OAIA Pre-Conference Walking Tour at Biidaasige Park

Information & Registration Form

November 2, 2026 – 1 to 4 pm

Option for dinner at a restaurant near Merchant’s Warf

Cost:  $40.00 per person + HST, dinner not included

Capacity: The tour will be limited to the first 30 registrants

Join Elder Heidi Whetung, OAIA and it’s Indigenous Knowledge Committee, Waterfront Toronto, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, and other experts on a guided tour of Biidaasige Park on the Toronto Waterfront.

Beginning and ending with First Nations ceremony, on the tour we will learn about how the vision to return the mouth of the Don River from an industrial shipping channel to a meandering stream through wetlands was borne. We will discuss the environmental and impact assessments that merged to plan the creation of a new naturalized river valley in an area of highly contaminated lake fill, the removal of flood risk from the Don River to 248 hectares of urban lands, a network of parklands, as well as highway, roadway, and pipeline reconfigurations. We will also see the future mixed-use sustainable development area, which is undergoing planning, as well as where the new Light Rail Transit (LRT) will be!

Consultation was essential to the successful implementation of the park. We will hear from leaders about the consultation process, and how concerns and ideas were incorporated into the award winning design.

Technical considerations were many. As we walk, we will stop and talk about things like flood plain and fluvial geomorphological considerations; permitting approaches; wetland design, construction, and monitoring; fisheries management; soil, groundwater and sediment management; maintaining an active shipping channel; space, art and design; discovering, protecting, and reusing ancient seed banks; and how post-EA monitoring worked.

This is a ticketed event. Please pay and register here.

Considerations

Pre-Registration is required: This is a ticketed event – please pay and register here.

Length: We will walk 2.5 – 3 km on relatively flat, paved and crushed limestone paths and sidewalks with some shallow/sloped hills.

Mobility: Those with mobility concerns should take this into account. If you have concerns, reach out OAIA as accommodation may be possible.

Cancellation: The tour will run rain or shine. There will be no refunds.

Attire: Dress appropriate for rain, wind, cold – it will be November!

Snacks: Bring your own snacks and water. They will not be provided.

Agenda

1 pm: Arrive

  • Parking at lot on Commissioners Street at Munitions Street (opposite Fire Hall) (Parking available, likely paid – will give transit info and bikeshare info)
  • Walk to “The Drum” (Indigenous shade structure)
  • Washrooms are on the back of the Firehall (a publicly accessible community space and a historic Firehall that was incorporated into the park design)
  • The tour is a ticketed event and will be restricted to registered guests only

1:10 pm: Indigenous Opening

1:30 pm: Introductions and History of the site, and physical challenges and opportunities of the project:

  • What was originally here – the Ashbridge’s Bay Coastal Wetland
  • How the original wetland was transformed into a low-lying, contaminated industrial landscape
  • How grassroots engagement and demands resulted in the creation of Waterfront Toronto and the Project becoming reality
  • The parallel Environmental Assessment (EA) processes used to plan and define the Project
  • Integration of Indigenous interests/objectives
  • Challenges and opportunities defined the objectives-based EA process which include selection of a preferred option that best met all objectives rather than the typical “least impacts”

1:45 pm: Walk along the looped trail begins. At the walk proceeds, there will be a number of stops where discussions will focus on:

Advocacy

  • Task Force to Bring Back the Don
  • 40 Steps to a New Don

Consultation

  • Specific discussions about how the Nations were included in consultation, design, construction, and events

Planning

  • How the river defined the form of the development and infrastructure considerations
  • How intensified development is set up
  • Floodplain/flood management
  • Other EA tie-ins – Future LRT, Gardiner, Lakeshore Blvd, Enbridge

Design

  • Permitting approaches; TRCA undertook the lead role in a co-proponency with Waterfront Toronto and the City for the Environmental Assessment.  Waterfront Toronto took the lead for design and construction, with TRCA integrated into the design and implementation process to maximize expertise with the consulting team to implement the planning, construction processes, while providing various monitoring services for the Project
  • Restoration opportunities, as well as recreation etc.
  • How fluvial geomorphology was defined
  • How existing wetlands were used as templates for designing the park wetlands
  • Sediment Management

Implementation

  • Innovative restoration approaches, use of native seeds from pre- 115 years ago (discovered through excavation), seedling protection systems
  • Innovative soil management approaches to prevent soil compaction while retaining source soil horizons and microbiology
  • Innovative uses of remedial management measures to isolate the new river valley from underlying and adjacent contaminated soils/groundwater during and after construction
  • How post-construction EA monitoring worked
  • Interactive WT/TRCA/University of Toronto conversations regarding how Indigenous engagement resulted in Indigenous Public Realm design and interpretation elements in the new river park system.

3:30 pm: Wrap-up on the Pier with the Indigenous closing

4:00 pm: Return to the parking area OR Join OAIA at a local restaurant on the pier overlooking the Lake Ontario and the Toronto Islands. Please note that vegan and gluten free options will be available. Note that dinner / restaurant costs are not included in event registration fees.

This is a ticketed event. Please pay and register here.