The Port Lands is a 400 hectare (988-acre) district bounded by the Keating Channel/Don River and Lake Shore Boulevard in the north, the Toronto Inner Harbour in the west, Ashbridges Bay in the east and Lake Ontario and Tommy Thompson Park in the south. This extensive, underutilized area presents an unprecedented opportunity for waterfront revitalization. Much of the Port Lands is publicly owned and is within a 30 minute walk of downtown Toronto. The southern portion of the Port Lands is bordered by Lake Ontario and much of it is used formally and informally as recreational space.

The Port Lands are man-made and were created by decades of infilling what was once the largest wetland on the Great Lakes. Beginning in the 1880s, the area was gradually filled in to make more land available for industry and shipping. Since it was created, most of the Port Lands have been utilized for industrial uses and the majority of the area currently lacks servicing for other uses. Much of the area is also in the flood plain of the Don River and flood protection must be created before the area can be fully developed.

Given the size and numerous challenges with the area, revitalization of the Port Lands is a long term initiative.

Waterfront Toronto and the City of Toronto began work in October 2011 to create a development and implementation plan for the Port Lands. The goal of the initiative is to deliver a high-level road map for accelerating development and maximizing the value of the Port Lands as a unique city legacy.

The undertaking is the result of Toronto City Council's September 21 unanimous decision for Waterfront Toronto in conjunction with the City of Toronto to lead a review of the Port Lands and to ensure the process is informed by extensive public consultation. This work is designed in part to build upon Waterfront Toronto's work to date, including its plans for the Lower Don Lands.

The work is a highly collaborative process.  Waterfront Toronto and the City are working closely with Toronto and Region Conservation and seeking input from other agencies such as the Toronto Port Lands Company and the Toronto Port Authority.  Stakeholders such as land owners, tenants, port users and sector specific groups are being engaged throughout the process.

Public consultation will play a central role in the creation of the go forward plan for the Port Lands and will include traditional in-person public meetings and interactive social media and/or web enabled consultations.  The on-line consultation initiative launched in January 2012.  A Stakeholder Advisory Committee consisting of a broad range of representatives from interested and affected stakeholder organizations has been formed. In addition to a December public meeting, two rounds of public consultation are planned to be held throughout the city in 2012.

A number of initiatives have taken place to make the Port Lands more people friendly and to ensure the area is utilized prior to full-scale development.

Waterfront Toronto has landscaped and enhanced key streets and intersections, and added cycling trails as part of a greening of the area.

Recreational facilities have also been improved. In 2004, Waterfront Toronto completed landscape improvements and restoration of Cherry Beach, one of Toronto’s most popular beaches located along southern shore of Lake Ontario in the western end of the Port Lands. Just north of the beach, the Cherry Beach Sports Fields, two premier regulation-sized soccer and lacrosse fields were opened in 2008.

An exciting future initiative on our new blue edge will be the development of Lake Ontario Park. It will transform the southern portion of the Port Lands into part of a massive new park. Encompassing 375 hectares (927 acres) and 37 kilometres of shoreline, Lake Ontario Park will be Canada’s next great urban park. It will encompass numerous ecologically unique and distinctive landscapes, from the spectacular wetlands that define Tommy Thompson Park, to the cathedral stand of cottonwoods that frames Cherry Beach. Lake Ontario Park will be a world renowned urban wilderness and recreational park that will truly define our relationship with the water’s edge.

Historically, Port Lands revitalization has been hampered by fragmented land control, the cost of soil remediation and infrastructure and business relocation challenges. Waterfront Toronto and City of Toronto waterfront planning efforts to date have established an overall vision for establishing vibrant, mixed-use communities in the Port Lands.

A draft Port Lands Implementation Strategy Report was created  to develop a clear and realistic strategy for Port Lands revitalization. The plan is intended to be the road map to achieve green, sustainable communities. It leverages previous work and finds ways to add value through things like design, commercial development, and environmental improvements to the area in a structured way that is flexible enough to respond to events that will occur over the many years it will take to completely revitalize the Port Lands.

The plan reconfirms and where necessary defines, land use, public spaces, linkages between parks, infrastructure, development, phasing and investment considerations.

The plan addresses things like precinct boundaries and sequencing; ultimate and interim land uses and leasing; relocation and mitigation; urban structure; phasing of infrastructure and development; parks and public space linkages; transportation structure; recreation and water's edge use; master servicing; soil remediation strategy; energy strategy; and a sustainability process.