Therme’s new spa at Ontario Place will bring 20 water slides, 10 pools and even more controversy
The European corporation says tickets to its palace of overstimulation will start at $40
For years, Premier Doug Ford has been obsessed with transforming Ontario Place into a mega-spa and waterpark, levelling most of the destination’s original architecture and landscaping in the process. This week, that controversial vision inched closer to reality when Therme, the Austrian spa conglomerate chosen to helm the project, unveiled updated designs for its complex: 10 pools, more than 20 water slides, 14 saunas, nine steam rooms, cold plunges and an ice fountain, plus restaurants, cafés and bars. Therme expects the complex to eventually draw 2.5 million visitors annually.
But, ever since Ford announced the theme park in 2021, the project has been dogged by criticism. There were concerns about the lack of rigorous public consultation and exemptions from key environmental assessments. There was outrage over the razing of hundreds of mature trees and the erasure of local habitats to clear space for construction. Detractors also questioned the feasibility of building a massive complex on an artificial island prone to erosion and flooding—headaches that will only get worse with climate change. Today, the cost to taxpayers stands at $2.2 billion.
Then, last December, Ontario’s auditor general reported that the process used to select Therme as the winning bidder was unfair and lacked transparency. And things got worse this past spring, when the New York Times revealed that the Vienna-based corporation had misrepresented its international experience when pitching the project.
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One of the biggest sticking points for the mega-spa has always been its scale: the building’s footprint in the original design came in at 37,000 square metres, with critics warning that it threatened to swallow the entire island and leave almost no space for public amenities. In response, Therme shrank its design to 33,000 square metres.
The building’s new renderings, recently released by Toronto-based architecture firm Diamond Schmitt, resemble uncanny stills from the video game Second Life: stiff avatars awkwardly wandering into one another in a garish setting of winding slides, jumbo pools, palm trees and glass ceilings.
Alongside the private facility, Therme is building a 16-acre public park and beach with change rooms and walking trails, which will be free and accessible year-round. Adam Vaughan, a former MP and Toronto city councillor turned Therme senior adviser, has defended the project as a win for families, giving them public spaces and affordable spa amenities, with tickets starting at $40.
Construction is slated to begin in the spring of 2026, with a projected opening of 2029. Whether an infuriated public will allow it to progress as planned remains to be seen.
Ali Amad is a Palestinian-Canadian journalist based in Toronto. His work has appeared in publications including Toronto Life, Maclean’s, Vice, Reader’s Digest and the Walrus, often exploring themes of identity, social justice and the immigrant experience.
An earlier version of this article stated that Therme Canada’s planned building footprint was nearly halved in response to community concerns. In fact, it was reduced from 37,000 square metres to 33,000 square metres.
