A new island is about to open in Toronto

While it’s certainly not unusual for a city to get a new restaurant, condo, museum or festival, it’s not every day that you hear about a brand new island–let alone one with a destination park–opening up.

In Toronto, however, a new island is indeed in the works, and once it’s complete, it will be home not only to a substantial park with an art trail and zipline, but also to new housing, shops, and job opportunities.

Recently, Waterfront Toronto, an organization that works with government and other stakeholders to revitalize the lakefront, announced that Toronto has a new island where the Don River meets Lake Ontario. 

Ookwemin Minising (formerly known as Villiers Island) is a new island in the Port Lands that’s been created due to ongoing flood protection and river restoration projects in the area.

The Port Lands extend southeast of Toronto’s downtown core into Lake Ontario and include more than 715 acres (290 hectares) of land along the waterfront.

In a news release issued last year, the City of Toronto said that 290 hectares of southeastern downtown – including parts of the Port Lands, South Riverdale, Leslieville and the East Harbour development site – are at risk of flooding from the Don River and can’t be revitalized until they are flood-protected.

The ambitious Port Lands Flood Protection project will not only protect existing communities but also create a new one by building a new river valley through the Port Lands and renaturalizing the mouth of the river.

The island is currently being created on Toronto’s waterfront and is bound by Lake Ontario, the Keating Channel and the new river mouth. Once complete, the 98-acre island will boast 50 acres of parks and 80 acres of parks and green space (including the river).

The new island (pronounced Oh-kway-min Min-nih-sing) means “place of the black cherry trees” in Anishinaabemowin/Ojibwemowin. It will be home to up to 15,000 people and the new Biidaasige Park (pronounced Bee-daw-sih-geh), which means “sunlight shining towards us” in Anishinaabemowin/Ojibwemowin. In a video posted to YouTube, Waterfront TO says the park is the biggest to open in a generation.

In the video, the organization states that part of the park will open this summer, with the remainder following in 2026. Next year, residents and visitors will also be able to visit the Lassonde Art Trail–a free, immersive outdoor experience that will weave people through the river valley up to the promontory that overlooks the downtown core. 

Once complete, the full park network is expected to become a destination for up to one million people a year. 

As for the part of the park expected to open in the coming weeks, the video says visitors can expect wetland trails, a picnic and barbecue area and a zipline. The river will also be open to the public. 

“Ultimately, we are working towards building a city within a city on the eastern waterfront with new parks, homes and destinations,” the group says in the video. 

“By getting to work on accelerating new homes and creating skilled-trades jobs, we’re unlocking a healthy future on the waterfront that will be easily accessible by active transportation and the future Waterfront East LRT.” 

On its website, Waterfront TO says that the project is taking shape with $1 billion in investment (granted in January) from all levels of government, which will be used for housing and other place-making features.

The northern edge of the new island, situated on the Keating Channel, is expected to one day become home to an urban river walk lined with shops. 

Waterfront TO says work will commence this summer on some fundamentals, including public spaces, streets, stormwater and sanitary pipes, and utility ducts needed for new homes.