East Harbour employment area: city staff to report once developer and province finish negotiating land-use changes

Planning and Housing Committee · 2026-07-16 · 2026.PH32.1

Buried by deferral

East Harbour employment area: city staff to report once developer and province finish negotiating land-use changes

The committee deferred the East Harbour employment area conversion (a former industrial site near the Don that Cadillac Fairview wants to redevelop as mixed-use housing and office) pending a report on ongoing negotiations between the developer and the province over additional changes to permitted uses. The deferral means Toronto's official plan amendment, which would formalize the province's prior zoning override, stays on hold.

The deferral is open-ended and the negotiations timeline is unspecified. No term-end or funding-deadline language appears in the transcript. The motion defers the substance pending a report, but absent evidence of a pre-emptive denial of delay or a hidden deadline, this is a procedurally genuine referral, not a political burial.

referredPlanning and Housing Committee · Thu, Jul 16Watchprovincial decision

Who did what

Councillor Gord Perks (Ward 4) movedMoved referral to Chief Planner requesting a report once negotiations between Cadillac Fairview and the province on additional land-use changes have concluded.

From the floor

“I'm going to refer the item to the chief planner and executive director city planning and request that the chief planner report once negotiations with Cadillac Fairview and the province related to additional proposed changes to land use permissions at the East Harbour have concluded.”Councillor Gord Perks (Ward 4)

Also in this item

• The province's 2022 Minister's Zoning Order for East Harbour permits up to 302,000 square metres of residential development on lands previously zoned employment-only, bypassing Toronto's official plan policies. The city's own amendment would align its planning framework to the province's override after the fact.

• Toronto received approximately 150 employment-area conversion requests as part of its Municipal Comprehensive Review; East Harbour is the fourth final report. The pattern suggests ongoing pressure to convert industrial land for housing and mixed-use development.

The journey

Thu, Jul 16 · Planning and Housing Committee · referred

→ referred onward to Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning

What happens next

Residents can contact their councillor before any future vote on the official plan amendment. If the item returns to committee before the October 2026 election, there may be a deputation window; check toronto.ca/council for future agenda dates.

Decision

Referred to Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning; report to come once negotiations between Cadillac Fairview and the province on additional land-use changes at East Harbour have concluded.

Watch it happen

Jump to this item in the meeting video

Why is this story here?

Big deal at city hallThis item concerns an official plan amendment that would codify large-scale mixed-use redevelopment on a major downtown site and formalize the province's prior zoning order. An OPA is hard to reverse without lengthy process, affects land-use permissions for years, and shapes future revenue and housing supply at a significant waterfront location. Meets the 'hard to reverse OR wide reach' test for Stakes 2, and approaches Stakes 3 because it closes the option to keep the lands employment-only. The deferral defers the substance, not the stakes of the substance.Touches a narrow groupThis affects developers, future residents of the East Harbour site, and the city's waterfront and employment-land policy. It does not directly change anyone's commute, rent, or bill this week. The site is a specific location, not a city-wide service. Salience is 1 (indirect) because housing supply and waterfront access matter broadly but this particular site is a bounded location, and the deferral means no work begins this week anyway.

Stories are ordered by how much weight a decision carries and how directly it reaches daily life. They rise as a decision date approaches and fall as they age.

Official title: Our Plan Toronto: Recommendations on the East Harbour Employment Area Conversion Request - Final Report · meeting video