Ontario Place for All

07/17/2026

🗓️ A date is set — the legal fight for Ontario Place will be heard by the Supreme Court of Canada on 15 October 2026!

A coalition of four citizen organizations – Ontario Place for All (OP4A), Toronto Field Naturalists, Democracy Watch, and the National Trust for Canada – has been approved to intervene in the appeal to the Supreme Court by Ontario Place Protectors (OPP), challenging the decision by Premier Doug Ford’s government to destroy Ontario Place and replace it with a spa.

The appeal focuses on whether a government can shield its decisions and development of land from the requirements of existing laws and court review, and whether Ontario Place is a protected “public trust”.

We support Ontario Place Protectors position that the legislation the Ford government passed, the Rebuilding Ontario Place Act (ROPA), is unconstitutional, and that a “public trust doctrine” should be established and applied to protect Ontario Place and similar significant heritage properties.

The coalition is represented by Jackie Esmonde, Sydney Lang and Clémence Thabet of the law firm Cavalluzzo LLP.

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Civil rights, environmental, heritage, and Indigenous organizations have also been granted intervener status — see the list in the post!

Opposing the legal arguments put forward by Ontario Place Protectors and most interveners are the Attorneys General of Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Yukon, and Canada.

Over the next few weeks and months we’ll be sharing more information about how we got here, the details of the legal challenge, and how to support!

Thank you everyone who has continued to support, advocate, and stand up for our waterfront, environment, and public space!

07/15/2026

4 Yukon First Nations join Supreme Court case about closed Ontario theme park
✍️ Reported by TJ Dhir for CBC

“The case is about legislation that allows Premier Doug Ford’s government to bypass environmental assessments and heritage protections outlined in other provincial legislation. It would also shield the province from any legal action brought against it regarding the park, and, effectively, grant the Ontario infrastructure minister the final say over what happens to the land.

The Yukon First Nations’ joint submission is about the legal protections the territory gave itself when it passed changes to the Health Authority Act in April. Those changes gave the Yukon government similar protections.

The four Yukon First Nations, all of whom have self-government agreements, involved in the case are the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun, Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation, Selkirk First Nation and Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation.”

06/30/2026

✍️ Momentum Growing in Support of Supreme Court Case against Ontario Legislation | Canadian Architect, June 29, 2026

The Supreme Court has granted leave in the Ontario Place Protectors challenge to Rebuilding Ontario Place Act (ROPA). This is a challenge to the constitutionality of legislation which has been passed by the Ford government to enable the Ontario Place redevelopment. It has massive implications for the province.

A year ago Ontario Place for All, Democracy Watch, Toronto Field Naturalists, and the National Trust acted as interveners in the case. Now we’re all headed to the Supreme Court with support!

Fourteen civil rights, environmental, heritage, and Indigenous organizations and coalitions from across the country are seeking intervenor status, as is the City of Toronto.

LINK TO DONATE: ontarioplaceprotectors.com/donate

06/09/2026

✍️ NEW: federal public consultation on the future of Billy Bishop airport is now open until July 24th!

There is an online survey, and an e-mail address for long-form comments.

Premier Ford raced to push through legislation for the proposed expansion for jets on the Toronto Islands with no public input: Bill 110, Building Billy Bishop Airport Act, 2026. Ford’s obsession with Toronto’s waterfront has consistently been undemocratic with no opportunity for feedback - his forced legislation already allows for provincial control of Toronto Islands.

The proposed runway expansion has huge implications for Ontario Place, running parallel to the shore with a significant marine exclusion zone.

Now is your chance to let the federal government know what you think of the proposed expansion of Billy Bishop Airport for jets!

https://tc.canada.ca/en/corporate-services/consultations/public-consultation-future-billy-bishop-toronto-city-airport

05/23/2026

📣 New action! Leave a comment on a federal permit application made by Therme before May 28th.

Therme Canada have filed an application with Transport Canada for infilling on the West Island at Ontario Place associated with constructing an access road: “Construction equipment used for the access road will be landbased and will include typical earthmoving machines such as dump trucks, compactors, bulldozers, backhoes, and graders.”

This application for approval process is mandatory on scheduled waterways and for major works. The public can comment on these applications!

There are a couple of steps to submit a comment: creating an account, confirming an email address, and setting up a profile. But if you have the capacity to do so, we are providing a draft comment which can be copied and pasted!

You can copy text from saved images on iPhone and Android, but it’s probably easiest to do this from a computer.

LINK: https://nwar-rlen.tc.canada.ca/files-dossiers/2026-416695?GoCTemplateCulture=en

05/22/2026

Thank you Stripper News for inviting us to be interviewed for this latest segment on recent Ontario Place scandals!

Check out the full report 🔥

Spend some time with our host Robin () as she investigates just WHAT exactly is going wrong with Ontario Place's. This week, Stripper News loo...

05/14/2026

If you been along Lake Shore Blvd recently, this is the scene you’ve been met with - a destroyed public space.

Furious about the Ontario Place redevelopment plans? We hear you!

Continue to take action at ontarioplaceforall.com/takeaction Email your MPP and tell them to cancel the astronomically expensive lease with shady company, Therme Canada! (Their Instagram handle is thermecanada, we’re blocked from tagging them)

Call Premier Ford’s office: 416-325-1941
TEXT Premier Ford: 647-612-3673
Email and call your MPP

We can do so much better!

05/09/2026

🐦 It’s ! This year’s theme highlights the important role of community science for the conservation of migratory birds.

Did you know 195 bird species have been reported at Ontario Place?

🌊 Ontario Place, situated on the lakeshore, had grown into a remarkable habitat for birds. Significantly, over a dozen species recorded here are recognized on the provincial Species-at-Risk list (protections also eviscerated by ) including Grasshopper Sparrows, Horned Grebes, Wood Thrushes and Eastern Meadowlarks.

🍃 We’re putting a spotlight on swallows because the West Island supported an astounding number of these birds. Hundreds of Cliff Swallow nested around the Pods, and huge mixed flocks of Barn, Tree, Cliff and Bank Swallows could be observed flying and foraging together. In fact, all six species of swallows found in Ontario have been observed here - they are all experiencing declines in population.

You may have noticed the Barn Swallow structures which were placed in Trillium Park a couple of years ago - they are required compensation when there is planned nest and habitat destruction. Not a single Barn Swallow has used them.

This month, around 50 million birds pass over Toronto in migration, making a pit stop for food and shelter on the city shores during their journey north. The West Island at Ontario Place was a special place to witness this spectacular moment in nature’s calendar.

What happened for Therme Canada's project? Hundreds of trees and a habitat destroyed in the night, all to be replaced by a giant glass building the size of a football stadium. A project exempt from the Environmental Assessment Act and the Environmental Bill of Rights.

In an open letter from on the project, they wrote of the continued dangers of the project, even if all current building guidelines were to be followed.

How many swallows will be swooping overhead of Therme’s megaspa?

Our environment and our shared spaces with wildlife deserve so much better.

05/08/2026

NEW: “Assessment of Therme Ontario Place bid cited Aecon as ‘construction partner,’ but no partnership existed”
✍️ by Ana Pereira at The Toronto Star

Therme claimed to have a partnership with Canadian company in their bid for the Ontario Place project, but excellent reporting has revealed that no partnership existed.

“The Infrastructure Ontario scorecard refers to the Therme-Aecon partnership as a “key strength,” noting that “Therme Group’s construction partner AECON Group is a Canadian leader and partner-of-choice in construction and infrastructure development projects.

The document also notes that Therme has
“no experience working in
Canada/Ontario/Toronto, but Aecon is identified as a strong local delivery partner (construction and equity partner).”

Another lie from Therme in their disastrous Ontario Place plan.

Another terrible lack of due diligence from - whose job is literally to manage Ontario’s public assets.

END THIS DEAL NOW !

05/08/2026

NEW: “Therme Group loses trademark dispute with Quebec spa company that operates Thermëa resorts”
✍️ Jill Mahoney and Jeff Gray, The Globe and Mail

We’ve seen and corrected the mix up between Group Nordik’s Thermëa (whose closest wellness resort is in Whitby) and Therme Group (the Austrian-based company given the Ontario Place deal) countless times over the years.

It’s unsurprising that this happens so frequently, and now a legal decision helps Group Nordik make the distinction.

“…earlier this year the Trademark Opposition Board had already tossed out Therme’s trademarks in Canada, deeming that they had not been used, with its spa and waterpark still unbuilt.

The ruling by the Federal Court of Appeal upheld a lower court judgment… The lower court declared invalid the Austrian company’s 2021 trademark registrations for Therme and Therme Group in relation to a list of services, including health spa resorts, health and wellness centres, and restaurant services.”

Another poor news day for Therme Canada and Ontario Place.