city-wide artists, creators, and groups who have already brought their talents to the Downsview lands—a number that will only grow in 2022.
1.2
+
Kilometers of painted pathways designed as canvases for local art, with audio tour stops that highlight Downsview’s rich arts and culture scene, past and present.
10
+
Years we’ve committed as landowners to amplifying the rich local arts & culture scene and showcase emerging talent that exists already in and around Downsview.
+
12,000
NUMBER OF NEW WELL-PAYING JOBS COMING TO DOWNSVIEW
In the next five years, we will see new industry and employers move to the site, following the departure of the Bombardier Aerospace plant. This includes a new major film and television studio that will create thousands of construction jobs in the near term and hundreds more after completion. In the future, an additional 28,000+ diverse jobs will be added as a New Media and Technology Hub takes shape here.
Since 2020, we’ve been seeking feedback from a wide range of voices and interests related to the future of these Downsview lands. In particular, dialogue continues with First Nations, Metis, Inuit, and urban Indigenous communities about the importance of jobs, affordable housing, placekeeping, and creating welcoming spaces to celebrate living culture. To include more local communities this year, we also translated key materials into five languages.
We continue to gather input from many voices.
