Unbalanced Growth in Downtown Toronto: Maintaining Employment Uses in Toronto’s Downtown Core

Downtown Toronto is experiencing a significant increase in residential development. It attracts people and investment due to its mixture of land uses, transit, and vibrant urban environment. As an employment node, downtown plays an important role in the economic stability of the city. The King-Spadina case study is used to argue that unbalanced growth is occurring within a significant employment area and if left unmitigated, will seriously undermine the future employment growth opportunities that will be necessary to the continued success of the city. This study found that: 1) King- Spadina is a significant employment area, 2) King-Spadina is experiencing rapid population growth, 3) King-Spadina contains a significant amount of developable land, and 4) Residential development is displacing non-residential uses and consuming remaining soft sites at a significant pace. Recommendations are made to address the nature of growth happening in the area and to better protect long-term employment growth opportunities.