Toronto’s West Don Lands have been seeing plenty of construction of late, and consequently an increase in popularity on our Forum, as the area pushes forward on its path towards completing the makeover that will not only deliver a host of new housing, but also bring a major upgrade to transportation and connectivity in the somewhat isolated yet central area. 

Canary Landing began construction in early 2020, and is now on the cusp of delivering on new housing, while other nearby projects should be ready in a couple years' time. With the nearly completed external cladding catching a lot of attention for its pronounced materiality, the 3-building rental development from the team of Dream Unlimited, Kilmer Group, and Tricon Residential will soon be ready for its first residents. 

Looking northeast at the cladding of the western building at Canary Landing, image by UrbanToronto Forum contributor jackattack

The purpose-built rental project split design efforts between Danish firm COBE Architects, and local firm architects—Alliance, with the two shorter buildings by the Copenhagen-based COBE, and the taller one by Toronto's a—A. Our report begins with an August image, below, by UrbanToronto Forum Contributor skycandy. An area has been fenced off across from the site to act as a staging zone where new materials were delivered. The precast sections of concrete seen below will be assembled to make up the planters that will populate the landscaped public realm. 

Looking north at a storage area for materials, image by UrbanToronto Forum contributor skycandy

During the most active period of vertical forming work in the project’s construction, there were three cranes on site, but as construction advanced through the early fall, the project enjoyed a celebratory moment in late September when the final construction crane was removed from the roof of the easternmost building, the tallest of the three.

Looking west at the site of Canary Landing seen without a crane in October, image by UrbanToronto Forum contributor Rascacielo

The most notable change the project has seen in recent months has been the progress made in the process of the external cladding. In an image captured on October 29th by UrbanToronto Forum contributor Benito, we can see each of the three buildings clad up to their top levels. The textured sections of precast panels hold up quite well in comparison to their rendered selves, in particular, the convex panels that form a repeating pattern on the western two buildings affirm their role as a defining visual characteristic. The only remaining unclad areas are where the external construction hoist remains active. 

Looking northeast at the nearly completed cladding on all three buildings, image by UrbanToronto Forum contributor Benito

Down at ground level, the lowest sections of the podium were seen without cladding until mid-October, when a finishing crew was sent to lay the remainder of the brick. Interestingly, while the upper floors of the podium were finished with precast brick panels, the grade level bricks were laid by hand. From the pedestrian perspective, the difference can be seen clearly in the below image from UrbanToronto Forum contributor everydayhim. 

Ground level view of hand-laid bricks used to clad the lower podium, image by UrbanToronto Forum contributor everydayhim

With work continuing to progress, the project is a few short steps away from delivering 756 new rental units. Rented at market rate, the project will also offer an affordable housing component that integrates the affordable units randomly into the development. 

UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.

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UrbanToronto has a research service, UrbanToronto Pro, that provides comprehensive data on construction projects in the Greater Toronto Area—from proposal through to completion. We also offer Instant Reports, downloadable snapshots based on location, and a daily subscription newsletter, New Development Insider, that tracks projects from initial application.