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Toronto's Biidaasige Park Just Got Bigger
Toronto’s waterfront reached a major milestone recently with the opening of a new 4 ha western section in Biidaasige Park. The new section expands public access to a reimagined section of Toronto’s shoreline and reconnects people to both Lake Ontario and a new one-kilometre stretch of the Don River through nature, recreation, culture and public gathering spaces. It represents a shared commitment by partners to creating new public spaces, advancing waterfront revitalization and expanding Toronto’s largest park in a generation. What was once industrial land is now a waterfront destination where nature, culture, recreation and climate resilience converge. Visitors can paddle from Canoe Cove, explore a naturalized river valley, gather on a 3,000-person event lawn, take in sweeping views of Lake Ontario and the Toronto skyline from the Water’s Edge Promenade, and experience world-renowned public art with the unveiling of the western section of the Lassonde Art Trail, which, together with the eastern section, now features 15 installations from leading international artists throughout the park. Building for the future The expansion adds parkland almost the size of the Rogers Centre building, and 5 times the size of Toronto’s Sugar Beach into the already expansive park opened last summer. The portions of Biidaasige Park opened in 2025 and 2026 total approximately 24 ha, with an additional 2 ha of parkland still to come. Last summer’s opening drew huge crowds eager to kayak along the shoreline, spot returning wildlife, join guided site tours and cycle the new routes. With those experiences already capturing the city’s imagination, this next phase adds even more to a park that is quickly becoming a Toronto landmark. When complete, Biidaasige Park will be more than twice the size of Chicago’s Millennium Park which redefined that city’s modern identity by transforming a former rail yard and parking lot into an architectural and artistic tourist destination that now generates billions in economic revenue. More than a new public space, Biidaasige Park demonstrates what is possible when cities invest in nature, culture, infrastructure and community together. It is both a landmark destination for today and a powerful expression of Toronto’s waterfront future. The Biidaasige Park opening represents far more than the addition of new parkland. It is also the continuation of one of the largest ecological restoration efforts ever undertaken on Toronto’s waterfront. Across the broader site, more than one million plants and approximately 5,000 trees have been introduced to support wetlands, fish habitats, native planting areas and naturalized shorelines. The restored Don River mouth and surrounding parklands are already creating conditions for wildlife and native plant species not seen on Toronto’s waterfront in more than a century. These restored ecosystems are improving biodiversity, strengthening climate resilience and reconnecting people to the natural environment. Long before industrialization and city development, this waterfront held deep significance for Indigenous Peoples. Today, Indigenous placekeeping is embedded throughout the park experience, reflecting longstanding relationships between land, water and community while helping restore Indigenous presence, language and ways of understanding place within the public realm. The lead design was conducted by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc, who spent almost 2 decades leading the planning and execution of the Biidaasige Park project. The landscape also includes plantings developed in consultation with Indigenous partners, ceremonial and interpretive elements, marker trees, The Drum and other features that contribute to a deeper sense of meaning, identity and connection throughout the site.
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