Queen's Park North redesign scaled back after resident outcry
City council unanimously approved a revised plan for Canada's oldest municipal park, with new protections for its 358 trees.
The day's top stories, food & events — every morning at 7. Unsubscribe anytime.
Toronto city council voted unanimously to move forward with a scaled-back redesign of Queen's Park North, Canada's oldest municipal park, after months of backlash from residents concerned the original proposal would threaten mature trees and the park's peaceful character.
The updated concept plan includes an unprecedented $93 million gift from the Weston Foundation — $50 million for capital costs and $43 million to maintain and operate the park over coming decades. The revised design makes several key changes aimed at protecting the park's greenery: a detailed mapping of all 358 trees (including 88 identified as distinctive) now guides where construction can safely happen, with red zones marking areas where tree impacts are unacceptable, yellow zones requiring careful management, and green zones with no anticipated constraints.
The planned central building has been significantly reduced to just 2,700 square feet at ground level, where a year-round café is proposed. Public washrooms will now be in a separate building to further reduce environmental impact. The "Learning Forest" proposal for the western quadrant has been revised to include a shorter, lower elevated walkway designed to protect root zones of multiple distinctive and rare trees. The commemorative garden was also reduced and repositioned to avoid key tree protection areas.
City staff will report back on the project's progress in early 2027, then in 2028, and on a biennial basis for the remainder of the multi-million dollar donation.
