The revitalization of Toronto’s waterfront is a massive long-term efforts that is almost unequalled on a world scale. The total area being redeveloped is 800 hectares (1,977 acres). Given the size and scope of this undertaking, Waterfront Toronto has divided the area into several key project areas to facilitate planning and construction.

Project areas include East Bayfront and West Don Lands the first two new waterfront communities that are already underway. Built on former industrial sites, these new mixed-use neighbourhoods will deliver an exciting new kind of downtown, sustainable urban living.

Planning for two other project areas, the Lower Don Lands and the Port Lands, is also well underway. Decades of infilling on what was once the largest wetland on the Great Lakes created the 400-hectare Port Lands. The first part of the Port Lands to be developed is the Lower Don Lands a 125-hectare area that will feature innovative mixed-use communities around the Keating Channel and the newly naturalized mouth of the Don River. Reconfiguring the mouth of the Don River will provide the flood protection required to develop the rest of the Port Lands area.

In addition to the new communities under development, Waterfront Toronto projects also include the revitalization of well-established areas such as the Central Waterfront and a variety of parks and public spaces across the Wider Waterfront area. Plans for the Central Waterfront, which are already coming to life, will link major waterfront destinations, create new public spaces and give Toronto the grand waterfront boulevard it deserves. New parks and public spaces in the Wider Waterfront area from Mimico in the west to Port Union in the east are helping people reconnect to both the city and the lake.

Waterfront Toronto and the City of Toronto are also working to determine the future of the easternmost section of the Gardiner Expressway which borders many of the new waterfront communities under development. A comprehensive environmental assessment has been launched to explore alternatives, including removing, replacing and improving the elevated roadway.