don river valley port lands toronto

This is what it will be like to canoe along Toronto's new human-made river

Toronto is on the cusp of an infrastructure achievement of epic proportions, rerouting the Don River through a new artificial delta as the crown jewel in the ambitious $1.25 billion Port Lands Flood Protection (PLFP) Project.

The colossal project to reshape the Port Lands area — including a brand-new artificial island — has captivated the public since work began in 2016, and interest has only ramped up in the years since as the serpentine one-kilometre-long river course progresses.

Waterfront Toronto has been sharing video updates of the river's formation throughout the project's construction, releasing another glimpse into the progress of the human-made waterway on Wednesday.

The latest look at the new Don River mouth takes viewers on a trip along the new waterway as it will appear to canoers and kayakers.

Though the river mouth remains dry for now, large dams at the Keating Channel to the north and Toronto Harbour to the west will be removed in phases to allow a slow flooding process. The first phase of this process was recently completed when crews flooded the Don Greenway, a spillover outlet that will discharge the river directly into the lake during storm events.

Once the plugs have been pulled, the Don River will bypass the silt-clogged Keating Channel, freely flowing through the snaking valley, below new bridges, and out into the harbour.

Once complete, the PLFP will unlock 240 hectares of the Port Lands area for the development of an entirely new neighbourhood.

These vast, formerly industrial lands, sit on a floodplain that will be eliminated once water flows through the new valley. The rerouting of the river unlocks these lands for what is expected to be a wave of new development to transform this mostly untouched, but soon-to-be-sought-after area of the city.

Work on the PLFP has lasted the better part of a decade, though it has not developed the same problems and negative reputation as other long-term infrastructure projects dragging on in the city.

Unlike overdue and overbudget Metrolinx projects on Eglinton and Finch, Waterfront Toronto has stuck to its timeline and project cost estimates, and seems on track to complete the impressive project in 2024 as planned.

Lead photo by

Waterfront Toronto


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