Canary District
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Canary District is a planned neighbourhood in Toronto's West Don Lands mixed-use development.[1] The area was formerly industrial land, cut off from the city by an elevated roadway and two rail corridors, sitting in a floodplain. Six initial buildings initially served as the 2015 Pan American Games Athletes' Village for the 2015 Pan American Games.[2] Those buildings were then finished and converted to private residences. More buildings have since been constructed for private residences, with Front Street lined with stores, businesses and restaurants.
For decades an iconic restaurant, the Canary, was located in the Cherry Street Hotel, a heritage building on the southeast corner of Cherry and Front streets, the gateway to the new district.[3] The restaurant mounted a large neon Canary, and developers chose to name the new development after the iconic restaurant.
Canary District is bounded on the west by Cherry Street and on the east by the Don River; on the north by Eastern Avenue and on the south by the railroad tracks. The natural focal point of the area is Corktown Common Park.
There are no separate dwellings in the area; all the residences are either condominiums or rental housing. There more than a dozen building developments — most now complete but several are still under construction or in the pre-construction phase.[4] Once all the planned developments are complete there will be more than 6,000 apartments in the district, making for a population of more than 10,000. The area also includes the Cooper Koo YMCA,[5] a student residence owned by George Brown College,[6] and an indigenous health hub run by Anishnawbe Health Toronto.[7]