Descriptive Transcript: The Next Wave of Destinations

This is a descriptive transcript for our YouTube Video: The Next Wave of Destinations

[DESCRIPTION: Christopher Glaisek, Chief Planning and Design Officer at Waterfront Toronto speaks to the camera.] 

[AUDIO: Each year we talk about progress on the waterfront. This year, we expanded parks, public art, and destinations that bring people together at the water’s edge as part of our commitment to delivering vibrant public spaces for everyone to enjoy.] 

[DESCRIPTION: The ‘Unfinished Arch’ public art piece, by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. A large metal arch framed against the sky. One side of the arch hangs suspended in the air. A man using a wheelchair touches the suspended end of the metal arch in a park. A group of people stand looking at the arch. Someone touches the arch and a strip of lights along its length light up. Then, a video of the arch lighting up at night. Christopher Glaisek returns on screen.] 

[AUDIO: Now we’re embarking on the next wave of revitalization – building on our past successes and taking the waterfront to the next level of ambition.] [DESCPRIPTION: A large group of canoeists with colourful flags in the boats travelling under a bridge. Text on screen reads ‘The Next Wave. Integrated Annual Report, 2025-2026’.] 

[DESCRIPTION: Christopher Glaisek, Chief Planning and Design Officer at Waterfront Toronto speaks to the camera.] 

[AUDIO: More parks, public art, and destinations are transforming Toronto's waterfront into one of the city's great gathering places.] 

[DESCRIPTION: Aerial footage of a large park on the island called Ookwemin Minising. The view shows the  large owl structure and playground in Biidaasige park, an observation point in Biidaasige park west, canoe cove, the refurbished Atlas Crane, and recreational paths. People are shown paddleboarding in the new river. Children swing along a zipline in the park.] 

[AUDIO: Toronto’s largest new park in a generation, Biidaasige Park, just got bigger and now includes nearly 25 hectares of reclaimed brownfield transformed into naturalized parkland, with thousands of new trees, places to access the water and a playground unlike any other in the region. ] 

[DESCRIPTION: Christopher Glaisek speaks to the camera] 

[AUDIO: It’s already been celebrated at home and abroad, earning a 2025 Brownie Award for Best Overall Project and recognition from World Urban Parks as an Outstanding New Park Project in North America.] 

[TEXT ON SCREEN: 2025 Best Overall Project, Brownie Awards. 2025 Outstanding New Park Project in North America, World Urban Parks. 2025 Award of Excellence, Toronto Urban Design Awards (for Port Lands Bridges).] 

[DESCRIPTION: Yvonne Monestier, Public Art Program Manager, Waterfront Toronto, speaks to the camera.] 

[AUDIO: Public art adds to the beauty and energy of the waterfront. Waterfront Toronto has brought more than 50 permanent and temporary artworks to the area so far, including Unfinished Arch by internationally acclaimed artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, unveiled this summer.] 

[DESCRIPTION: Footage of various public art pieces on the waterfront: The camera looks up at the sky through a tangle of streetlights on silver and blue poles. Two people take photos of the streetlight sculpture. A small lit-up convenience store floating on the lake. Yvonne Monestier returns on screen, speaking to the camera and then touching the end of Unfinished Arch, causing the sculpture to light up. A group of people stand at the suspended end of the arch] 

[AUDIO: Last year also brought A Lake Story by celebrated artist Melissa McGill, commissioned and presented by The Bentway, in parternship with Waterfront Toronto. The performance featured a procession of 120 canoes through Biidaasige Park and across the harbour.] 

[DESCRIPTION: Many canoes bearing colourful flags paddle in Toronto’s Inner Harbour. The flags wave in the wind. The view changes to the canoes in the mouth of the Don River, under the Cherry Street bridge, and returns to the Inner Harbour.] 

[DESCRIPTION: Christopher Glaisek speaks to the camera.] 

[AUDIO: As more destinations take shape on the waterfront in the years ahead, there will also be more ways to reach them as we continue to extend the Water's Edge Promenade, add a new pedestrian bridge across the Keating Channel, and create inviting pathways between Quayside and the lake.] 

[DESCRIPTION: A person running through a park. A bed of flowers next to the lake. A view of the ‘Water’s Edge Promenade’, a cobblestone mosaic featuring a maple leaf creating a pathway next to benches and planting beds. A rendering of a pedestrian bridge. Aerial flyover footage of a construction zone next to the lake. Christopher Glaisek speaks to the camera.] 

[AUDIO: The waterfront’s public places and destinations are beautiful, welcoming, accessible, and built to last — not just sites to visit, but places to come together.] 

[DESCRIPTION: An animation of waves with on-screen text that reads: The Next Wave of Waterfront Revitalization. New housing. New destinations. New Transit.] 

[DESCPRIPTION: The logos of Waterfront Toronto, the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario, and the City of Toronto appear. On screen text reads: Discover mover waterfrontoronto.ca.]