Downsview’s runway is becoming a pedestrian boulevard

Development is taking off in Downsview. Last week, Northcrest Developments announced New York’s Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates as the victor of the former airport’s runway design competition. The firm’s winning proposal reimagines the runway as a lively pedestrian boulevard with parks, plazas and retail. The space will anchor the coming $30-billion, 370-acre YZD master plan, which will build more than 30,000 new homes.

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The idea is to have the two-kilometre green strip connect seven neighbourhoods, representing 54,000 future residents. Like a mini downtown, the mixed-use community will also come with plenty of public areas (including more than 74 acres of green space) and essential infrastructure like schools, community centres, childcare facilities and cultural venues.

“This is where [our project] truly comes alive,” said Derek Goring, CEO of Northcrest Developments, in a statement. “As we look ahead to breaking ground on the first phase of YZD in early 2026, we’re also laying the groundwork for the future.”

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And YZD is not the only major development planned for this district. On October 15, former councillor Ana Bailão, now CEO of Ottawa’s Build Canada Homes, announced that federally owned land near the former runway will be the site of 540 new modular homes, with 40 per cent of the units designated as affordable.

Traffic-weary Torontonians can rest easy, though. All of this proposed density will be served by tons of new transit: the soon-to-open Finch West LRT, frequent all-day GO train service and—fingers crossed—an extension of the TTC’s Line 4 along Sheppard.