Daryl Gonsalves –
On a sunny weekend in July, fences came down in the Portlands and Toronto’s Biidaasige Park (pronounced “bee‑daw‑si‑geh,” meaning “sunlight shining toward us”) officially opened. This new space opening to the public is not just about gaining sweeping new greenspace that cuts through the dense concrete jungle of downtown Toronto, it is about the City proving that it can continue to cooperate across levels of government to bring forward visionary developments. Biidaasige Park shifts perspectives on how public space can be used and based on feedback I heard from visitors, makes Torontoians proud that they call this city home.
Biidaasige Park includes approximately 50 acres with an additional 10 acres to open next year. With the Don River and surrounding space included, that figure reaches to 80 acres. The park features the standard picnic areas, playgrounds, winding trails and dog off-leash areas. What’s innovative is a Snowy Owl-inspired children’s theatre, a badlands scramble, a zipline and a pebble landing to launch watercraft. A sign fencing off the 10-acre portion noted that the area will eventually include a Canoe Cove and a big event lawn with “the city’s best new view.”
Biidaasige Park is one piece of the much larger Portlands development. The new island (Ookwemin Minising) created where the Don River meets Lake Ontario will be a future home to over 15,000 residents in at least 9,000 housing units. According to the city, this development will advance Canadian sustainable development practices.
The grand opening of Biidaasige Park featured live music, storytelling, arts and crafts, interactive performances and a 24‑hour sacred fire maintained by Indigenous fire keepers. During my time biking around, I noticed the careful planning and attention to detail from staff that went into making this grand opening a success. Almost every part of the park had programming to entertain visitors, while a parade went through it with folks dressed in costumes and playing music.
Local residents I spoke to were excited to have another green space to explore and relax in. Consistently, folks were impressed at the transformation of the industrial Portlands, and a few noted that they appreciated the Indigenous references and figures. However, some people acknowledged the limited public transit connectivity and limited shade from the young trees.
Biidaasige Park resulted from a long‑term partnership across municipal, provincial and federal levels (and Indigenous communities) to reclaim industrial land, restore natural systems, and craft a vibrant urban waterfront.
