Bombardier’s sale of the Downsview Airport lands in 2018 created space to imagine parks, housing, jobs, and connections. Two neighbours, Northcrest Developments and Canada Lands Company, came together to create a process to shape the future of their adjacent lands.
Totalling an unprecedented 520 acres, the lands include YZD, the 370-acre Downsview Airport being transformed by Northcrest Developments, and Canada Lands Company’s 150 acres adjacent to Downsview Park.
520
ACRES OF LAND REIMAGINED
WITH INPUT FROM THOUSANDS
&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
The id8 process culminated in a shared vision for Downsview: a comprehensive Framework Plan.
The Framework Plan responded to calls for connected, complete communities, integrating nature, open space, jobs, housing, community facilities, and more. The Plan also incorporated a focus on Indigenous placekeeping, equity and inclusion, arts and culture, youth, and heritage.
Despite pandemic-related lockdowns, the id8 process found new ways to meaningfully engage people:
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on bus posters
at coffee shops
on bike rides
on community walks
in focus groups
in inboxes
at pop-ups
on flyers and workbooks
at the library
in mailboxes
at art openings
on social channels
by picking up the phone
... and more!
4
+
Years of community engagement to identify shared priorities for the future of these lands, including community and stakeholder priorities, public policy priorities, and Northcrest and Canada Lands' priorities.
30
+
Years over which the project will unfold, deliberately and carefully to ensure shared objectives are met, progress is achieved, and future engagement at the district level is meaningful.
6,000
+
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.
id8 Downsview brought diverse voices to the table by redesigning public engagement.
The process prioritized locals and communities often underrecognized in the planning process
The id8 process included fine-grained engagement with particular groups and on particular issues. This included specific attention to local history, Indigenous Rights Holders, youth, business interests, aging communities, arts and culture, African, Caribbean and Black organizations, and more.
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We leaned on digital mechanisms to hear from youth and remove barriers to participation.
We highlighted local history and gathered memories from hundreds through a new story-telling series.
We also launched an arts and culture initiative to build on Downsview’s exceptional creative energy.
XOXO Downsview was a celebration of public art, culture, and local heritage launched in coordination with Toronto’s Year of Public Art. It involved dynamic installations, murals, multimedia works, and an audio walking tour on the Downsview Lands and in Downsview Park. The projects saw contributions from over 300 artists and brought thousands to experience the history and potential of Downsview as a destination and generator of cultural works.
10
+
Years we’ve committed to amplifying the rich local arts and culture scene and showcasing emerging talent that exists already in and around Downsview.
300
+
Artists and local creatives who contributed to 13 diverse projects, helping to bolster Downsview’s reputation as an arts and culture destination in Toronto.
5,500
+
People who experienced 2 km of open tarmac at Play on the Runway with their bikes, skateboards, balls, dogs, scooters, strollers, roller skates, wagons, and more. Visitors enjoyed ice cream, food trucks, pickleball demos, hula-hooping, rollerdancing, and an irresistible soundtrack of funk, hip hop, and soul.
We were relentless!
We wanted to learn what makes Downsview great and what could make it better.
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id8 Downsview, and the Framework Plan it inspired, initiated a larger City-led development plan, called Update Downsview.
The City used their process to update the Secondary Plan for around 800 acres in Downsview — an area that encompasses the Framework Plan lands.
In spring 2024, Toronto’s City Council unanimously approved the new Secondary Plan for Downsview.
This milestone was another step towards the complete, transit-oriented communities imagined by thousands of our participants. It also brought id8 to a natural close.
Though id8 Downsview has concluded, it kicked-off a city-building process that will unfold over decades.
Canada Lands Company and Northcrest Developments will continue to work with communities to bring this vision to life within their own districts forming part of the Secondary Plan area.
Individual engagement continues.
