The Ford government ordered the city to double housing density in Liberty Village
Already struggling with congestion, the west-end neighbourhood is holding on to new transit hope
Despite long-standing traffic issues in Liberty Village, Premier Doug Ford’s Conservatives are overriding city zoning rules on one of the neighbourhood’s proposed residential complexes, more than doubling its density.
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The project in question, known as the Exhibition Transit-Oriented Community, is planned for Atlantic and Jefferson avenues, steps from the Exhibition GO station. Originally, it comprised three mixed-use buildings with roughly 560 housing units. Now, Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma is upping the density to 1,448 units, with one of the towers reaching 54 storeys.
In recent years, Liberty Village, known for its seemingly endless buffet of condos, has pushed back against intensification. The district offers few effective ways to get in or out by car, bike or foot and is severely lacking in transit options given its huge population. Compounding the issue is Liberty Village’s proximity to major venues and event spaces, such as Budweiser Stage, Exhibition Place and BMO Field, the latter of which will host the World Cup this summer. Conditions got so bad in 2024 that Deputy Mayor Ausma Malik passed a Liberty Village Traffic Action Plan to help clear streets.
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Improved public transit would mitigate these issues, and city-changing infrastructure is on the way in the form of frequent all-day GO service, a revitalized Exhibition GO station, a brand-new King-Liberty GO station on the Kitchener line, and Ontario Line service to downtown and the city’s northeast corner. But Liberty Villagers won’t benefit from these projects until the 2030s.
In its minister’s zoning order materials, Infrastructure Ontario says that transit-oriented communities like the ones proposed for Atlantic and Jefferson will provide “real opportunities to build vibrant mixed-use communities...bringing more jobs and more housing closer to transit.” The transit in question can’t come fast enough.
Teagan Sliz covers Ontario real estate for Toronto Life and Storeys. She also writes for Cottage Life and has reported on everything from hidden-gem restaurants to Canadian wildlife and forest fires. She graduated from Queen’s University with a bachelor’s in history and art history and from Centennial College, where she studied Canadian publishing.
