The Exchange District

Exchanging challenges with opportunities and risks with strengths for Toronto

Hey neighbor! Discover the Exchange District - the link connecting West Don Lands, Riverdale, and East Harbor to all of Toronto. Whether a resident, worker, or visitor, the Exchange District showcases the best of Toronto! The district proves the possible - exchanging challenges with opportunities and risks with strengths. These exchanges shine brightest in the district’s endless pursuit of diversity, resilience, and community.

Experience Diversity

As Toronto becomes more diverse, both demographically and socio-economically, fewer spaces allow for the harmonious mingling of differences. Rising housing unaffordability segregates the city between the served and the under-served. Diversity of thought and experience, however, breeds creativity, compassion and community, and must be celebrated and promoted. The district will provide a home for those with diverse backgrounds, exchanging any financial burden with opportunity to thrive. Half of all housing will serve low-income and workforce housing. Furthermore, housing types will provide opportunities to rent and own, for families small and large.
Walking through the expansive Toronto Exchange Market, one will encounter, through sight, sound and smell, the incredible cultural diversity of Toronto. There, patrons will exchange not only in commerce, but also in experience.

Establish Resilience

The mighty Don River, running on the western edge of the Exchange District presents its immediately surrounding areas with great opportunity. Leveraging the site’s ecological resources, the district exchanges the flood liability with community assets. Residents and visitors alike will enjoy bountiful public green space, which include the extension of East Harbour’s River’s Edge Park and the new Flooded Shore Amphitheater.

These amenities highlight the ideal of exchange. When the Don floods, the retaining wall protects the development and surrounding neighborhoods while directing water into the Amphitheater, which allows for water performances. The retaining wall and its redesign of the Don Valley Expressway, also create new Chinook Salmon habitat, whose return improves not only the river’s biodiversity, but also strengthens Ontario Lake’s fishing economy. Lastly, the green roofs and storm water collection system efficiently recycles storm water for consumer use.

Empower Community

One of many in this city of neighborhoods, the Exchange District seeks to establish an intimate yet welcoming community. Though thousands of visitors and workers will enter the region daily through one of the many public transit systems, the district will remain familiar to those who live there. Public space, such as the River’s Edge Trail and the Exchange Plaza, act as the district’s front lawn and sidewalk exchanging these strangers for neighbors.

Along the River’s Edge, new basketball and paddle tennis courts, along with jungle gyms, encourage those residents with mutual interests or with children to meet and enjoy each other. This trail, connecting East Harbor and West Don Lands via a pedestrian bridge, also opens the district to its immediate neighbors, allowing new serendipitous encounters and experiences. Exchange Plaza, provides a heart for the community. Intimately tucked among the many residences, it remains the singular space for this community to come together, celebrate, and thrive.