Swift fans rejoice: Metrolinx building chimney habitat for returning swifties at new Oshawa GO station

Threatened chimney swifts will have a new home when they return from their winter holiday this spring, thanks to a standalone chimney being constructed by Metrolinx at the north end of the former Knob Hill Farms site in Oshawa.

A spokesperson for Metrolinx said there was no evidence chimney swifts were nesting at the site of the former giant grocery terminal on Howard Street, with the chimney and most of the rest of the massive structure demolished in early 2025.

They are known to roost in the area, however, so the work is being done as an “environmental requirement” while the Simcoe Street railway bridge is being demolished and rebuilt to accommodate the trains running into the future GO station just to the east – a two-year project that began in early January.

The chimney swifts – no relation to Taylor – are acrobatic and, as the name suggests, extremely fast flyers who play a key role in keeping the insect population in check. Also, given their name, they have adapted to depend on man-made structures like chimneys for their homes. On top of unique habitat needs, swifts, which are a threatened species in Ontario, mate for life, just like swans and bald eagles.

With the closure of the bridge and several nearby businesses to make way for the construction of a new structure big enough to allow trains to pass underneath to the new GO station, Metrolink was obligated to build a new chimney so any chimney swifts returning to Oshawa have a place to call home.

Because this threatened species is commonly found in cities, Metrolinx said they were taking “extra precautions” to protect swift habitats when building new transit projects. In Hamilton, where they are building a new light rail transit line, a species-at-risk study on properties along the future route discovered a potential chimney swift habitat.

“While the original chimney needs to be removed to build the line, we are building a new one which will remain in place for three to five years – providing a safe habitat for local chimney swift populations – and be monitored seasonally for signs of any new residents.”

“We are also keeping the existing chimney in place for one breeding bird season before removing it, to give any resident birds time to transition into the new habitat.”

In Oshawa, Metrolinx set up a motion capture camera at the mouth of a culvert that runs under the train tracks and learned a lot about the wildlife highway, with images of deer, raccoons, wild turkeys, coyotes and muskrats – more than 30 species in all over an 11-month period.

The new chimney at 500 Howard Street will be built at the north-west corner of the property.

Work began Monday and will be completed by Friday, April 3, with construction activities planned for daytime hours between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.

The site for the new GO station was the home of the Knob Hill Farms food terminal – once the largest food terminal in Ontario – from 1983 until it closed in 2000 when founder (and former Maple Leafs Gardens boss) Steve Stavros shut down his entire operations.

All that remains of the site is what’s left of an iron factory dating back nearly 130 years, which will be preserved and incorporated into the new station.

Oshawa’s new central GO station is one of two new stations in Oshawa and four in Durham Region promised as the commuter line is extended into Bowmanville.

Future Central Oshawa GO station site