Sign In Register TORONTO - Tempers flared at a packed Wednesday night consultation over the city’s proposed new approach to managing the large homeless encampment in Dufferin Grove Park.  the city will newly launch its so-called enhanced outreach model in the park — adding additional security staff daily health and social support visits for residents and waste removal — aimed at eliminating the encampment as soon as possible.  The approach has been used by the city to rid Clarence Square Park and Allan Gardens of longstanding encampments in recent months.  “What you’re seeing before you is a plan to transition people out of Dufferin Grove,” said Davenport Coun which took place at a local retirement home.  Some residents expressed gratitude for the new plan but said it’s coming too late.  A neighbour with a visual impairment who lives close to the park with her two young sons told TorontoToday the encampment has made her unable to walk through the area at night.  “I can’t see well enough to assess a situation as it’s happening.”  which currently number about 20 and have been there for years “[They’re] never going to get those childhood years back,” said Erin who asked TorontoToday to use only her first name.  some local residents took aim at their neighbours for overstating the danger of people living in encampments in the park One man argued that people are confusing “feeling uncomfortable [with] actually being unsafe.”  While one resident said there have been “verbal attacks” in the park as a result of the encampment another resident said such challenges are the norm for city life.  “There’s also verbal attacks on Queen Street,” the person shot back.  A city resident who spoke with TorontoToday said the enhanced outreach model is not the right strategy arguing the city should be taking far more dramatic measures to curb homelessness.  “I would be glad to see us declare homelessness a state of emergency and then use the emergency powers to expropriate every single vacant unit in the city until everyone’s been housed,” said Ri who asked TorontoToday use only their first name The consultation comes amidst a growing homelessness crisis impacting people provincewide.  In 2024, more than 80,000 people in Ontario experienced homelessness — up 25 per cent compared to 2022 according to a new report from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.  As part of the new plan for Dufferin Grove Park the city has dispatched security staff who will monitor the area all day “This makes sure that any issues or emergencies in the park are being reported immediately to my team,” said John Francisco a manager with the City of Toronto’s encampment team during a presentation at the consultation on Wednesday the park will be staffed with community safety personnel who wear yellow vests and are on-site to support encampment residents and neighbours “If you feel unsafe walking into the park … you can even request for them to walk with you,” he added.  a City of Toronto director in the shelter division said on Wednesday that there is no clear timeline for the resolution of the encampment.  “But what we do know is that the enhanced outreach model does work,” he said.  In using this approach with the Allen Gardens encampment Francisco said on Wednesday that staff provided residents with 433 shelter referrals and helped 98 people get housed.  It took a while — 450 days — for the encampment to be completely dispersed but it came to an eventual conclusion without the use of force.  Barrera said it takes time for staff to develop relationships with encampment residents and that trust-building is important to get to a positive resolution we’re working with people — but there will be an end date in sight,” he told the crowd current Dufferin Grove Park encampment resident Victoria Christopher told TorontoToday she is less optimistic than city staff that the approach will yield positive results.  “All the shelters are full here,” said Christopher who attended Wednesday’s consultation.  The park resident said there is nowhere safe for her and her partner to go.  Occasionally, the pair are able to get space at the shelter for couples at 545 Lakeshore Road but Christoper said there’s a lot of drug use there which she doesn’t want to be around.  “There are no choices,” she said.  Others critical of the city’s enhanced support model agree.  After the encampment clearing of Clarence Square Park Maggie Helwig told TorontoToday that residents cleared from the park normally quickly end up at another “I think it is not nearly as constructive as the city portrays it as being,” said Helwig in December.  “When encampments are reduced in this way The design of the enhanced outreach model is based on a strategy used initially to clear Dufferin Grove Park in 2021.  You will also start receiving the Star's free morning newsletter become the largest encampment site in Toronto but city hall says its limited funds for heightened outreach are being directed at other parks “I’ve tried signing up for transitional housing lists subsidized housing lists — all the lists,” said encampment resident Kai Downey So far she’s only been offered a bed in a large dorm-style shelter so she stays outside instead City hall’s new housing-focused strategy for encampments was adapted from a pilot project tested initially in Dufferin Grove it won’t include the park despite it being the city’s largest homeless encampment who played the “King of Kensington” is surrounded by tents at Bellevue Square The park is among three sites the city selected for a new housing-focused strategy for managing encampments A new city strategy to intently focus on only three encampments has seen some success but other sites citywide have grown as the homelessness crisis worsens here and beyond Kai Downey does not want to be in a tent in Dufferin Grove Park hauling her bright blue tent from her former campsite near Toronto’s lakeshore after unwanted attention from another person left her feeling scared a 5.3-hectare expanse of green space across from Dufferin Mall near Bloor Street a water fountain and basic essentials in the bustling area stood beside her setup in a less populated area near the park’s northern edge as two outreach workers from a local social service agency made their rounds to hand out water bottles and single-use SPF packets The answer was the same as it’s ever been: housing subsidized housing lists — all the lists,” Downey later said But since coming to Toronto from Collingwood earlier this year she says she’s only been offered a bed in an enormous dormitory-style shelter gesturing around the park at the sea of campsites Downey is among dozens of people who’ve set up camp in Dufferin Grove over the course of the summer months as Toronto’s overstretched shelters and decades-long housing wait-list continue to squeeze people onto the streets with homelessness becoming more visible in public spaces from emergency rooms and libraries to parks and ravines This west-end park is now the largest single encampment across the city map with more than two dozen tents erected among the usual farmers’ markets kids’ summer camps and a sprawling sandpit where preschoolers muck about with delight while there were already hundreds of people living outside across Toronto there were zero known tents at Dufferin Grove city hall unveiled a new encampment strategy that would concentrate available housing supports and other resources in a handful of large camps with work already underway at Allan Gardens and next prioritizing downtown Clarence Square the city planned to deploy security officers to prevent further tents being set up in those locations But while those large encampments have since come down in size As many as 30 tents and other structures were counted in Dufferin Grove as of August as city workers report more than 400 campsites citywide — a count that’s more than doubled since mid-March has prompted fierce debate about the best way to respond — here and beyond the city’s bounds Major cities across North America have been struggling to respond to rising homelessness as affordability has withered compounded by other social crises from limited mental health-care access to increasingly toxic street drugs decision-makers have previously adopted a more enforcement-heavy approach — arguing during a sweep of encampment clearings in 2021 that the camps impeded others’ use of public spaces adapted from a pilot project tested initially in Dufferin Grove increasingly sees housing as the long-term solution and nearly 90,000 households on the city’s publicly subsidized housing wait-list That means despite Dufferin Grove now being Toronto’s largest encampment it won’t receive the same cavalry of support focused this year on Allan Gardens and Clarence Square says city hall homelessness initiatives director Gord Tanner The city only has funding to roll out that new approach in one other location in 2024 and preparations are underway to focus on Kensington Market’s Bellevue Square a tiny parkette less than half a hectare in size “It’s a parkette that includes a splash pad and children’s playground and there’s a large encampment there of — at last count — 18 encampments and about 17 people It’s in a very dense part of the market,” Tanner said in an interview we’ll be bringing some additional supports to that location.” is considered by city hall to be on a secondary list of seven priority encampments — those that didn’t make the cut for the enhanced intervention but where the city wants to see a reduction in tents and has laid plans for a more frequent presence from outreach workers a west-end resident watching her kids at the playground on Dufferin Grove’s south side earlier this week has grown frustrated seeing people struggling on the streets with seemingly no one to intervene “It’s kind of like we’re in a spiral Nothing is really getting better,” she said and she says she’s had to have difficult conversations recently when they’ve witnessed people visibly unwell around their regular playground “I just say ‘don’t worry about it let’s ignore it and move on!’ — because I mean She wants to see real help — more shelter beds more health care and treatment for those struggling with substance use and addiction more jobs that pay people enough to live in Toronto “We need to really focus on taking care of the people in our city,” Szymczak said With the park increasingly home to people in desperate situations Downey says she’s also seen people lash out or scream which leaves her nervous — something she noted other park users were likely feeling She gestured to the nearby field where a gaggle of kids kicked soccer balls “They have their camp and parks here on top of all the tents,” she lamented the growing surge of tents inside the park wasn’t an ideal situation for anyone Lettie Gariba — sitting with her baby on a blanket beside the wading pool this week — sees housing as the key issue decision-makers should be focusing on “Providing any kind of housing is critical,” she stressed Gariba also urged a careful consideration of how encampments were assigned priority for more housing aid and what community is getting engaged?”  Tanner outlined a flurry of reasons that could put an encampment on the city’s priority list radar from festivals or cultural events in a certain location to green spaces being utilized for kids’ summer camps offering the example of art gallery and city-run camps that use downtown Grange Park But when it came to the three sites picked for the more intensive strategy — which means not only more visits from outreach workers but setting up a temporary office for city workers on-site bringing in services from health care to income support and using security to prevent new tent set-ups — he described the city’s decisions as based on factors from the “vulnerability” of camp occupants to “what the impact to the broader community might be.” the shift to today’s approach to encampments began in late 2021 on the heels of several high-profile encampment clearings in places like the west-end Trinity Bellwoods Park and Lamport Stadium which devolved into physical clashes between police officers and crowds opposing the crackdowns with a large encampment remaining at Dufferin Grove city hall began quietly testing a different approach expanding its outreach and housing efforts with the aim of finding more permanent solutions with a similar approach adapted to use at Allan Gardens last summer after the number of tents in the downtown east park swelled It then became the framework for the city’s overall strategy While the support-focused approach was received with some optimism from advocates some questioned the spending on security to prevent others from moving their camps to the locations with more aid also flagged the strategy’s limited reach looking at Allan Gardens and Clarence Square noted some successes: while numbers fluctuated he said Allan Gardens was down to about 10 tents from nearly 90 at its peak and Clarence Square was reduced by about half is frustrated by the lack of resources at the city’s disposal One sore point is the city’s inconsistent access to portable housing benefits While the federal and provincial governments jointly offer these subsidies to reduce the cost of rent which city hall sees as a critical tool to help people move out of shelters and encampments Tanner says they’ve been unable to offer those benefits to new households for months — having run out of their last funding allotment in March He doesn’t know if and when more money might arrive “It’s very challenging not to have regular access,” he said Federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser’s office asked about the status of the portable benefit funding said on Friday they were “working on next steps” and would “have more to say soon.” A spokesperson for Ontario Housing Minister Paul Calandra said households already enrolled in the program would have received payments in July and did not respond to a followup inquiry about whether cities could expect funds to offer the benefits to new households an exit route from homelessness has felt out of reach since becoming homeless as a teenager she said rental listings for even a single room were advertised above $1,000 a month which was beyond what she could afford on social assistance payments While she’s filled out what felt like endless applications for housing aid she knows it could take a decade or more to secure an affordable unit that way and I’ve just been outside,” she said She’s felt the difference in the city’s approach to different parks noting the security presence rolled out in other large encampments — something she suggested might make people though she cautioned it was more of a deterrent than real security with the fabric still able to be easily ripped open “As much as what people are doing — going out giving out sunscreen and water — that’s sort of the most people can do,” she said she knows many occupants of the tents are battling with complex challenges including a number of people caught in the grips of addiction and substance use she said — but she urged decision-makers not to steel themselves to the problem “They should still be willing to help.” Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Account processing issue - the email address may already exist Invalid password or account does not exist Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account Police say a woman who was pronounced dead following a house fire in Dufferin Grove earlier this week was the victim of a homicide Investigators say 27-year-old Jessica Perez Ocampo of Toronto was one of two people pulled from a fire at 140 Rusholme Road near College and Dufferin Streets shortly after midnight on August 28 She was pronounced dead at the scene while a man was taken to hospital in critical condition 27-year-old Roberto Mendez of Toronto was pronounced dead in hospital Mike Taylor said Ocampo was killed in the basement apartment and that they believe Mendez was responsible for her death Taylor would not say if Ocampo was killed prior to the fire or confirm the exact cause of death saying only that she sustained trauma to her body this was an isolated incident and we are continuing to investigate,” said Taylor adding that they believe the pair were in a relationship but he did not elaborate The cause of the blaze remains under investigation Warmer temperatures but showers are expected on-and-off for the next few days Meteorologist Natasha Ramsahai has your seven-day forecast Ontario Premier Doug Ford calls on Prime Minister Mark Carney to prioritize a list of projects including the proposed Highway 401 tunnel a mentally ill man who was killed in an Ontario prison is calling out the provincial government over the lack of correctional reform Monday is calling for rain and thunderstorms Stella Acquisto has the long-range forecast listen to NewsRadio Toronto live anytime and get up-to-the-minute breaking-news alerts weather and video from CityNews Toronto anywhere you are – across all Android and iOS devices Join the thousands of Torontonians who’ve signed up for our free newsletter and get award-winning local journalism delivered to your inbox unhoused people like Davit Sesisheili have gone from park to park and reporting and photography that spans years intimate portrait of Toronto’s failing encampments strategy Davit Sesisheili’s hands are thick and grimy they inspected Toronto mansions—including Drake’s they gripped the wheels of a long-haul truck in Philadelphia and handled thousands of litres of homemade wine in his home country of Georgia they’ve sorted through piles of junk at Clarence Square Park one of the largest homeless encampments in Toronto you could find nearly anything scattered around his tent a chest of harm reduction supplies like pipes and syringes A fat bottle of red wine sat near his tent someone had hung laundry lines and curtains Sesisheili is one of the most resourceful salvagers around and other life essentials are taken from donation bins around the city “I’ve seen a beautiful life…And I’ve seen a fucked-up life,” the 50-year-old says in a voice so soft that my recorder occasionally struggles to capture it with a scruffy beard and perpetually worried eyes He has a wry sense of humour and an old-school sense of propriety standing to shake our hands whenever we arrive in camp Conditions at Clarence Square can be challenging the well-trodden centre of the camp floods; during heat waves there’s very little shade apart from tent canopies and Sesisheili’s tree There are rat tunnels and garbage everywhere although I never come across a used needle Condo residents have complained of encampment residents defecating sometimes beautiful sense of community among the residents of Clarence Square Park Regardless of their disagreements with each other they’ll unfailingly come running in the event of an overdose and—for better or worse—are quick to close ranks in the face of hostile outsiders including those surreptitiously recording video footage as they walk by Sesisheili is one of the most respected residents in the encampment’s community—someone who sets up total strangers with clothing But we hear stories of his capacity for violence He’s had numerous stints in hospital: infections and treatment for psychosis (which he denies) No one living at Clarence Square Park is eager to cross him we wouldn’t be welcome to roam amongst the tents “I was booked all year,” he says—a rarity in construction and his 11-year-old son went to live with his ex-wife’s sister in Windsor Then he broke his ribs after a fall in a rented house His timeline is fuzzy—Sesisheili doesn’t have a watch and most of his memories are defined by seasons which is not uncommon for those experiencing long-term homelessness What he knows is he ended up at a shelter at 545 Lakeshore Blvd and then began living unhoused near the grain silos on Toronto’s waterfront Sesisheili will never stay in a shelter again—no part of it works for him The same was true for most of the people we spoke to sometimes ill people living on the street can be chaotic despite the City’s best efforts to expand and manage shelter spaces many saw alarming spikes in violence and harm: a 6.3 percent rise in physical assault a 216 percent increase in suspected overdoses around the time Kozak first began photographing the city’s unhoused population Sesisheili was living at Trinity Bellwoods Park Kozak photographed him at his new home under the Bathurst Street bridge to live in some of the biggest encampments in the city: Alexandra Park Sesisheili’s movements have followed the ebb and flow of the city’s unhoused population through the downtown parks and encampments that grow until they’re quashed by police as well as other homeless residents of the city—familiar faces that came and went at these parks Kozak and I spent months getting to know the people living in Clarence Square Park We pored over comprehensive new data obtained from the City on the population changes of Toronto’s biggest encampments And we spoke with encampment residents from across the city to try to understand how homelessness has changed over the past five years in Canada’s biggest city as familiar as the cherry-red 501 Queen streetcar The City has largely stepped away from dispatching waves of police officers and private security guards to violently clear encampments like those at Clarence Square Park they’ve promised enhanced outreach to bigger camps: robust mental health supports and it quickly becomes obvious how little has changed since the City’s supposed “action plan” took effect encampment residents are moved into shelters with little chance of landing a permanent home spreading further into the city’s uncramped inner suburbs are quickly cleared by security before they get a chance to grow Handing out sandwiches and clean needles is certainly better than nothing but most unhoused people will tell you they need a home of their own and many residents at Clarence Square Park have waited a while—or simply don’t trust the options they’ve been given It isn’t hard to see why encampment residents “When you’re in the swamp,” Sesisheili tells us Ontario’s premier was hell-bent on cutting red tape and a couple of supportive city councillors did what they could A local architect designed modular prefabricated houses for residents evicted by police from the Home Depot lot in 2003 The people who were trying to fix this problem as activists years ago are still struggling to do so today. The architect, John van Nostrand, is now the senior director of Two Steps Home a nonprofit focused on building “cabin communities” in Toronto to end homelessness a longtime street nurse who campaigned at Tent City is into her third decade of advocating for homeless Torontonians One of the two supportive councillors was Olivia Chow oversees a city overwhelmed by homelessness a favoured spot for unhoused Torontonians was in the bush along Rosedale Valley Road where “you’re less likely to get cleared,” says Sanctuary Toronto outreach worker Greg Cook Cook and I inched our way up and down the steep ravine on paths carved into the brush by habitual visitors We find signs of life under the buttresses of the Bloor Viaduct: discarded beer cans city workers routinely kicked unhoused people out of these spots the City said it conducted roughly 700 evictions—the highest in a decade The rise of Toronto’s unhoused population is the result of a multitude of factors all converging at once: an ongoing rise in housing prices many of whom were already living hand to mouth the number of first-timers in the shelter system started to increase Within a four-month period from July to October 2021 the number of first-time shelter users in Toronto nearly doubled to around 6,700 more than 1,300 people contracted COVID-19 in Toronto shelters during the first two waves of the pandemic over 10,100 Torontonians became homeless for the very first time For those already living in encampments—some unknown portion of the 12,000 estimated Torontonians with no fixed address—the past few years have been spent surviving as best they can through heat waves award-winning journalism thanks to the generous support of readers you're contributing to a new kind of journalism—in-depth from corners of Toronto too often overlooked Toronto was hosting some of the largest encampments in the city’s recent history in part through Freedom of Information request The City doesn’t comprehensively record the average number of tents or people in every park per week or month It’s difficult to keep track of everyone across Toronto’s 1,500 or so parks and greenspaces the City was able to provide the average number of tents per month for the top 25 most populous parks What is clear is that Toronto’s homelessness problem isn’t getting any better “Cities across Canada are experiencing rising numbers of encampments due to insufficient income supports ongoing shelter capacity pressures and social crises like mental health and drug toxicity,” says Gord Tanner general manager of Toronto Shelter and Support Services Crackdowns on encampment residents had been happening from the very beginning and residents receiving trespass notices and risking tens of thousands of dollars in fines Sesisheili was kicked out of Trinity Bellwoods and Lamport Stadium But the most violent clearings conducted by the City took place in a single week in June 2021 Hundreds of City-hired security guards and police officers effectively laid siege to these encampments hemming in two dozen residents and scores of protestors between city fencing broadcast live on TV to horrified city residents haunts the City of Toronto’s encampment response to this day The resulting displacement of unhoused people in the city is apparent in the data the City claims it doesn’t demolish encampments any longer but provided a link in its statement to its Interdivisional Protocol for Encampments in Toronto which includes steps on how to enforce trespass notices This includes the demolition of structures present at an encampment “This action begins only in cases where there is an immediate public health or safety risk to people in the encampment or the surrounding communities; or after extensive support efforts have been unsuccessful and an individual continues to decline referrals to shelter space or meaningful work on a housing plan,” the City said in its statement The number of people encamped in city parks has grown in the last year. Data from March of this year revealed there were more than 200 tents across 72 parks at the time compared to 82 tents across 24 parks the same time last year But the large-scale encampments seen in the summer of 2021 are largely gone smaller encampments are slowly growing in number Many are popping up farther from the downtown core and community centre properties across Toronto’s suburbs are increasingly host to residents unable to live anywhere else Others are used by people who have truly nothing: not a home Nestled into a leafy postwar suburb in North York Goulding Park is an odd place to find an encampment a major shopping centre near Yonge Street and Steeles Avenue when we drive through the deserted suburban streets on a scorching hot mid-June day including one propped up against the wall of the park’s community centre a small crowd clustered around a charcoal barbeque Encampments were once considered a downtown phenomenon just two of the top 25 biggest encampments—at Caledonia Park and G Ross Lord Park—were found north of Bloor Street at least eight encampments met this criteria was one of the city’s most populous encampments this spring the most recent data provided to The Local the City’s list of most significant encampments included Crawford Jones Memorial also hosts a few regulars who don’t have homes muscular man with long black hair in a ponytail staggers around at one point asking me in a very soft voice to go with him to the LCBO a broad-chested white man in a polo shirt who helps Charlie and the others cook people like Dmitri and Charlie and Eugene hang out to drink This crowd is completely different from the downtown encampments I’ve seen Charlie says he lives with his mother; I later find out from Vicky Sanderson that many of the people here live in public housing and hang out at the park during the summer to cool off Many of them also have close ties to the area a weathered 63-year-old landscaper whom I’ll call Mark (a pseudonym grew up in the Yonge and Steeles neighbourhood after his landlord kicked him out for drinking too much He tells us he goes through a 26-ounce bottle of vodka a day although he’s looking to quit drinking the same way he quit crack cocaine nearly 15 years ago He swings intermittently between irritation and a weathered gentleness when we talk and I don’t think Kozak or I ever see him fully sober Then he wanders over to Goulding Park to drink and spend time with his friends and has no interest in moving to a downtown encampment “I know people that own restaurants,” Mark tells us wearily lying on his side at Goulding Park “I can get a pizza anytime I want.” But the last time we see him he tells us he’s working with a caseworker to secure housing living unhoused in some unseen corner of North York is harsher than a downtown encampment While there are drop-in centres and food banks there are far fewer places to crash at odd hours neither of them in possession of a sleeping bag All that spared them from the elements is the car wash’s wall and some nearby foliage Vicky Sanderson started noticing piles of clothing and food containers at Goulding Park back in 2015 there are people living at the park,” the volunteer tells me at a drop-in lunch in the lower hall of Cummer Avenue United Church Cheng’s office emphasized the councillor’s commitment to listening to all sides of the issue “Encampments are a growing concern across our city This can be shocking for many community members for whom this has not been the norm…Our office tries to listen to residents’ concerns while learning about the needs of the unhoused from outreach workers to find a way forward,” the statement read “People are regularly sleeping outside,” Sanderson says “There are folks whose teeth are falling apart.” “and the community response is that we’re not supposed to [have] poor people in Willowdale They’re not supposed to be here.” She isn’t hyperbolic Two days before Kozak and I visited Cummer Avenue United Church city staff had evicted the encampment at Goulding Park These smaller encampments are fairly discrete compared to places like Clarence Square Park the City quickly stomps them out before they can grow neighbourhoods separated by just a few TTC stops can be worlds apart in terms of how residents experience life Our latest issue is an unprecedented deep-dive into this city’s disparities—on everything from health and housing to who makes 3-1-1 complaints I watch as city staff assemble to bulldoze a makeshift shelter at Marilyn Bell Park on a strip of lakeshore greenery on the south end of Parkdale who shared the shelter with Kal and a handful of others you could see the home built by Kal and a former roofer named Robert from the breakwater off the park shore Terra had once swum out there to bask on the rocks elongated hut made of two-by-fours and bound together with thousands of zip-ties “I kept her clean for a whole year,” Kal tells me The enforcement of these one-off evictions is haphazard seemingly subject to the mood of the enforcing officer and the force of the protestors that rally against them Kal had received an earlier eviction notice last winter On the morning the City planned to bulldoze Kal’s home a group of grassroots encampment defenders including members of a group called Voices for Unhoused Liberation “I would fight for it,” he says of the shelter These evictions tend to go down in similar ways workers with Toronto Shelter and Support Services will offer residents shelter spaces Parks and Recreation workers bring in dump trucks and sometimes a heavy mover known as “the claw,” to destroy any shelters is that the City doesn’t offer the residents any good options “People might not realize they’re getting sent to a shelter in Etobicoke,” he tells me “They’re getting sent to a shelter where they’re sleeping in a room with 30 or 40 other people And they don’t have a choice.” Kal tells me he has a number of health problems and uses a sleep apnea machine that isn’t easy to hook up in a shelter In the aftermath of the catastrophic summer 2021 encampment evictions there’s a sense of spectacle attached to tent clearings City workers muster around the perimeter near Kal’s shelter while he chats with two bicycle-mounted police officers from the neighbourhood liaison unit None of this was apparent to the cyclists racing along the Martin Goodman Trail in spandex bodysuits seemingly ignorant of the eviction scheduled to happen ugly disagreement between Kal and the advocates Kal was told he’d have another five days to leave When Kozak returned to Marilyn Bell Park the following week he found a patch of dirt with bulldozer tread marks and no sign of a tent It had taken the City at least two visits from an enforcement officer several hours on the clock by multiple city staff and neighbourhood cops and the heavy machinery of trucks and bulldozers new residents show up to Clarence Square Park and other encampments across the city a baby-faced 32-year-old who used to work as a delivery driver for Amsterdam Brewery he’s only a week and a half into his stay at Clarence Square and only a few weeks into being “on the road” at all His former landlord didn’t let him renew his lease and the Landlord Tenant Board doesn’t hold hearings quickly I can do this for a month,” he tells Nick and I and realized he wouldn’t get a bed anytime soon A local told Nate he’d been calling for a shelter spot for a week straight with no luck “There aren’t as many beds available as people think,” Nate says shelter intake staff have had to turn away more than 230 callers a night he heard about the Clarence Square Park encampment and moved his belongings with a two-wheeled foldable shopping cart He now sleeps in a tiny one-person tent on the perimeter of the encampment When a newcomer arrives at Clarence Square Park a 28-year-old English literature major who can often be found browsing the Indigo at The Well But she’s lived at Clarence Square Park for about eight months and has been without a home since the fall of 2020 and to lose an apartment in Little Italy during a split with an abusive boyfriend because she couldn’t afford it Michelle acts as a combination of organizer She tells me she hasn’t slept in three days Encampments are as much a health problem as they are a housing problem the last time the City of Toronto conducted its Street Needs Assessment—a survey of unhoused people including encampment residents—roughly half said they had mental health issues like depression or PTSD Just over 40 percent admitted having a substance use issue and a fifth cited cognitive conditions like ADHD Most are dealing with at least two of these conditions at once Two of the residents I’m introduced to at Clarence Square Park are dealing with meth-induced psychosis friendly but prone to conversations that are impossible to follow these problems are why encampments exist in the first place with Clarence Square Park’s muddy ground before us After the disastrous outcome of the encampment evictions in the summer of 2021 A scathing report published by Toronto Ombudsman Kwame Addo in 2023 condemned the decision to rapidly clear encampments as rushed and injurious and as having created a widespread public perception that Toronto’s city government hated the homeless alongside many of the other activists we spoke to pointedly blamed the “capitalist hellscape” for both the conditions of encampments and the city’s response to them Advocates saw the backlash as an opportunity which had seen an eviction earlier that year as a site to advocate for a new approach to encampments in what became known as the Dufferin Grove Pilot Project “They essentially let the encampment be,” explains Jesse Upton an organizer with Encampment Support Network Parkdale The City brought services like medical care with a reported 90 residents receiving shelter But city workers also prevented new residents from moving in And while the Dufferin Grove model seemed much more humane than clearing residents en-masse only 26 of the encampment’s 90 residents actually received permanent housing The majority simply ended up in the shelter system and around 15 residents left shelters for unknown locations Some are believed to be back on the street and City Council endorsed the Dufferin Grove model as a citywide strategy for encampments Clarence Square Park is one of the major encampments chosen to receive enhanced supports from the City through what ward Councillor Ausma Malik calls the Clarence Square Action Plan: daily clean-up crews from the City’s Parks & Recreation department the “permanent ongoing presence” of Streets to Homes workers in the park and additional security guards and fire safety personnel to guard against emergencies is two corporate security guards parked nearby or gazing at their phones or laptops in quiet moments The Action Plan calls for regular clean-up by city workers we see city workers in pickup trucks parked on the grass Encampment residents tell us they do most of the cleaning themselves The two porta potties promised by the City for the residents also never materialize Just one sits on the eastern edge of the camp A replacement is supposed to arrive in November) I dropped by the camp to see two new blue porta potties near Spadina Avenue—but even they weren’t part of the plan they were installed by the City for drunk Jays fans Both were padlocked shut on a Thursday afternoon The stoicism he wore when we first arrived at camp has dropped away He fears that trash is being left near his tent to mess with him “There’s no winning for me out here,” he says Paramedics do drop in to Clarence Square Park for on-site checkups and harm reduction supplies like crack pipes and needles Michelle tells us Streets to Homes workers show up but just spend a few minutes at the site before moving on The shipping container at the northeast corner of the park Michelle’s caseworker has told her she’s a priority case the average wait time for rent-geared-to-income housing for a “priority” applicant is four years For anyone else who happens to be homeless Councillor Malik refused an interview with The Local when approached her office said her efforts are slowly getting encampment residents the help they need given that shelters are at capacity and the long waitlists for affordable housing,” the statement read with 46 people having been referred indoors and 10 of the 13 encampment residents currently working on a housing plan.” The City of Toronto’s 24-Month Housing Recovery and Resilience Plan for 2023 and 2024 is supposed to create 4,000 new affordable and supportive housing opportunities for Sesisheili and every other unhoused person we spoke to for this story the City itself describes this urgent homebuilding initiative as Toronto’s leading path out of homelessness Mayor Olivia Chow’s background is seemingly perfect for resolving encampments with her advocacy all the way back to Tent City According to documents from earlier this summer the City has already managed to provide affordable housing benefits to roughly 3,300 Toronto households But it depends on funding from both the province and the federal government to hit its 4,000-unit target there are almost 93,000 households on the City’s Centralized Waitlist for social housing and more than 12,100 people are being supported in the City’s emergency accommodations and shelters,” the City said in its statement to The Local only 3,000 RGI units become available each year illustrating the disparity between the growing need for subsidized housing and the lack of supply.” but something Kozak had recently told me was bouncing around my head When he’d visited Clarence Square Park the week prior and said he was getting a low-cost cell phone plan available to low-income people That suggested he expected to be kicked out of the park somehow Never before in my career have I experienced such a sense of responsibility to the sources I’ve interviewed for a story I think about Michelle and Sesisheili and Mark—and others not named in this story Kimberley and Tsunami and more—who live outdoors Not four kilometres from the largest encampment in Toronto my neighbours live in multimillion dollar mansions with enough equity to house anyone living outside many times over I am doubtful that anything I’ve written here will meaningfully change the circumstances of those who welcomed Kozak and me into their lives I did a slow circuit of Toronto’s largest encampment in the heat its absence a gaping hole in the landscape of the encampment But then I noticed the bulldozer tread marks in the dry dirt The City had given Sesisheili five days’ warning to clean up his tent and belongings So they’d brought police officers and city workers early in the morning “That’s when the City showed their true faces,” Sesisheili tells me there was a fire at Clarence Square Park in the middle of the night which residents and city staff told Kozak may have been set intentionally by a woman at the camp city crews came to clear away the burnt remains of a tent used as a hangout spot by encampment residents someone told him that Sesisheili had been given a trespass order by the City and was barred from the park Sesisheili had told Kozak and me that in the event of an eviction he’d just move on and find somewhere else to set up An eviction isn’t going to convince a man like Sesisheili hardened against help by his frustrations with the shelter system and his own independent spirit He has been forced to start over so many times—from his own home to the street and even from a City-run affordable housing program it seems Sesisheili’s time outside is no closer to resolution than it was when Kozak first met him four years ago in the first winter of the COVID-19 pandemic The day I went to visit Sesisheili in July he was already preparing to rebuild his collection of belongings after the City clearing nodding off partway through our brief conversation It was only as he walked me to the edge of the encampment to say goodbye that I realized that the City had left Sesisheili 2024—A previous version of this article misidentified Cathy Crowe as a retired street nurse Nick Kozak is a freelance photojournalist whose assignment work regularly appears in the Toronto Star. His photography projects have been supported by the Toronto Arts Council, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Canada Council for the Arts. Nick can be reached at photo@nickkozak.com. We're able to produce impactful, award-winning journalism thanks to the generous support of readers. By supporting The Local, you're contributing to a new kind of journalism—in-depth, non-profit, from corners of Toronto too often overlooked. In Toronto, neighbourhoods separated by just a few TTC stops can be worlds apart in terms of how residents experience life, and death. Our five-year-anniversary issue is an unprecedented deep-dive into this city’s disparities—on everything from health and housing to who makes 3-1-1 complaints. The Annex had fewer residents in 2021 than 1971. The towers of Crescent Town had far more. How the uneven, illogical densification pattern of the last 50 years created today’s Toronto. From wealthy neighbours griping about shrubbery to low-income tenants requesting winter heat—a map of 311 requests charts a certain kind of civic engagement, and privilege. Recent analysis by The Local shows just how widespread encampments have become, and how the City’s clearing efforts simply pushed unhoused Torontonians from one park to another. A joint project by The Local and St. Michael’s Hospital, the first-ever neighbourhood-level analysis of life expectancy in Toronto, reveals stark disparities across the city. Grief, and hope, in the downtown eastside neighbourhood with the lowest life-expectancy in the city. This North York neighbourhood has plenty of public amenities and walkable streets. But the secret to residents’ good health may have a less expected explanation: immigration. Join the thousands of Torontonians who've signed up for our free newsletter and get award-winning local journalism delivered to your inbox. In-depth, non-profit journalism from corners of Toronto too often overlooked. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. New PC leader apologizes for party's handling of landfill search, commits to better decorum26 minutes agoVideo2:00 Video evidence, NHLer testimony raise questions in world junior sexual assault trialThe National |May 2Video11:28 Trump repeats 51st state taunt as Carney prepares for White House visitThe National |May 5Video1:19 It is a priority for CBC to create products that are accessible to all in Canada including people with visual Closed Captioning and Described Video is available for many CBC shows offered on CBC Gem The scene of the fire on Rusholme Road on Wednesday where Jessica Perez Ocampo Photo of Jessica Perez Ocampo released by Toronto police A fatal fire in a Dufferin Grove home this week has been declared a homicide by Toronto police who confirmed Friday that the man they believe is responsible has also died Mike Taylor told reporters outside the home Friday afternoon Taylor confirmed Ocampo had sustained trauma to her body But he would not get into detail about her cause of death and would not comment when asked if investigators believed she died prior to the fire a 27-year-old man who was taken to hospital with serious injuries after the fire “It is believed that Roberto is responsible for the death of the female,” he said adding that the killing was not a random act but “an isolated incident.” Toronto fire said they saw heavy smoke when they arrived at the home on Rusholme Road just after midnight was not known to the police prior to the homicide lived in the Rusholme Road home but Ocampo did not Taylor provided the update Friday afternoon a Toronto Fire Services van and a police Forensic Identification Services truck were still on scene A strong smell of smoke still lingered near the back of the brick home which otherwise appeared untouched by flames from the front Toronto fire said crews responded just after midnight on Wednesday to a one-alarm fire at a home on Rusholme Road Two people were rescued from the basement before they were transferred to the care of paramedics who said one of the individuals — a woman — was pronounced dead at the scene while the other was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries Paramedics also said they took three other people to hospital with minor injuries Taylor said Friday that those three people had attempted to help Ocampo and Mendez get out of the basement upon noticing the fire “Unfortunately they couldn’t help to that extent but they did the best they could,” Taylor said who lives across from the home where the blaze occurred told the Star earlier this week that she was lying in bed just after midnight when she heard a woman wailing on the street outside she saw two young women talking about calling the fire department and saying “someone was trapped inside.” The cause of the fire is still under investigation Recent analysis by The Local shows just how widespread encampments have become and how the City’s clearing efforts simply pushed unhoused Torontonians from one park to another but in the years leading up to the pandemic it was rare to see an encampment out in the open City workers routinely cleared unhoused people from these places conducting a 10-year high of as many as 700 evictions in 2019 alone coinciding with a multitude of factors—rising housing prices and a drug toxicity crisis—more and more Torontonians found themselves living on the street high-profile encampment raids at Lamport Stadium and Trinity Bellwoods Park in the summer of 2021 and despite its efforts to move people into permanent housing the number of people living in Toronto’s parks and ravines has grown there were more than 200 tents across 72 parks this March The Local spent months interviewing encampment residents and analyzing new data from the City, obtained, in part, through Freedom of Information requests. That reporting illustrated how smaller encampments spreading beyond the downtown core are replacing large-scale ones and how the experiences of unhoused Torontonians haven’t changed all that much despite the City’s latest “action plans.” Here are some of the highlights: When The Local requested data on city encampments earlier this year we were told the City doesn’t hold comprehensive records of the number of tents or people in every city park every month—it’s difficult to keep track of everyone across Toronto’s 1,500 or so parks and greenspaces the City was able to provide us with the average number of tents per month for the top 25 most populous parks This data shows constant change in terms of which parks have the largest encampments Clarence Square Park was home to one of the city’s biggest encampments several downtown encampments grew in size: Dufferin Grove Park led with a monthly average of 27 tents and Bellevue Square Park in Kensington Market and Cherry Beach Clarke Beach Park located at the southern tip of Cherry Street But the size of these encampments is now significantly smaller than the largest encampments in previous years at the corner of Bathurst Street and Dundas Street West while Trinity Bellwoods Park had an average of 64 the overall average size of Toronto encampments has declined and encampments have dispersed out of the downtown core Additional data showed the average encampment in March of 2021 contained 6.5 tents across 45 city parks Toronto’s shelter system has long been overstretched but demand for shelter beds and services has reached new heights in recent years for many reasons including a lack of affordable housing and the rising cost of living The number of first-time users of Toronto’s shelter system started to increase in June of 2020 at the tail-end of the first COVID wave—a trend that has not relented the number of first-time shelter users nearly doubled to around 6,700 Partly owing to the risk of COVID outbreaks in shelters where more than 1,300 people were infected during the first two waves of the pandemic in addition to the lack of privacy and autonomy afforded by the shelter system many encampment residents told The Local they preferred living outside But even for those who wish to stay in a shelter shelter intake staff in the city have had to turn away more than 230 callers a night on average—more than double the average 106 daily callers who were turned away in 2022 moving people into permanent housing has become a losing battle “Entries to homelessness continue to outpace exits to housing.” In 2023 fewer than 6,000 people were successfully moved to permanent housing 10,100 Torontonians became homeless for the very first time that same year Data from the city appears to back this up As the population of encampments in Alexandra Park and Trinity Bellwoods plunged over the summer of 2021 after the clearings grew from only three tents in July 2021 to 18 the following month the city recorded an average of 10 tents there though that number had declined to one by May the city’s list of most significant encampments included Charles Sauriol Conservation Area In the aftermath of those violent crackdowns in the summer of 2021 the City brought services like medical care as part of what became known as the Dufferin Grove Pilot Project but new residents were prevented from moving in Although the Dufferin Grove model seemed much more humane than clearing residents en-masse The majority ended up in the shelter system Wency Leung is a reporter for The Local. She was previously a health reporter for The Globe and Mail. You can reach her by email at wency@thelocal.to or on Bluesky @wencyleung.bsky.social. Our five-year-anniversary issue is an unprecedented deep-dive into this city’s disparities—on everything from health and housing to who makes 3-1-1 complaints The Annex had fewer residents in 2021 than 1971 illogical densification pattern of the last 50 years created today’s Toronto From wealthy neighbours griping about shrubbery to low-income tenants requesting winter heat—a map of 311 requests charts a certain kind of civic engagement the first-ever neighbourhood-level analysis of life expectancy in Toronto in the downtown eastside neighbourhood with the lowest life-expectancy in the city This North York neighbourhood has plenty of public amenities and walkable streets But the secret to residents’ good health may have a less expected explanation: immigration Join the thousands of Torontonians who've signed up for our free newsletter and get award-winning local journalism delivered to your inbox non-profit journalism from corners of Toronto too often overlooked A man in his 20s has suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a stabbing in Dufferin Grove Park on Wednesday Toronto police responded to reports of a stabbing at the park just before 4:30 p.m The man was located with non-life-threatening injuries and transported to hospital Police say the suspect is described as a Black male with dreadlocks Toronto fire told the Star they saw heavy smoke when they arrived at the home just after midnight One woman is dead and four others are in hospital after an early morning residential fire in Dufferin Grove a tenant across the street from a fire on Rusholme Road who saw paramedics doing compressions on someone on a stretcher in the early morning hours on Aug One woman is dead and four others were injured after a house fire in Dufferin Grove early Wednesday morning Toronto fire said crews responded just after midnight to a one-alarm fire at a home on Rusholme Road near College Street and Dovercourt Road and found heavy smoke who said one of the individuals was pronounced dead at the scene while the other was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries Toronto fire told the Star they saw heavy smoke when they arrived at 140 Rusholme Road just after midnight was lying in bed just after midnight when she heard a woman wailing on the street outside paramedics and police arrived and the street was shut down adding the air was an opaque grey colour and smelled like burned plastic Paramedics quickly brought one person out of the home She said what appeared to be a body was then brought out in an orange bag multiple people were sitting at the end of her walkway and were being assessed by paramedics Multiple residents who spoke to the Star at the scene had also heard the screaming and said they saw smoke billowing from the lower level at the back of the property He was alerted to the fire from the sirens and stood on the front porch of his rental home “I saw (paramedics) pulling someone away on a stretcher There were few visible signs of the blaze on Wednesday morning other than a broken screen hanging from the front window on the second floor and yellow police tape stretching around the residence The home sits on a quiet one-way residential street just north of College Street Police wouldn’t comment when asked if there were working fire alarms in the home Toronto fire Chief Matthew Pegg extended his “deepest condolences to family friends and all those impacted by this tragic incident.” He said fire investigators were working with Toronto police and the provincial fire marshal’s office to determine the cause of the fire A spokesperson for the Office of the Fire Marshal said in an email that investigators had been dispatched expressed her sympathy for the victims in a post on X and thanked the firefighters for their efforts “My condolences are with the loved ones of our Davenport neighbour who passed away during the overnight fire on Rusholme Road,” she said Shortly after midnight, @Toronto_Fire responded to a residential fire at 140 Rusholme Road in Ward 9. During the course of search and rescue operations, two occupants were located inside the home, immediately rescued and transferred to @TorontoMedics following an early-morning residential fire in Toronto’s Dufferin Grove neighbourhood Toronto Fire Services Chief Matthew Pegg said crews were notified of a one-alarm residential fire at 140 Rusholme Road near College Street and Dufferin Street shortly after midnight Officials initially located a man and a woman inside the home The woman was pronounced dead at the scene Toronto Paramedic Services tell CityNews three other residents were treated for minor injuries Pegg said investigators will work with the Toronto Police Service and Ontario Fire Marshal to determine the cause of the fire Toronto’s homicide unit has been made aware of the incident and investigators are awaiting autopsy results A source tells 680News Radio that TFS officials were dispatched to the home for an intentionally set fire “All unexplained or sudden deaths are treated as suspicious until we know the cause of death and establish the full circumstances,” a Toronto Police Service spokesperson said Ve’ahavta’s outreach van arrives at Dufferin-Grove Park The Toronto-based Jewish humanitarian organization has been helping people living in poverty since 1997 through its mobile outreach efforts and dedicated volunteers An outreach worker hands out meals from the back of the Ve’ahavta outreach van as they hand out hot meals and essentials like clothes to homeless people in Toronto Outreach workers chat with a client as the The Ve’ahavta outreach van hands out hot meals and essentials like clothes to homeless people at Dufferin Grove Park at in Toronto A line-up forms as the Ve’ahavta outreach van hands out hot meals and essentials like clothes to homeless people in Toronto a Toronto-based Jewish humanitarian organization uses two outreach vans that travel through downtown Toronto and Scarborough It’s already dark by the time Ve’ahavta’s outreach van reaches the edge of the park Two quick honks of the horn and the vehicle is parked and outreach workers begin unloading supplies and setting up a table “Street Outreach” is announced as the volunteers get to work and other essentials to the people living in tents nearby They’ve parked beside a small group of people huddled around a fire The light casts shadows of tents scattered throughout Dufferin-Grove Park “A line-up is a better sign than people not coming up to the van,” said Natalie Fingerhut “We worry when we don’t see them.” “There is always the chance some people did not make it through the week.” The team of four  —  two workers and two volunteers — splits up duties: three work outside welcoming people to the back of the van and serving hot meals carefully listening to each person in line gathering details about what they need and in what size Bins are neatly organized with winter coats The volunteer assembles personalized bags based on each person’s requests a young man who has been homeless since December 2023 He’s not shy about requesting what he needs: boxers the van means “fresh clothes to put on to go to work,” he said Jae commutes six days a week from his tent to his job at a warehouse and getting ready for work means waking up in the cold and changing into his work clothes while shivering “You’re waking up cold and going under your blankets just trying to warm up,” he added “Then you gotta change out of your clothes and be even colder before getting dressed for work.” a Toronto-based Jewish humanitarian organization meaning “you shall love” in Hebrew has been helping people living in poverty since 1997 The organization relies heavily on volunteers to staff its outreach efforts which include two vans — referred to as the “Mobile Jewish Response to Homelessness” — that travel through downtown Toronto and Scarborough Each van carries 150 hot meals and essential supplies each night volunteers and paid interns — part of a separate program that helps clients gain job skills and credentials in a commercial kitchen or warehouse setting — work together to make hundreds of baked goods They also prepare any other donations they receive like pre-packaged foods or homemade baked goods “In a two-hour shift we can bake 300 muffins or cookies,” said Sandi Smith who has been volunteering with Ve’ahavta for more than three years we’ve got it down to a fine art.” An additional 300 hot meals are cooked in the afternoon Volunteers along with paid interns in the warehouse program work to collect vacuum-seal and store clothes in the nine-bins-tall shelving that lines the warehouse walls the experience of seeing the faces of those receiving food and supplies is what makes the work meaningful “It’s that much more important that I show up every week to make sure the food is there for the people on the street,” she said Toronto police are seeking the public’s assistance in a series of unsolved arsons that took place over a span of three days in various parts of the city Dovercourt Road and Dupont Street and the Queens Quay West area Investigators say a tent was set ablaze twice in Dufferin Grove Park while a garage disposal unit was set on fire in the Spadina Avenue and Queens Quay area residential garbage cans were set on fire in the Dovercourt Road and Dupont Street area No injuries were reported in any of the incidents A homeless person feeds a fire outside his tent to try to warm up at Dufferin Grove Park on Thursday night when temperatures plunged to -10 C before windchill Toronto Fire statistics show “uncontrolled” fires at encampments — which doesn’t include campfires — increasing this year some people heat up rocks in this fire pit to bring back to their tents is seen at Sanctuary Toronto before he heads out to visit encampments to offer warm clothes and water A tent in Alexandria Park at Bathurst and Dundas appears to have a fire inside it A person tries to warm up near a fire pit at Dufferin Grove Park on Thursday 'trench foot-like injuries' and encampment fires are among risks as cold weather continues ‘trench foot-like injuries’ and encampment fires are among risks as cold weather continues It’s the morning after a freezing night in Toronto and veteran outreach worker Greg Cook is making his rounds of downtown doorways stairwells and hidden corners to see if anyone needs help Standing near an army green tent behind the Eaton Centre and asks for directions to a warming centre at Metro Hall “There’s a decent chance it’s full,” he says “But it’s worth giving it a try.” at a time when shelters are bursting at the seams and warming centres are operating beyond capacity With 412 encampments at the city’s last count on Jan temperature becomes a flashpoint issue: the cold is dangerous trench foot-like injuries and even life-threatening hypothermia But officials also point to encampment fires and explosions as dramatic examples of the danger brought on by commonly used heat sources like propane tanks his workplace — Sanctuary Toronto on Charles Street — held a drop-in meal and he spent the entire time giving people socks clothing layers and sleeping bags to steel against the night air “I ran out of long johns,” he said In the square behind the Eaton Centre on Friday morning but offers anything from his backpack — hand warmers yanks his shirt up to reveal a fresh-looking scar on his stomach and he urges the man to head to Sanctuary’s headquarters for a warm coat and a sleeping bag at least rummaging through his pockets for TTC fare There are fewer people outside on Friday morning than usual He believes the warming centres and extra surge spaces opened as part of this year’s winter shelter plan have made some difference Where Toronto historically opened warming centres only once temperatures plummeted to -15 C with some additional spaces opening in worse chills with overnight temperatures forecast to plunge to -12 C Toronto’s warming centres were at 103.3 per cent capacity When shelter provider Dixon Hall opened a surge site to warm up on Tuesday night housing services director Haydar Shouly said they filled nearly every bed in three hours “These weather conditions are super cold and extreme,” Shouly said in an interview “You get to maximum capacity very quickly.” Many people at their doorstep also arrive needing much more help than a warming centre can offer offering the example of people struggling with acute mental illness or with other serious health needs an ER doctor at downtown Michael’s Hospital has seen how quickly cold weather injuries set in He has already treated two patients this winter with serious cases of frostbite He has also seen four or five patients with what he called “trench foot-like injuries” to their hands and feet after staying cold and wet over an extended period without reprieve “Our blood vessels lose the ability to warm up You become more prone to injuries,” Gupta said pointing out that cracking skin also offered more entry points for infections Cold-weather injuries could cause lifelong disabilities and while there’s been some advancement in treatment with new medication that helped with frostbite the interventions work best if people seek care within 24 hours He expects to see people turn up in the ER with injuries from this week’s cold over the coming weekend and beyond The freezing weather could also worsen other issues as some homeless Torontonians increase their substance use to try to numb to the cold or suffer a worsening of existing mental health conditions due to stress he also sees patients turning up not for any medical issue adding to the squeeze on their busy emergency room “There’s nowhere else to go,” he said they are going unfortunately back out to the street after our evaluation,” he said “You see this person looking for support and for help and there’s nothing that we can really offer them.” The methods people on Toronto’s streets use to keep warm can also result in injuries “The frostbite goes up when you have stretches like this listing common ways people try to warm their tents from burning hand sanitizer to using propane tanks while other options like candles could tip over and ignite Toronto Fire statistics show encampment fires are happening more this winter than last Looking at “uncontrolled” fires at encampments — which doesn’t include campfires — the service counted 23 in October While a years-ago inquest probing a fatal encampment fire in Scarborough recommended providing safer heat sources Cook noted there’s been little official consensus on what those safer heat sources could be where Cook stops during his Friday morning outreach walk Ryan Hayashi has been trying to keep warm on body heat alone squeezed in a tent with his wife and their dog The couple has been homeless for several years now after a snowballing journey including a job loss on her end and his substance use challenges Hayashi has been ensnared by opiate dependence since being prescribed powerful painkillers when he tore a ligament in his leg roughly 20 years ago Hayashi has spent a winter on the streets before especially with the rainfall that preceded this frigid stretch “If you ever get wet when you don’t have housing it’s hard to get anything dry,” he says pulling off his gloves and showing several cuts he says just won’t heal And the warmth of their three bodies huddled together normally enough to withstand the night in a tent was no match for this biting cold — especially since their tent stopped closing properly we know a few places around here where we can go to the stairwell of a parking garage,” Hayashi said the pair left their tent for one such reprieve His wife also often fashioned a temporary structure for them from cardboard which Hayashi said they would pack up when they moved again “It’s not super warm — but it’s much warmer than outside.” and Richard Andrade work on getting thier tent up in Dufferin Grove Park on Friday night More than 200 people slept outside to protest changes to the way city management selects staff and provides services in the popular park and the information within may be out of date It was the most peaceful of demonstrations a family-friendly sleep-in in Dufferin Grove held in protest of potential cuts to staff and programming at the park that attracted more than 200 people 26 when residents from the community and beyond began pitching tents as dusk fell upon the beloved park which extends two city blocks adjacent Dufferin Street Avid park users camped out in protest of possible service cuts The sleep-in was spearheaded by Jonah Gindin and Jessica Lyons area residents and parents of a five-month-old daughter who spend most of their days in Dufferin Grove Park The couple is certainly not alone in their concerns Jennifer Goldberg said she jumped at the chance to participate after learning about the sleep-in on Facebook “When else would you get a chance to do this,” said the Christie Street and St Clair Avenue area resident as she and friends worked to set up their camp under a tree “Dufferin Grove Park is such a unique model for what the community can do for itself It should be used as a model for other parks.” Goldberg said she loves Dufferin Grove for its Friday night community suppers which take place outside by the larger bake oven (they are held inside the rink clubhouse in the winter) the farmers’ market and the mud pit for the kids There is a long list of activities for community members to partake in such as theatrical performances by Clay and Paper Theatre bake ovens that produce most of the food sold in the park There’s a playground that boasts a sand pit for the kids as well as a wading pool which brings the temperature down as much as five degrees during the sweltering summer months “One of the things I like about this demonstration is that it’s unique It speaks to the uniqueness of the park,” said Shannon Hoff who lives nearby and has friends who work at the park “Dufferin Grove found its own way to demonstrate.” Dufferin Grove Park has been her home since she was six months old “It’d be heartbreaking to lose this park it’d be like losing most of my summers,” she said Janie Romoff of the city’s parks department sent a letter assuring residents no decision has been made on the park’s future “I want to be absolutely clear that Parks Forestry and Recreation has made no decision to reduce its support to the activities in the park,” Romoff wrote in the letter the snack bar and cart - our staff continue to support these activities to the same level they have in the past.” is grateful for the community’s input “I want you to know that the city values the involvement and contributions of the local community in making Dufferin Grove a vibrant and busy park,” said Romoff “The combination of the involvement of local residents the Centre for Local Research into Public Space (CELOS) and the city’s investment supports a very high level of activity and community engagement in the park which also contributes to making Dufferin Grove such a special place.” Heidi Zelma was camping out for the night with her eight-year-old son They are at Dufferin Grove at least twice a week We feel this is a blueprint for how other parks should be run,” said Zelma “It’s such a human park.” The sleep-in included an outdoor kid-friendly movie is a reporter with toronto.com and Metroland Media Toronto Toronto's outdoor skating rinks are about to make their winter debut the City states it will be opening select skating rinks in Toronto City organizers say a majority of the outdoor ice rinks will stay open until mid-March although it will be in cold weather dependent.  Just remember to double-check your local rink's status before heading out—this is Toronto and Mother Nature loves to keep us guessing when it comes to weather For those like me without a pair of skates hiding in the closet, Nathan Philips Square is one rink that rents out skates during the entire winter season Here's a list of the outdoor skating rinks opening on Nov Here are other skating rinks that are set to open sometime after Nov A comprehensive list of skating rinks with addition info about each location is available on the City of Toronto website.  This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Police are looking for a 21-year-old man after a woman was allegedly assaulted in Dufferin Grove Investigators say a man and a 21-year-old woman were in the area of Dufferin Street and Bloor Street West just before 3 p.m on May 3 when the man allegedly assaulted her She suffered non-life threatening injuries and he fled the scene prior to police arriving Leonel Aguilar-Valazquez is wanted for assault and failing to comply with a release order 145 pounds with a shaved head and brown eyes Dufferin Grove Park has become a popular community hubspot, but it’s aging facilities won’t last forever. That’s why the beloved greenspace is getting a major makeover Renovations will transform the facilities in the park’s northwest corner That includes improving and upgrading the outdoor ice rink The City of Toronto is “working with the community to create a vision that retains the existing and provides new opportunities for community programs.” The project was first proposed by Toronto Parks, Forestry, and Recreation in late 2016 The city then began collecting feedback from the community in order to determine the park’s needs They found that the popular ice rink and clubhouse has been around for 25 and 26 years but have not received any upgrades in that time period Renderings courtesy of the City of Toronto is used to support a number of well-known community programs That’s why it will be getting a new commercial kitchen/baking area A large multi-purpose room that can host up to 15 vendors will also be added This includes a new refrigeration facility and skating rental booth Construction isn’t scheduled to take place until February of next year but all renovations should be completed by December 2021 One of the layout options for the new facilities The City of Toronto has a number of renovations in the works at various sites, including a makeover for Fairview Mall But what makes Dufferin Grove’s so special is that the project truly holds the community at its heart “The project will need to ensure that the community spirit of the park is not disturbed and that the park maintains its unique feel and sense of community,” said the Dufferin Grove Northwest Revitalization site “Improving accessibility of the clubhouse and northwest corner improving the use of existing clubhouse space improving to the kitchen’s functionality and the potential addition of additional storage or community space are all concepts that are proposed by the City and maintain the spirit of inclusiveness and community that are special to Dufferin Grove Park.” The City of Toronto plans to evolve its strategy on encampments and support for those experiencing homelessness saying its goal is a people-first approach rather than turn to enforcement The report proposes that Toronto move to clear homeless encampments only as a “last resort,” and with at least 72 hours of notice “The approach here is not to start with enforcement and not even to prioritize enforcement,” said Coun the chair of the city’s Economic and Community Development Committee Encampments cropped up in many of the city’s parks when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020 as people left shelters out of fear of contracting the virus Last year, Toronto’s ombudsman found the city caused unnecessary harm and showed a lack of respect for those living in parks when it cleared three homeless encampments in the summer of 2021 Bravo says the city has completed 28 of the ombudsman’s 31 recommendations and work is ongoing to address the remaining three The city’s updated encampment strategy includes expanding the outreach model used at Dufferin Grove and Allan Gardens to additional encampment sites That model includes having mental health and primary care support visits on a scheduled basis having case managers dedicated to coming up with housing plans and deploying a trailer on site which staff can work out of seven days a week.  97 people have moved from that park into housing with supports Another 320 people have been referred into shelter system,” said Gord Tanner the general manager of the city’s shelter services “We are now down to about nine encampments from a high of about 84 in July of last year.” The approach also explores new service models as part of the Homelessness Services Capital Infrastructure Strategy which works to lower barriers to indoor spaces such as respite sites and move toward smaller shelters to increase safety and stability increasing permanent housing opportunities and working to move people more easily from shelters into housing so more people from encampments can be offered indoor spaces “If there’s an immediate threat to a person or to people around them that would be a situation where I could see some kind of enforcement being necessary,” explained Bravo The pressure on the shelter system in Toronto has yet to ease amid housing affordability and mental health crises the city says it’s currently sheltering about 6,400 refugee claimants in and out of the shelter system with more continuing to arrive.  The city says it will continue to secure funding from other governments to settle refugee claimants expand shelter operations and increase affordable housing particularly funding from the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit which they say will allow them to move 300 households each month from the shelter system into permanent housing “There’s not a right to live in a park or in a public space and our expectation is folks are working with us or we’re bringing them the supports they need to connect with to make that move into housing,” said Tanner The report is scheduled to be presented to the Economic and Community Development Committee on May 29 before it heads to the full council for consideration at the end of June.  While we have a soft spot for its innovative design we're most drawn to the pops of orange in one of the upper units The brightness of the orange walls and tiles not only open up the narrow space but also offer a unique retro feel that nicely juxtaposes the home's sleek and modern design ft of living space (including the basement) it’s not for everyone – especially the claustrophobic set Some rooms are a mere couple of metres wide It should also be noted that there are currently much larger detached single-family homes in the neighbourhood with income-generating rental potential listed at a comparable price (But they're much more ordinary looking) As many Toronto neighbourhoods continue to see a boom in developments for those who want to step back in time and enjoy heritage buildings east of Dundas Street West and south of Bloor Street West lies a collection of historical structures worth exploring At the centre of this Dufferin Grove street is Ethica Coffee Roasters dedicated to selling single-origin coffee by the glass or by the bag from countries such as Brazil is in an old industrial warehouse property that was constructed in the late-1800s near multiple rail lines said the owners leaned into the building’s heritage in order to help build the brand “I think in our community people who come to Ethica they definitely think about the exposed brick walls and windows that are filled with the sun,” she said Exposed brick walls and steel beams along with wooden ceilings have been preserved inside the coffee shop along with several other businesses in the divided-up property which for decades have dominated the street there have been growing pockets of residential developments Dobrokhodova said the Dufferin Grove community has been supportive “The community has been truly fantastic and received us so well since day one,” she said adding so to have the institutional neighbours Dobrokhodova said the Museum of Contemporary Art across the street offered up free tickets to Ethica’s customers Sterling Road is also home to a Nestle chocolate plant mixed in with a variety of smaller businesses specializing in the arts A little east toward Dufferin Street and Bloor Street West the front facade of the former Kent Senior Public School is being incorporated into a future mixed-use development even though most of the school was knocked down among the historical treasures to be found in Dufferin Grove there’s the Bloor/Gladstone Library on Bloor Street West near Dufferin Street which was the first one in Toronto to be municipally funded in full The original entryway and much of the structure still stands “This building is a very well-loved building,” said Raymond Lam a senior branch lead with Toronto Public Library during a tour “We’ve managed to bring back a lot of features that were in the original building … We also have maintained our beautiful windows and our arches which certainly give customers a very good view of Bloor Street as well as Gladstone to see how life in this neighbourhood is just thriving.” the library branch reopened after undergoing an extensive renovation and expansion to ensure the facility can keep up with contemporary needs Lam said there’s a workstation with the Adobe Creative Suite available for two-hour bookings in order for people to work on Photoshop skills or video editing along with a console gaming program He added slightly older forms of media are popular such as an expansive DVD movie collection in English Lam said there’s still a large demand for printed items noting there’s a huge graphic novel collection along with a wide array of new and older items “A lot of customers have mentioned to us that they are tired of staring at a screen all day and they just want to hold a physical book and just relax in bed,” he said has also become a destination for newcomers and those who live in precarious housing the staff have worked to provide social service referrals the facility with all it’s heritage features has become a destination for special events and small business meetings Lam said he and the staff hope the neighbourhood will keep using the facility “The hope for this branch is that this will still be here 110 years later that we will continue to be able to serve our community,” he said Afro-Indigenous Rising Collective protesters occupying part of Dufferin Grove Park were served with a trespass notice Monday and police showed up at the encampment on Thursday A standoff between the city of Toronto and a police abolitionist protest group which originated several weeks ago in Nathan Phillips Square escalated on Thursday when city security personnel and police officers arrived at a new camp at Dufferin Grove Park called the Afro-Indigenous Rising Collective began its protest outside of City Hall on June 19 erecting tents and beginning a weeks-long encampment But another notice was delivered on Monday which expressed gratitude for the protest remaining peaceful Protesters were given a new deadline to pack up their tents from the west-end park — by Thursday at 9 a.m approximately 30 city security personnel showed up A handful of Toronto police officers also arrived Israel Bernardo saying they’d been called in to support security when protesters declined to leave chief spokesperson for the city of Toronto said in a statement that the move on Thursday was due to “immediate public safety concerns,” citing unauthorized electrical hookups and a fire pit close to a field house (The fire was moved by protesters mid-day Thursday.) say they’re hoping to have a broader discussion with city officials about their cause One noted that they’d stay put “as long as we can.” “We’re looking to abolish the police and that’s not something we expect to happen by Friday We realize that’s going to take a long time but a lot of the conversations leading up to that are going to have to be about defunding who identified themselves as Sar and declined to give their last name while noting that the protest had also raised other questions for city officials no tents had been forcefully cleared from the park though city security personnel and a handful of police officers remained nearby the protest site We advance systemic solutions to poverty through a human rights-based approach and fulfill the economic and social rights of every person in Canada We strengthen communities by providing grants We inform decision-making and engage in public discussions on economic and social rights I’m writing in concern about City initiatives to impose fees and other constraints on community facilities in our public parks Twenty-two years ago, Maytree provided funding to friends of Dufferin Grove Park for a second outdoor bake oven as a way to help with wood conservation and alternate between large and smaller food-related gatherings The two outdoor bake ovens were initiatives by neighbours of the park aimed at making the park a focal point for the community It was these resident-led initiatives that made the difference The Dufferin Grove example was replicated in many places across the city While the City has had legitimate concerns about risk and safety its efforts to regulate and restrict such initiatives have not been constructive Stifling neighbourhood engagement and initiative has been unwise a community/staff culture has often been productive at both management of facilities and problem solving But often top-down structures have been a backwards step in terms of community use and enjoyment of their neighbourhood parks The current efforts to regulate and apply fees for use of ovens and other amenities is such a case and should be rescinded The challenge to the City is to manage the real issues of risk and safety without stifling neighbour engagement and initiative and to instruct their legal department to find the way forward to keep neighbours engaged and active in the parks and the people who use the parks have a lot of knowledge and energy to make them better Neighbours can make parks work in a way that the City can’t Finding the way to make their ideas work is imperative Letter by Maytree chair Alan Broadbent about the City of Toronto's initiatives to impose fees and other constraints on community facilities in our public parks Sign up for our newsletters to receive regular updates on our work Please note: You will receive an email to confirm your subscription 416-944-2627 | info@maytree.com Maytree is committed to advancing systemic solutions to poverty and strengthening civic communities We believe the most enduring way to keep people out of poverty is to reimagine and rebuild our public systems to respect Architect Jennifer Turner's renovation of her century-old house in Dufferin Grove shows what beauty can result from taking your time and not being rigid This article was published more than 7 years ago These flamed black granite slabs ascend to Jennifer Turner's front door flat and matte with perfectly squared corners but they take a bit of a left turn on the way. Why "This guy" – an ancient maple – "had spread out everywhere so we had to shift the stones over a bit and add one more There was an idea of how many steps there would be but that's not quite how it ended up." Turner's renovation of this century-old house in Dufferin Grove: that beauty can come by taking some time and leaving things a bit loose when popular ideas of "modern design" seem to demand a home that's utterly spare and often soulless who has run her own practice in Toronto since 1999 sees that lesson reinforced daily in her garden Through nearly two decades in the house with her husband and son she has gradually remade its lawns with an assortment of Japanese iris everything is always a bit loose," she argued And I think architecture needs that." Turner's work on the house takes a loose approach although it is not what most people would call messy she is planning to head back to her garden to hunt slugs with tweezers.) Instead it retains some original detail – a carved banister coved ceilings – while removing a few walls and adding new touches the design reflects contemporary architects' taste for the spare and the monochrome Which makes sense: This is a double-architect house they've modified the cut-up layout of the house It sits on a corner lot and has a centre-hall plan; as you enter once a set of three rooms that are now opened up and painted white – "This is a comfortable place for us," Ms "It brings in the light to an amazing degree." Mr Davidson helped build the black steel fireplace surround the kitchen and dining room are radically colourful The dining room walls are a yellowish-green while reddish-brown jatoba flooring adds warmth; in the kitchen providing a counterpoint to a pale photograph from Edward Burtynsky's Quarries series meanwhile is a deep-red that recalls Frank Lloyd Wright's favorite colour the ceiling; while most interiors go with the default white The kitchen's cool slate floors and countertop are transformed by that one coloured surface fibreglass Eames chairs in the adjacent dining area It's a collection of orthodox modernist good taste But the idea that the modern house was a white box involves a misunderstanding of history. Even some of the architects who defined the so-called international style, such as Walter Gropius designed and lived in homes full of colour While moving away from the kitsch of 19th-century bourgeois European dwellings they did not put colour and texture off limits "I think those ideas have mutated over time," Ms Turner said on the current fashion for minimalism She is not opposed to that – she describes a recent house project as "a study in greys," but "this," she says The kitchen is where the architect has made the biggest impact on the house "The main thing for us was to have this connection to the outside," Ms "and have this room we can extend our life into." This is where architecture meets the garden Wood-framed sliding doors line two sides of the room Turner calls a pavilion; and they open into a private zone of the garden where the family hangs out Turner's passion for the place is strongest in the garden made of poured-in-place concrete and weathering steel to provide a constant burble of water; rainwater "It creates these beautiful ice sculptures in the winter," she said a group of bamboo pushes unruly toward the sky But in between is a forceful architectural gesture Turner has enclosed this side garden area with a finely detailed L-shaped brick wall; it defines a comfortable outdoor room And that brick is familiar if you look at it: It's a purplish hue and glimmers a bit in the light which is popular in contemporary modernist buildings Davidson helped bring it to Toronto when Diamond Schmitt chose the brick for the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts "These wouldn't meet the standard," she said "There's too much variation – here a little more red \nThe Toronto home of architects Jennifer Turner and Martin Davidson.\n \nWhile the home’s design reflects the couple’s taste for the spare there are pops of colour throughout the house.\n \nThe slate countertops in the kitchen offset the bold deep-red ceiling.\n making the enclosed area a comfortable outdoor room.\n Alex Bozikovic has been the Architecture Critic for The Globe and Mail since 2013 landscape architecture and related subjects ranging from the details of the physical city to housing policy He also writes occasionally on Toronto and Ontario politics His book 305 Lost Buildings of Canada (written with Raymond Biesinger 2022) was a national bestseller that unpacks the social and architectural history of cities across the country House Divided (2019) catalyzed a conversation in Toronto and across Canada about the state of city planning His first book, Toronto Architecture: A City Guide (2017) was a new edition of the definitive guide to buildings in Toronto Alex brings a deep understanding of Toronto's past and of architectural history Designs for the Jenna Morrison Memorial Reflexology Footpath in Dufferin Grove Park were unveiled last month at a public meeting Landscape architect Howard Nauboris of Cosburn Nauboris Ltd designed the footpath alongside Morrison’s partner Florian Shuck It is with a mixture of excitement and disbelief that Florian Shuck will officially unveil Canada’s first-ever public reflexology footpath in Dufferin Grove Park on Saturday afternoon He’ll be joined by family and friends of his and late-partner Jenna Morrison for whom the footpath was created and named it’s a reality,” Shuck told The Villager a few days before the event on July 26 Shuck is at the park regularly to oversee the path’s installation and this week and expressed his awe for the landscape architect and construction team’s skill set and compassion for the project It was key to create a public memorial for Morrison in the park the couple and their young son frequented “Jenna was always compassionate and seeking to contribute to the greater community she was part of.” was riding her bike on her way to pick up her five-year-old son from school when she was struck and killed by a truck at the corner of Dundas Street West and Sterling Road in November 2011 The reflexology path captures Morrison’s spirit who lived in the Dundas Street West and Sorauren Avenue area discovered the widespread popularity of reflexology footpaths throughout Asia Morrison dreamed of creating such a footpath in one of Toronto’s public parks Asked if the footpath has turned out they way he had hoped “It has exceeded my expectations as Jenna always did as well The footpath is situated at the south end of the park near Gladstone Avenue and Sylvan Street With the support of Davenport residents and the City of Toronto the footpath was built to honour Morrison while also providing a permanent park amenity for all Torontonians to enjoy “This is a great addition to the neighbourhood,” Bailao said “It’s great to be able to join the family in this special moment.” Some of the features of the path include thousands of stones of various sizes and shapes to stimulate and massage the feet as well as a seating area boasting a grove of gingko biloba trees providing a contemplative experience The unveiling of the Jenna Morrison Reflexology Footpath takes place Saturday Big change is afoot at Dufferin Grove Park the beloved green space across from Dufferin Mall Major renovations to the northwest corner of the park—which has long been home to the Dufferin Grover Farmers' Market among other events—will soon see the park under construction for more than a year and plaza will see intense upgrading that will start around February of next year and last until December 2021 Dufferin Grove's clubhouse and ice rink will see major renovations "The City is working with community members and Dufferin Grove Park users to improve the experience of the park," says the Dufferin Grove Northwest Revitalization site "This project provides an opportunity to replace aging infrastructure while providing facilities that meet the needs of the various uses of the local park."  The project, which was first proposed by Toronto Parks, Forestry, and Recreation in late 2016, will be designed by the Toronto-based architecture firm DTAH Though there's still feedback to be gathered from community members some key features have been targeted for the project A new kitchen is being proposed for the renovated clubhouse The park's 26-year-old clubhouse will get a facelift with five unisex washrooms and a new kitchen where the Zamboni garage used to be which could be helpful for events like the Market The highlight will be a brand new 1,430-square-foot multipurpose room which will be able to hold up to 15 Farmers' Market vendors during the colder months The surrounding plaza will get better walking paths connecting the clubhouse to the rest of the park the ice rink will also be getting a new surface and equipment while the basketball courts are also expected to be rebuilt A new multi-purpose room will be able to hold more Dufferin Grove Farmers' Market vendors in the winter The skate park which sits over the ice rink in summer will also see some changes though storage for skateboard ramps in the winter (while maintaing the ode to deceased skater Justin Bokma) is hopefully in the works The City is still gathering feedback from the neighbourhood, including word from a group of park users and Dufferin Grove residents called the Community Resource Group though the City estimates it could go up to anywhere between $4-$4.5 million City of Toronto A collection of architectural ruins, known as the Dufferin Grove Stones at the western edge of Dufferin Grove Park Normally Dufferin Grove Park is a hotspot with a thriving farmer's market (now online) Many people may miss the stones on the edge of the park — in the summer months the stones are part of a garden surrounded by greenery Architectural ruins are displayed on the western edge of Dufferin Grove Park The "stone ruins are displayed in the garden folly style which is a traditional way of displaying such items in a deliberately ruined and picturesque way," a City of Toronto spokesperson told blogTO which obviously aren't at their best in December." There are no markers or signs indicating the history of the stones. But the stones took a circuitous route to the park, as amateur historian Andrew Lochhead recently wrote in spacing The stones were originally part of Customs House, built in 1876 at Front and Yonge Streets, historian Doug Taylor wrote on his blog Photos of the historic building, designed by architect Kivas Tully Customs House was on Front Street at Yonge Street Custom House was demolished to make way for a larger building in 1919. Some of the Custom House building materials were reused in Toronto’s Bay Colonial Theatre at Queen and Bay Streets, Taylor wrote. After that the building was torn down in 1965 to make way for a larger Simpson's Department Store some of the stones came to High Park and were referred to as the Witches Stones in an area of the park popular for bush parties The stones were once in High Park and moved to Dufferin Grove in 1998 In 1998, the stones were moved again, after artist and landscaper Gene Threndyle applied to the Toronto Arts Council for a grant to build a fountain and marsh garden down in the Garrison Creek hollow by Dufferin Street, according to the Dufferin Grove Park website "The Parks supervisor of the time, Mike Hindle, helped out by lending a backhoe and driver, and by bringing over all those big old architectural stones that surround the fountain (which had been languishing in the High Park service yard until Gene asked about them)," the site reads The stones are a reminder of Toronto's history Although they look a little worn these days the stones remain beautiful and are a reminder of Toronto's architectural history Ben Hermann and Jessica Moore will embark on the second ‘Tune Your Ride’ bicycle concert tour with a kick-off concert in Dufferin Grove Park Aug Modern day troubadours will cycle their way across Eastern Ontario to perform pedal-powered indie folk concerts in such cities and towns as Kingston and Port Hope The second ‘Tune Your Ride Tour’ kicks off in Dufferin Grove Park Friday unique way to present music,” said tour director James Davis This year’s tour will take four Toronto-based folk musicians – Abigail Lapell Ben Hermann and “Great” James – from Brockville to Toronto an almost 400-kilometre trek carrying instruments and a full PA system on their bicycles “We carried about 200 pounds of gear and three instruments last year and played 10 shows,” Davis said just one day when Google Maps led them astray and they got lost riding 95 kilometres instead of the average 60 kilometres daily “The bike powered sound system worked well,” Davis said We’re doing most of the same route from last year We’re taking the train to Brockville and riding back along Lake Ontario It’s a beautiful way to explore the province.” It has been his primary mode of transportation since elementary school He rode downtown Toronto for the first time in 2002 A conversation with singer-songwriter Jeremy Fisher gave him the nudge he needed who had spent six months touring from Seattle The musicians won’t be the only ones pedaling – during performances all electricity will be generated by audience members using bicycle generators that will power a bespoke P.A The tour culminates with a stop in Port Hope 31 at Memorial Park Bandshell before the group returns to Toronto Sept For further details, visit www.tuneyourride.com is a reporter with toronto.com and Metroland Media Toronto. The boycott of Loblaw and its associated brands is gaining traction as evidence by some smaller grocery businesses and independent stores in and around the GTA reporting a spike in business. The movement, initiated by a group that came together on Reddit called ‘Loblaws is Out of Control,’ encourages Canadians to avoid shopping at the grocery chain or any of its affiliates for the month of May. Participants say the action is in protest of soaring grocery prices and record-high profits posted by the company during a cost-of-living crisis in the country. The founder and CEO of Odd Bunch, a GTA-based grocery business, says they’ve seen a noticeable increase in customers. They collect odd or uneven-looking produce from distributors that doesn’t meet the aesthetic or size standards for traditional grocery stores and deliver weekly boxes to customers at highly discounted rates. “There has been a spike in demand — we have definitely seen that across all the markets that we’re in,” says Divyansh Ojha. “Since the start of the year, we’ve tripled our total number of boxes. Now they’ve exceeded 10,000 on a weekly basis.” Karma Co-op in Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood, a non-profit grocery store collectively owned by its members, has seen a similar uptick in interest. “Sales are up 17 per cent May over May. We’re seeing that just halfway through the month. It’s our biggest month in terms of recruitment of new and trial members,” says general manager Zack Weingarten. The manager at the year-round Dufferin Grove Market says since the boycott is taking place just as the weather is getting better, it’s bringing more people out to the market as well. “I have seen a bit of an uptick in customer volume … there’s certainly a lot of dialogue, a lot of conversation about it,” says Nicole Jacobs. Local farmers who vend at the market say they’re also noticing the difference. “I think people are looking for other avenues [to shop],” says Amanda Saunders from Johnson Family Bakery in Toronto. “Our last three weeks we’ve sold out and that’s usually something that doesn’t happen until the summer months, July and August.” “There’s definitely people wanting to support local agriculture more and more,” says Dave Rogers from Rogers Ranch in Paris, Ont. Others say supporting local growers and businesses helps the community and the local economy. “You eat healthy and fresh … and the money stays here,” says Ignacio Ruiz from Reyes Farms. “I can hire people to help me and that way we support each other.” “If you don’t bring your dollar to a large retailer, they will never notice. If you do bring it to a small business, they will notice and every customer helps,” says Nathan Klassen from Nith Valley Organics. Like Klassen, most of those CityNews spoke with agree that the boycott is unlikely to have any significant impact on Loblaw’s bottom line, but they say that’s not the end game. “I think the most powerful thing that comes out of this is I think it’s united a lot of people. I think it has brought a lot of people from the community together … and it’s not so much what the end impact is from a financial standpoint on certain companies that operate in our market. I think it’s the fact that there’s a big chunk of the population that was not aware that options existed,” says Ojha. “And because there’s such a conversation around this now [people are learning that] if you do a little bit of due diligence and you do a little bit of research, you will find perhaps a better fit for you than maybe what you’re doing right now.” Weingarten adds that awareness and conversation that has been sparked is valuable in and of itself. “People are educating themselves … so it’s led to a really great dialogue … and I think even after the month is over, there’s going to be parts of this dialogue that keep going on,” he says. Jacobs says that as more people talk about the boycott and soaring grocery prices, the stigma that people struggling with food affordability face is being broken down. “There was a lot of shame to know that you can’t afford basic needs with respect to your own nutrition [or] you can’t feed your own family. Now, it’s more of an open conversation. People are more like, ‘yeah, I get it. You can’t afford it, neither can I,'” she says. “So more and more people are having conversations with their neighbours. They’re trying to support more green spaces like [Dufferin Grove Market] with respect to shopping this way, that involves community, that involves inclusion, that believes all of us should get healthy food regardless of our income.” Ojha says that kind of discourse should have the grocery giants worried. “I think that will put a lot of other companies on notice that may be currently taking that power or influence to their advantage and having that feeling that nothing can really come in and put them off their seat,” he says. “It started with the grocery industry, but we don’t know what could be next.” Warmer temperatures but showers are expected on-and-off for the next few days. Meteorologist Natasha Ramsahai has your seven-day forecast. Ontario Premier Doug Ford calls on Prime Minister Mark Carney to prioritize a list of projects including the proposed Highway 401 tunnel. The family of Soleiman Faqiri, a mentally ill man who was killed in an Ontario prison, is calling out the provincial government over the lack of correctional reform Monday is calling for rain and thunderstorms. Stella Acquisto has the long-range forecast. Now New and Improved! Watch CityNews, listen to NewsRadio Toronto live anytime and get up-to-the-minute breaking-news alerts, traffic, weather and video from CityNews Toronto anywhere you are – across all Android and iOS devices. Carrie Samuels has been living at a Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) home in Dufferin Grove for two decades. She faces the possibility of moving after TCHC filed an application in February to amend city bylaws in order to sell five stand-alone homes it owns on Havelock Street and Sylvan Avenue. - Justin Greaves/Metroland Emma Makinson speaks with her daughter, Anik, on Thursday, June 1, from her Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) home in Dufferin Grove. She faces the possibility of moving after TCHC filed an application in February to amend city bylaws in order to sell five stand-alone homes it owns on Havelock Street and Sylvan Avenue. - Dan Pearce/Metroland Emma Makinson and her daughter, Anik, play checkers on Thursday, June 1, from her Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) home in Dufferin Grove. She faces the possibility of moving after TCHC filed an application in February to amend city bylaws in order to sell five stand-alone homes it owns on Havelock Street and Sylvan Avenue. - Dan Pearce/Metroland Carrie Samuels, 58, has lived in Toronto’s Dufferin Grove neighbourhood for more than two decades — but that may soon change. This article is over a year old, and the information within may be out of date. Carrie Samuels has been living at a Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) home in Dufferin Grove for two decades. She faces the possibility of moving after TCHC filed an application in February to amend city bylaws in order to sell five stand-alone homes it owns on Havelock Street and Sylvan Avenue. - Justin Greaves/Metroland Emma Makinson speaks with her daughter, Anik, on Thursday, June 1, from her Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) home in Dufferin Grove. She faces the possibility of moving after TCHC filed an application in February to amend city bylaws in order to sell five stand-alone homes it owns on Havelock Street and Sylvan Avenue. - Dan Pearce/Metroland Emma Makinson and her daughter, Anik, play checkers on Thursday, June 1, from her Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) home in Dufferin Grove. She faces the possibility of moving after TCHC filed an application in February to amend city bylaws in order to sell five stand-alone homes it owns on Havelock Street and Sylvan Avenue. - Dan Pearce/Metroland “In 22 years, you get to know everybody,” she told The Bloor West Villager. “Everybody goes by and says hi, and you go into the park and people know you.” Samuels and her 22-year-old daughter live in a Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) home on Sylvan Avenue. In February, TCHC filed an application to amend city bylaws in order to sell five stand-alone homes it owns on Havelock Street and Sylvan Avenue. The houses, which contain eight units rented out at market rent, were identified to be sold along with 50 other stand-alone homes in the Putting People First, Transforming Toronto Community Housing report that was adopted by city council in 2012. Samuels, who was injured in a car accident in 2009, said the possible sell off will hurt her even more. “I’m sick, and this has been my daughter’s only house,” she said. “I’ve been deteriorating and it’s not easy.” The proceeds of the sales will generate funding for TCHC’s $2.6 billion repair backlog, city staff said in its preliminary report presented to Toronto and East York Community Council April 4. A TCHC spokesperson said the organization still needs $1.73 billion in funding, and has generated $71 million for repairs from stand-alone home sales so far. “Getting rid of us, five houses, is going to do what?” Samuels said. “It’s not going to help.” Tracy Heffernan, a lawyer with Parkdale Community Legal Services, is representing a group of tenants in Dufferin Grove. She said the tenants will struggle in Toronto’s hot housing market if the sell off goes through. “The city is allowing affordable housing, which is publicly owned, to be sold off,” she said. “What I hope for these tenants is that the city would recognize the short-sightedness of selling off these homes and displacing these tenants into a market where it’s quite possible they aren’t going to find a place to live.” Local Councillor Ana Bailão, who chairs the city’s Affordable Housing Committee, said she wants to make sure tenants are given proper assistance to find a new home if the application is approved. “We’ve all identified that we need to move forward and the real thing is dealing with the sustainability and financing TCHC properly,” she said. “There are extremely valid points raised here and we need to make sure the city is there to support with the process.” Emma Makinson, 34, who lives in one of the homes slated for sell off with her young family, said she hopes TCHC will change its mind. “By getting rid of more affordable homes and selling them on the private market, it reduces the diversification of the neighbourhood,” she said. “It changes the fabric of the neighbourhood.” A community consultation to discuss the sale will be held June 12 at 6:30 p.m. at St. Mary Catholic Academy. about 10 people — and a large black dog — look to be hanging out smoking and listening to music around an encampment of four tents under a massive tree in Dufferin Grove Park Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience Don't have an account? Create Account One man saws logs beside a grocery buggy and people sitting in lawn chairs There are several bikes –some of them looking new — stacked up against the tents We apologize, but this video has failed to load.Try refreshing your browser, ortap here to see other videos from our team.Play VideoArticle contentOver near the northwest end of the park sits a long tent structure — appearing to have more than one room — blanketed in a blue tarp A brand new Coleman tent is pitched right near the tent structure Some of those evicted from the Dufferin-Bloor Sts area park at the end of July are back in an encampment of about 10 tents People in about two dozen tents had squatted there for part of the summer in a large circle after being removed from Nathan Phillips Square in June where they’d been part of an anti-police protest recalled they had U-Haul trucks parked along Dufferin Park Ave chairs and a barbecue — and would have yoga classes and musicians performing at night He said they even had plants hanging from their tents Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc The next issue of Your Midday Sun will soon be in your inbox Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. They’d do their laundry in the park washrooms and string their clothes along the north fence to dry it. They built bonfires every night, he added. Sources told me they also had Uber Eats drop off their dinner. After they packed up and moved out, “slowly but surely” within a week they came back, he said. But this time, they’ve spread out around the park in trees and bushes. Two port-a-potties from the last encampment remain in the park. Stenabaugh said a huge tent appears to be tarped up for the winter months. “Some people are here for the long haul,” he said, adding that he’s not sure whether these people are “legitimately homeless due to COVID.” He said he knows of passers-by who’ve been asked to buy groceries — juice or bread –for them at the mall across the street. “I know we’re nowhere near as bad as Trinity-Bellwoods park which has become a subdivision of encampments,” Stenabaugh said Tuesday. “This is like the suburbs of encampments.” He said he thinks some of them are prepared to tough it out for what could be a bad winter — and he really doesn’t want to hear of people freezing to death. He contended there are many empty city buildings that could be used and that the tent dwellers need to be housed downtown — as long as they have access to transit. “I know we don’t have many tourists coming to the city right now, but anybody who does and sees this in our parks, I wonder what image they’re leaving with of Toronto,” he said. City spokesperson Deborah Blackstone said at the end of July, trespass notices were delivered to  protesters camping in about 25 tents in Dufferin Grove park — to address various “health and safety concerns” and to comply with city bylaws. She said the city never told the protesters to leave the park, only to stop “unsafe behaviours” — starting fires, running electrical cords through he park and blocking access to public washrroms. By Aug. 2, the protesters removed all tents and tarps installed unlawfully, she said. Asked what they’re doing with the current “settlement” (as Stenabaugh called it), Blackstone said the city’s Streets to Homes outreach workers continue to engage with “any persons sleeping outdoors” who may require shelter and supports. “Outreach workers are familiar with encampments and the individuals in them,” she said. “(They offer) immediate access to shelter or other transitional opportunities, help with accessing income, I.D. documents and health care, including mental health and addictions supports, (as well as) developing a case plan to move (the tent dwellers) into indoor housing.” transmission or republication strictly prohibited This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy You can manage saved articles in your account Toronto has a decent share of neighbourhood green space but those who have ever paid a visit to Dufferin Grove Park know there's something particularly special about this patch of land Just a two-minute bus ride on the 29 southbound from Dufferin Station, this 13-acre park stretches directly across another local institution: Dufferin Mall Working in tandem like two sides of the same coin, these two destinations are, in a way, necessary bastions in a neighbourhood recently called one of the coolest neighbourhoods in the world. But, while the mall has grown to become an inside joke of sorts for people citywide its naturesque counterpart is really what brings the cultural livelihood of this community to life There are a number of amenities available here the sloping hills of Dufferin Grove Park are home to some of your favourite Carolinian forest trees It's also where you'll find a system of neighbourhood groups sharing the space year-round The Dufferin Grove Skatepark takes over the ice skate rink in the summer and even wood oven enthusiasts: there's a sense of organization here that's unmatched elsewhere in the city Literature like 'The Dufferin Grove Park as a neighbourhood commons' a hand distributed pamphlet which documents all the changes in the park between 1993 and 2015 Dan's Table is a picnic bench area where families and visitors can gather by the gardens Created by the Centre for Local Research into Public Space (CELOS) a park watchdog and non-profit organization born out of Dufferin Grove Park in 2000 it's one of several texts made specifically with the intention of preserving the park's culture The first bake oven was introduced to the park in 1995 The park is busy with arts events and gatherings year-round The result is the kind of park where everything grows Successful fundraising for the Dufferin Grove Skatepark in 2018 made it one of the few flourishing skate parks in a city that's sorely lacking them The Adventure Playground is probably one of the most popular kids' spots in the city with an enclosed area The Dufferin Grove Farmers' Market has been around since 2002 The earthen-walled Cob Courtyard Plans for a bio-toilet have been on hold for years And the allotment gardens continue to bear the fruit of gardeners' labour The weekly market has the highest number of organic certified vendors out of all Toronto markets Perhaps the most popular event at the park, The Dufferin Grove Farmers' Market has been a consistent Thursday staple since it first launched in 2002 A post shared by blogTO (@blogto) According to market co-manager Anne Freeman it has the highest concentration of organic certified vendors making it an incubator of sorts for healthy new businesses to take flight Businesses like de Floured got their first start from the market It's where household names like chocolate company ChocoSol and vegan bakery de Floured found their start selling their products alongside packaged seedling salads and farm-fed organic beef I visit one Thursday and catch a memorial for Debbie Wiecha would be greatly missed for her peaches and berries Dufferin Grove farmers' market has moved online for the first time in its nearly 20-year history The beloved market, home to the highest concentration of organic vendors since it first opened in Toroto in 2002 is doing its part to flatten the curve by launching a pick-up and delivery service The year-round market would typically be ramping up for the spring and summer season, but instead, has just launched a brand new web  store that allows shoppers to order from their favourite market regulars like Marvellous Edibles Farm they've already added a handful of vendors to their roster There are currently 18 vendors and farms now but according to the market's co-manager Anne Freeman that number will likely go up to around 26 businesses in the near future Dufferin Grove Farmers' Market has just launched its first online delivery and pick-up service all deliveries and pick-ups happen weekly on Thursdays just head to the website between Saturday at noon and Tuesday at noon to place your online order and allows you to fill your virtual shopping cart with stuff like wildflower honey you'll be assigned a Thursday time slot between 1 p.m Anne's Anglican Church at 270 Gladstone Ave. though Freeman says they may be introducing a sliding scale payment soon The delivery area stretches between Keele to Avenue Summer farmers' markets don't usually start until the end of May or June so there's still a slight chance that we'll actually be able to enjoy them in person sometime this year But Freeman says they might even continue the take-out and delivery system going after quarantine GTA-Homes » Master-Planned Communities » Dufferin Grove Village Dufferin Grove Village master-planned community will sit at 900 Dufferin Street Primaris Management is partnering with Quadrangle Architects and Urban Strategies to create a thoughtful master-planned community that will extend the existing mall and introduce new uses to the site Investors can expect that the northernmost portion of the current site including the parking lot and stand-alone retail stores will be built into four mixed-use residential towers that will include a new retail portion and a public park The church that currently sits on the north-side of the site Our Lady Queen of Croatia Church will not be part of this redevelopment Dufferin Mall has been a part of the city since the 1800’s It started as a driving park and was later developed into a racetrack before it was redeveloped into a plaza which eventually turned into the enclosed Dufferin Mall by the 1970’s Primaris Management understands its history and the importance of the mall to Torontonians that is why they plan on protecting the mall and its heritage This new proposal will only enhance the foot traffic coming into the mall while adding more retail and residential space This master-planned community will include a new pedestrian-friendly street that will run north and south of the development site This new road will safely separate the four residential towers the existing portion of Dufferin Mall and the above-grade parking portion of the site Building 1 will be located on the west block and will rise 39-storeys high Building 2 will be connected to Building 1 through a 6-storey podium and will be 35 storeys high On the east-side of the site will be Building 3 reaching 23-storeys high This building will be connected to Building 4 through an 8-storey podium The fourth and final building will be a 14-storey mid-rise and will sit on the north-east corner of the site all four buildings will hold 1,135 residential suites with 722 combined suites in Buildings 1 and 2 and 413 suites in Building 3 and 4 the site will hold 736 underground parking spaces for residents visitors and retail as well as 1,198 bicycle parking spaces Residents without a car will have no trouble getting around the city by public transportation as TTC’s Dufferin Station is only a 5 minute walk away from the site There will be a lot of amenity space available in each building Residents can expect Building 1 and 2 to share over 14,000 square-feet of outdoor amenity space This outdoor space will be on the rooftop of the third floor podium The indoor amenities will have over 15,000 square-feet of space and will be located just adjacent to the outdoor amenities Building 3 and 4 will have over 3,000 square-feet of outdoor amenity space located on the rooftop of the fifth floor podium There will also be over 8,000 square-feet of indoor amenity space located on the same floor More outdoor amenities will be located on the top of the podium on the eighth floor This outdoor space will be a pet-friendly environment These towers will have an ambitious design that will include asymmetrical patterns on the base of each building to add dimension to them The towers will have large floor to ceiling windows neutral-coloured brick and curvy balconies that will form a wave-like appearance Quadrangle Architects is known for designing innovative and unique residential developments and this master-planned community will be no expeception These residential towers will stand-out from other buildings in the area and will offer an aesthetically-pleasing exterior A new 0.15 hectare public park is proposed at the south-east corner of the development This new urban landscape will be directly across from the already existing Dufferin Grove Park which will only add to the green-space in the area The aim of the park is to create a sense of community within the complex It will be a universal space that will be tailored to any person at any age This park will have healthy vegetation and greenery Dufferin Commons will be built with the aim to unite the public and residents alike Before Spending Time on Your Property Search Our Investment Presentation Seminar Is a Must See List of All Master-Planned Communities \"our\") of the service provided by this web site (\"Service\") are not responsible for any user-generated content and accounts Content submitted express the views of their author only This Service is only available to users who are at least {age} years old you represent that you are this age or older or otherwise make available to the Service (\"Content\") may be reviewed by staff members All Content you submit or upload may be sent to third-party verification services (including Do not submit any Content that you consider to be private or confidential You agree to not use 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At the Dufferin Mall, Primaris Management Inc., a subsidiary of H&R REIT is looking to capitalize on the Mall's location within 200 metres of Dufferin Subway Station by redeveloping the north end of the mall property currently home to a couple single-storey big box shops and drive-through fast food outlets Looking north-west to the east block at Dufferin Grove Village The Primaris development, dubbed Dufferin Grove Village and designed by Quadrangle and Urban Strategies would be bisected by a new landscaped private road that runs in an L-shape between Croatia and Dufferin streets Increasing connectivity throughout the neighbourhood the street would link to the Russett Avenue extension through the development proposed to the north extending the planned retail-oriented street from Bloor Street down to Dufferin Grove Park A 0.15-hectare park dubbed 'Dufferin Commons' would be located at the southeast corner of the redevelopment site just north of the new intersection where the private road meets Dufferin Street.  Future street intersecting the development The master plan places two groups of buildings on either side of the new road The two podium blocks are designed to stand in contrast to one another Wavy balconies traverse the tower elevations above articulating the 35 and 39-storey buildings the western block emphasizes the use of rust coloured brick fitting in with the historic buildings in the neighbourhood the podium is connected to Dufferin Mall itself extending the mall with an additional 76,075 ft² of retail.  Looking south-west across Croatia Street to the western block at Dufferin Grove Village which runs along the Dufferin Street frontage features an 8-storey podium with tower volumes reaching 14 and 23-storeys up top the podium opens up to the Dufferin Commons park with amphitheater-style seating extending the public realm further to the architecture itself The base of the 56.4 and 82.7-metre towers houses 19,536 ft² of leasable retail space Designed by landscape architecture firm North Design Office Dufferin Commons is inspired by the Dennison Creek that used to traverse the site but has long since been buried The geology is recreated with concrete wave formations that follow the path of the stream The park utilizes recycled materials from the site's demolition offering a sustainable approach to landscape design Dufferin Commons park and amphitheatre podium seating the towers would introduce 1,135 residential units to the property in a mix of 117 Bachelor 461 two-bedroom and 105 three-bedroom units Amenities would be specifically programmed to benefit children The plan relocates 309 existing surface parking spaces adding 98 new spaces for increased retail area and 329 spaces for the new residential suites 1,198 bicycle parking spaces are proposed to be built and the remainder for visitors to the site Additional information and images can be found in our database file for the project or leave a comment in the field provided at the bottom of this page UrbanToronto has a new way you can track projects through the planning process on a daily basis. Sign up for a free trial of our New Development Insider here “There’s just a sense of not being alone in the world to meet each other’s needs and to support each other,” says Claire-Hélène Heese-Boutin he joined a team of other young Torontonians to start the Dufferin Grove Co-Op stable place to live to people like Claire-Hélène Heese-Boutin (left) “The early ‘70s was a time of huge not optimism perhaps but a feeling that hey we can do anything if we put our mind to it,” says Brian Iler This Dufferin Grove tenant pays $1,294 a month for a two-bedroom unit But getting into a co-op — or buildings others like it — is a challenge when a pair of new friends pitched the idea There was a group of them ready to go in together still “a bunch of kids.” But in the Toronto of the 1970s we can do anything if we put our mind to it,” Iler said and the gaggle of young Torontonians leveraged federal funding to buy a multi-unit apartment building in Toronto’s west end — the origins of the Dufferin Grove Housing Co-operative While a variety of co-op models exist across the city — with some requiring residents buy into the building — the Dufferin site is among those that operate similarly to a rental but without the traditional landlord structure giving them the autonomy to govern themselves and vote on decisions like whether to raise their housing bills that structure has meant lower-than-usual housing costs for its occupants But building a co-op today — or even breaking into the ones that exist — has become a more uphill battle Government funding to help with start-up costs doesn’t exist like it used to insiders say — and existing wait-lists have stretched so long they’ve had to be shut down elected officials and co-op tenants in Toronto are calling for an expansion of the sector pitching it as a way to address soaring housing costs citywide Claire-Hélène Heese-Boutin is one of the occupants of the Dufferin Grove site She pays $1,294 a month for a two-bedroom — well below market rent for that sized unit — with neighbours who’ll watch her cat Wesley and access to a community garden with “gorgeous plots” of kale and cherry tomatoes “There’s just a sense of not being alone in the world,” Heese-Boutin said to meet each other’s needs and to support each other.” Members each take on roles within the co-op structure and she’s also sat on their decision-making board is to create a form of housing that is insulated from the profit motives of the regular market Many co-ops also offer a certain number of subsidized units for lower income Torontonians with deals inked with various levels of government to provide supplements to pay for them But to build new co-ops or expand existing ones industry players say they’re left cobbling together money from multiple programs at multiple levels of government “I think the big difference is the other programs (in the 1970s and 1980s) were just more generous,” said Tom Clement executive director of the Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto He pointed to a multi-year project underway in Riverdale which is relying on numerous programs to renovate an existing co-op building and add 17 new units to the mix resident and board member Laura Schein said after their last mortgage ended in 2018 they took out a new one to do “extensive” renovations such as replacing the roof and the roughly 200-unit building’s windows the cost of that new mortgage is within their budget The co-op is currently costing Schein less than $1,300 per month Few of their units are accessible to those with mobility challenges posing an issue as residents age and use walkers or scooters But she loves the sense of democracy in the co-op and seeing community efforts come together such as their recycling program “Everybody has to work together,” Schein said that meant arranging a one-on-one meeting where she’d share a binder full of information about the co-op But there hasn’t been anyone to welcome for years “Units become available when people die,” she told the Star “and then they’re often filled from an internal wait-list.” Ghani Osman is one of the rare new residents in the building Osman moved into Windmill Line as a long-term guest in 2018 while a co-op member he knew was away at school That gave him access to an internal application process he became a proper co-op member and moved into his current one-bedroom while helping financially support family members living overseas Osman has spent the past few years on the co-op’s maintenance committee helping residents with tasks such as hanging curtains He savours having walkable access to grocery stores and transit and to a nearby basketball court — all for an affordable price without a wealth of similar housing options many young Torontonians will simply leave the city “A lot of people that really bring culture to the city (housing prices) are pushing them away,” he said “I hope our city opens up more buildings like this.” It can take a while to get repairs or upgrades done she said Dufferin co-op wound up selling a building saying the co-op saw the costs of fixing up the aging structure as prohibitive because I don’t think it was the right decision,” Heese-Boutin said a housing expert with the University of Toronto said he lived in a co-op himself in his younger years depending on the depth of affordability they were able to offer occupants could help chip away at Toronto’s demand for rent-geared-to-income housing — with a citywide wait-list of 78,791 households as of September 2021 “It’s one of the best ways to go because people can manage the co-ops,” he said Some politicians have also called for more attention on co-operative housing When the Ontario government struck a housing affordability task force in December with a mandate to look specifically at market-priced housing Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner criticized the governing Progressive Conservatives for leaving options such as social and co-op housing out of focus Some government programs — at various levels — do offer assistance to the co-op sector Ottawa points to programs such as its housing co-investment fund and rental construction financing initiative as well as funds delivered through the province aimed at maintaining existing supply rolled out a renewal strategy for community housing such as co-ops in 2019 Heese-Boutin wants to see the co-op sector grow arguing it offers increased stability as well as more affordability “Our housing is our home,” Heese-Boutin said TorontoParents concerned after peanut butter smeared on Dufferin Grove playgroundBy Rachael D'Amore - CTV TorontoPublished: August 12, 2016 at 3:41PM EDT Twitter feed ©2025 BellMedia All Rights Reserved designed by Turner Fleischer Architects for Hazelview Investments  Hazelview's first phase buildings are identified as Block B on the plan below, while Fitzrovia and AIMCo, sre building on Blocks C, D, and E, with towers dubbed Marlow The Bloor & Dufferin master-planned community encompasses 1,900 residential units in a mix of residential options including affordable rentals The site was previously occupied by Bloor Collegiate Institute and Kent Senior Public School with the former already demolished and its students relocated while the latter was deemed to have design and contextual heritage value with the building to be converted for use as a community hub as part of Block D on the Fitzrovia side of the site.  Looking north to the construction site for Bloor & Dufferin with the Kent School building at the centre Following an original Site Plan Application submission in April, 2022, Hazelview resubmitted the application in February, 2023 with a number of adjustments called for through City staff feedback. This phase of development, designed by Turner Fleischer Architects, features two mixed-use towers Hazelview's development blends commercial spaces at grade with residential above and is set to bring 844 rental units to the market across the two towers Each tower would be equipped with four elevators offering a ratio of approximately one elevator for every 106 units just over the one elevator per 100 units threshold for reasonable wait times Another two elevators will lead from the underground garage to the retail area at grade.  The architectural vision for the towers showcases an 8-storey podium with a design language that seamlessly integrates with the two towers above The residential Gross Floor Area (GFA) is slated to be a substantial 57,070m² translating to a Floor Space Index (FSI) of 8.47 aligning with the urban planning density objectives for the area The ground floor of the development is dedicated to retail with approximately 1,541m² earmarked for commercial use The project also offers 1,273m² of indoor and 1,033m² of outdoor amenities Parking facilities will include two levels of underground garage with 246 resident The garage will have 66 charging stations for electric vehicles Long-term parking for 765 bicycles is included and an additional 16 retail bicycle parking spots placing it within a Major Transit Station Area linking the neighbourhood via GO Transit and the Union Pearson Express to the airport and more far-flung points west An aerial view of the site in its surrounding context This expansive project is set to feature 8 buildings reaching up to 42 storeys while delivery a reworked community centre and park space UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development you can learn more about it from our Database file you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page that tracks projects from initial application The Dirty D and The Duff but most commonly it goes by Dufferin Mall: a name which evokes more emotional response than any other shopping centre in the city Sitting across from Dufferin Grove just a quick walk south from the subway station (or a brutal ride on the 29 bus) this 576,00 square-foot building's public image has been in flux since it was first unveiled in 1957 Dufferin Mall was first founded as the Dufferin Plaza Shopping Centre in 1956 Dufferin Mall today looks nothing like the reputation that precedes it including big box names like No Frills and Walmart Those who have heard the stories of The Duff's dilapidated interior and disorderly No Frills will be relieved (or disappointed) to find a sky-lit mall whose condition is leaps and bounds better than other less-publicized strip malls in the city Yes, the giant disgusting snow bank in the parking lot does make its presence terrifyingly known in the winter there are few traces left of the days when Torontonians felt the mall deserved an honorific as horrifying as "Ghetto Mall" The Walmart is one of the main stores at Dufferin Mall To understand Toronto's strange love-hate relationship with the mall and the current role it plays in the cultural zeitgeist of the city we need to understand the history of the mall itself What was once the site of the Dufferin Park Racetrack from 1907 until 1955 (and the occasional elephant parade carnival) gave birth to a development called The Dufferin Plaza Shopping Centre in 1956 which was later renamed Dufferin Mall in the 1970s The mall has tried to shed its past as a locale for seedy businesses and illicit activity According to locals, those years up until 2005 was when the mall amassed its reputation as the crime-ridden, dodgy place for illicit activity. Neighbouring Dufferin Grove had yet to be dubbed one of the coolest neighbourhoods in the world; far from it "It was darker, it was danker, it was just...you know. Today’s Dufferin Mall is upscale in comparison,"  says Shari Kasman, author of the book Galleria: The Mall That Time Forgot The food court is one example of the major renovations that took place in the early 2000s As a general mall enthusiast documenting the rise and fall of Galleria Mall (a derelict shopping centre slated for redevelopment just a few blocks over) Kasman spent years living near Dufferin Mall studying the surrounding the area's growth and changes "It was interesting that Dufferin Mall really managed to pick itself up out of what it had been whereas the Galleria just stayed the same all along."  Dufferin Mall still holds its reputation as Sufferin' Mall She says the first major shift in the Duff's culture was the opening of an H&M in 2006 paired with the arrival of—gasp—a Starbucks years later Part of a concerted effort to rebrand the mall the shopping centre's marketing team came up with a slogan both a nod to the mall's blight-like reputation and a salute to the incoming gentrification taking place in the area The arrival of Starbucks in the mid-2000s marked a change in mall culture Visually, the $11-million effort worked, and the mall has seemingly hit its stride, especially with amibitious plans from Primaris for a massive village of towers within the Duff's sprawling moat-like parking lot Jose's No Frills plays a major role in Dufferin Mall As with all popular culture, the continuation of Dufferin Mall's image has also been disseminated through social media, and through one Instagram account in particular: @TheDirtyDuff Akin to what other essential local IG accounts like @ParkdaleLife are doing, @TheDirtyDuff is both a preservation and perpetuation of "The Mall With It All," documenting snapshots of plebeian life, like the iconic sale signs of Jose's No Frills, and even selling merch You'll often find a funny sign or two in the No Frills aisles According to the person who founded the account four years ago as @DufferinMallOfficial, and who requested to stay anonymous, the @TheDirtyDuff is less about criticizing the mall and more of an appreciation account for all the weirdness that happens there.  "Why the Duff specifically: nothing looks too good at the Duff, nothing looks too bad. The mall doesn't have anything amazing about it, but it's got stuff we all need," they wrote in an e-mail.  Tim Hortons is usually busy at Dufferin Mall. With development around the corner, @TheDirtyDuff says they have been in talks with people behind the Primaris project, and hopes that more residents of Bloordale come forward with constructive ideas, rather than just "distaste for change."  "Everyone is always going on about things that are so amazing or so terrible, but I think most of us take the mediocre stuff for granted... It's always going to be our mediocre mall that helps us just get by."  Don’t look now but campers and tents have taken over another city park We apologize, but this video has failed to load.Try refreshing your browser, ortap here to see other videos from our team.Play VideoArticle contentSeems some people are uncomfortable staying in an all-expenses-paid four-star hotel and they prefer the real estate experience across from Dufferin Mall “It’s not safe in a hotel,” a squatter known as Dreddz explained Friday The problem is he can’t stay in this park or any others for the next year after receiving what he calls both an eviction and trespass notice from the City of Toronto “I feel like I am being singled out,” he said “They are doing it to myself and another guy because we are leaders.” The city makes no effort to apologize for this two individuals — one from Randy Padmore Park one from Dufferin Grove Park– were served letters of trespass notice for engaging in threatening and disruptive behaviour as well as harassment of city staff and partner agency employees,” Toronto spokespersons Brad Ross and Anthony Toderian said in a statement sent to me and Sun photographer Jack Boland So this is definitely an out-of-the-box situation where the city and people in the park are at loggerheads Dreddz — a well-spoken individual who has been spotted demonstrating during encampment evictions at Trinity Bellwoods Alexandra Park and Lamport Stadium — talks of poverty lack of city investment and a society with no compassion He’s a likeable person who needs society’s help but his perspective on what is being done and not done does not lineup with reality The city has invested millions of dollars into helping the homeless which includes getting them off the street and into temporary hotel shelters while they try to find them more permanent abodes There are dozens of services offered to assist and Toronto puts forward endless care for the needy through volunteering and fundraising Even in these camping areas where inhabitants are supposedly roughing it six pizzas were delivered as well as a crate of water and even supplies from a rented moving truck chairs and new mattresses for a more comfortable night’s sleep all the complaining amongst the occupants about how hard it is for people staying at The Novotel has not gained much sympathy from the working class who could only ever dream of staying in such a posh location A simple “thank you” the City of Toronto and its taxpayers would probably go over better the city is always in need of new thinking and should regularly sit down with people like Dreddz to start building trust I met the perfect person that I think could facilitate this She is very wise and offered not just complaints but practical a Harvard-trained lawyer for the Community Justice Collective who made the excellent point that the temporary hotel stay program does not work for some not used to structure She feels a better method may be to get people directly from a park into permanent housing I felt there was some movement there and would encourage them to all talk instead of fight It’s better to come up with a plan and give it a shot rather than look for confrontation The City of Toronto is not opposed to new ideas and I think Atri has the right understanding of what would work and what would not it can’t be forgotten that those city parks and playgrounds are for families and not hardcore drug use But you would not know that by walking through a new campground known as Dufferin Grove Park these days Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page.