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"This report provides the recommended comprehensive planning framework for the Downsview area over the next 30 years to guide development of resilient, sustainable and equitable complete communities."

The City of Toronto and the province were meant to work together on future projects regarding the Ontario Place. Recently, the province has announced that it will not ask the city's permission to remove trees in areas such as the East Island and Mainland Island, with later plans affecting the  West Island. The province has already contracted companies to help remove the trees. As the city rules are not being followed, required rules and checks, such as heritage studies and environmental assessment, are not completed before work begins. The planned tree cutting range also includes land owned by the city, where the rules must be applied.

A sidewalk installation on Dwight Avenue between Birmingham Street and Maple Street in Ward 3 will result in the removal of twelve trees in the work zone, adjacent to Second Street Junior Middle School. Project staff have explored alternative options, and confirmed that there is no way to accommodate the sidewalk, and maintain the existing trees. There is significant concern among the local community that too many neighbourhood trees are being removed through various building and construction projects.

Ten of the twelve trees are tree species that are no longer being planted due to various impacts such as susceptibility to forest pests, like the Emerald Ash Borer or invasive qualities. As we know, because of these types of pests, it is likely that Ash trees in the City will require removal in the future. While the loss of these trees is significant, there is an opportunity to offset the removal, and bolster our tree canopy by increasing the replanting ratio, and planting healthier trees now.

Toronto is known around the world for its abundance of parks, expansive greenspaces, and sprawling ravine network. With an estimated 11.5 million trees, Toronto's canopy coverage is an impressive 28-31 percent and provides annual benefits worth over $55 million, including carbon sequestration, pollution removal, energy savings, and runoff reductions. When healthy, mature trees are removed, it takes decades or even centuries for saplings to restore their benefits.

The City has invested significant resources in protecting and enhancing Toronto's tree canopy. In 2017, City Council adopted the Toronto Ravine Strategy, providing an interdivisional framework for the management of our precious ravine system. City Council has also taken numerous steps to emphasize the importance of trees in the development review process, including introducing annual training for Committee of Adjustment members on Tree By-law related considerations in development applications.

“The Province of Ontario has revived a proposal to build the Greater Toronto Area West Highway (413), a fully separated 400-series highway in the northwest Greater Toronto Area. Its construction threatens critical agricultural lands, sensitive waterways, protected Greenbelt lands and conservation areas, as well as tens of thousands of jobs and billions in agriculture-related economic activity.”

“The carbon footprint of this highway will drive up greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, which have been steadily increasing in recent years. The highway is also in direct opposition to the City of Toronto's climate emergency declaration and commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

On November 5, 2020, the Government of Ontario introduced Bill 229, Protect, Support and Recover from COVID-19 Act (Budget Measures), 2020, an Omnibus Bill that proposes limitations to Conservation Authorities’ permitting, planning and enforcement powers if passed, will work to diminish Conservation Authorities’ ability to fulfill the Act’s purpose and objects.

Conservation Authorities are tasked with protecting life and property and the preservation of significant natural features within our watersheds and fastgrowing communities in the Greater Toronto Area. The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority plays a crucial role in the permitting process, often on behalf of our partner municipalities.

Historically, Toronto has lost much of its native biodiversity due to urbanization, including the destruction of forests, filling of ravines, and damming of waterways. While Toronto has made progress in protecting and managing natural habitats, challenges remain. Approximately "75% of the City's ravines and natural areas surveyed contain invasive species," with one-third severely impacted. With this is mind, Toronto’s first Biodiversity Strategy aims to foster healthier, more robust biodiversity and increase awareness of nature through a comprehensive vision, ten principles, and 23 actions under the themes of Protect, Restore, Design, and Engage. The strategy seeks to position Toronto as a leader in protecting and restoring urban biodiversity by developing an ecological integrity framework, advancing invasive species management, and joining the Biophilic Cities Network.

Every Tree Counts: A Portrait of Toronto's Urban Forest was first published in 2010 and subsequently revised in 2013. Toronto's first-ever tree canopy assessment provided necessary baseline data to help the City make management decisions to meet urban forestry objectives. The 2008 canopy study made use of two distinct approaches to quantitatively determine the extent and distribution of urban forest cover: (1) the manual photo-interpretation of land cover class for approximately 10,000 randomly distributed sample points using 2009 leaf-on aerial imagery, and (2) a forest cover estimate derived through a semi-automated land cover classification process using 2007 leaf-on satellite imagery. 

Toronto's canopy cover was estimated to be between 26.6 and 28 percent. The random point sampling method estimated 26.6 percent canopy cover while the semi-automated land cover classification method estimated 28 percent canopy cover. The semi-automated method included post-classification manual corrections by USDA Forest Service staff. 

Tree canopy studies of this kind are an important part of the adaptive management cycle for Urban Forestry. They allow City staff to work with reliable data to adjust program activities that reflect the changing nature of the urban forest and evolving management issues. 

“Toronto's Ravine System is one of the world's largest urban ecosystems and covers nearly 17 percent of our City at an area of over 11,000 hectares. It is a primary source of habitat for Toronto's terrestrial biodiversity, provides tremendous economic benefit to the City and is internationally renowned as one of Toronto's most unique and defining features. A recent scientific study from the University of Toronto's Faculty of Forestry has demonstrated the immense ecological decline Toronto's Ravine System has endured over previous decades, concluding that widespread, science-based action must be taken immediately.”