Toronto breaks ground on Etobicoke Civic Centre
The City of Toronto has broken ground on construction of the new Etobicoke Civic Centre.
The city says the project is its first civic centre development in 50 years. It expects the project will lay the foundation for further community projects at Etobicoke’s Bloor-Kipling precinct.
“The new Etobicoke Civic Centre is a landmark project that is part of a bigger vision to create a city centre in Toronto’s west end,” said Mayor Olivia Chow. “I am excited to see this important development that allows residents to live, work and play in one place come to life and support our goal of getting our city back on track.”
The new Etobicoke Civic Centre will feature more than 508,000 square feet of accessible public-facing space. This includes municipal office towers, a podium-level multi-purpose council chamber, a child care centre, a new Toronto Public Library branch, a public health clinic for dental services and breastfeeding, a fully equipped recreation centre, ceremonial rooms, public meeting rooms, an art gallery and retail spaces, all leading out to an open civic square with a Sacred Fire Vessel.
The building’s basement level will house a district energy plant that will provide energy to the entire Bloor-Kipling precinct, and making it Toronto’s first near-zero emissions community. The structure is targeting Toronto Green Standard (TGS) Version 3, Tier 4 and is aligned with the City’s TransformTO Net Zero Strategy to reduce community-wide greenhouse gas emissions in Toronto.
“The city’s ambitious plan to reconfigure Six Points is now paying off in the form of a complete, sustainable community with the new Etobicoke Civic Centre at its heart,” said Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie. “I congratulate City staff, our development partners and members of the public for coming together and supporting our collective goal of building Toronto’s first near-zero emissions community.”
The new Etobicoke Civic Centre is located on ‘block 4’ of the City’s Bloor-Kipling Block Plan that enabled the reconfiguration of the former Six Points Interchange or ‘Spaghetti Junction’. The $77-million investment to decommission Six Points unlocked almost 18 acres of city-owned land that was parcelled into seven mixed-use redevelopment blocks connected by a network of streets.
Once built, the new civic centre will be steps away from five Housing Now development blocks including 5207 Dundas Street West that broke ground in August 2023. These sites have been identified for additional rental housing development that will deliver at least 2,781 residential homes, 904 of which will be affordable rental homes.
The project has been awarded to MGAC Canada as project management consultant and Multiplex as the general contractor. Other project partners include Adamson Associate Architects, Henning Larsen Architects and PMA Landscape Architects.