To prevent flooding from the Don River, a channel was created to extend the river south and then west into Toronto Harbour providing another outlet and a more natural mouth for the Don River. The new channel creates the island, which is also bounded by the Keating Channel and Toronto Harbour. Mixed-use residential development is planned for the Island.
The area now called Ookwemin Minising has been known by several names since the Port Lands revitalization project began. In November 2024, to mark the creation of the new island, the City of Toronto officially adopted the name Ookwemin Minising as part of the Port Lands Indigenous Place Naming Initiative.[2]
The naming involved an Indigenous Advisory Circle, which included Elders, Knowledge Keepers, language speakers, youth, and cultural leaders. The Advisory Circle brought together representatives from Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Métis backgrounds. Participants represented several nations, such as the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, Williams Treaty First Nations (including the Mississaugas of Curve Lake, Alderville, Hiawatha, and Scugog Island), Chippewas of Lake Simcoe (Beausoleil, Georgina Island, and Rama), Six Nations of the Grand River, and the Métis Nation of Ontario.[3]
This name reflects the Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe) tradition of naming places after local flora and landscape features, as seen in other local names like "Adoobigok" (the place of the alders) near the Etobicoke Creek. Black cherry trees historically grew along the waterfront, connecting Toronto’s new island to its natural past and restoring these trees was seen to symbolize the revitalization of native ecosystems. Many black cherry trees are being planted on the island.
The initiative focused on honoring the historical and cultural significance of Indigenous peoples, particularly the traditional caretakers of the land, through the selection of a new name.[4]
According to the Don Mouth Naturalization and Port Lands Flood Protection Project – Archeological Assessment of Existing Conditions, black cherry trees were among the species found in the complex ecosystem surrounding the lower Don River. This region supported a patchwork of diverse plant communities, including dry uplands and wet lowlands, which fostered a rich coastal wetland ecosystem comparable to other Great Lakes areas like Long Point on Lake Erie.[5]
The area now known as Ookwemin Minising was previously referred to by several names, including the Lower Don Lands, River Precinct, Cousins Quay, reflecting various phases of planning. From about 2014 to 2024, it was referred to as Villiers Island. The planning name originated from Villiers Street, a key street on the island named in the early 20th century after Villiers Sankey (1854-1905), a former City Surveyor for Toronto. Villiers Street will continue to be a prominent street on the island.
In 2007, Waterfront Toronto held an urban design contest to establish a plan for what was then called the Lower Don Lands Precinct. The competition was won by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates’ (MMVA), which designed the precinct around a re-naturalized Don River.[6] A preferred design for the Don Mouth was adopted by the City of Toronto in 2014, and options presented for the Villiers Island/Cousins Quay Precinct Plan.[7]
In October 2017, the Port Lands Planning Framework and Villiers Island Precinct Plan (now Ookwemin Minising Precinct Plan) were adopted by Toronto City Council. The Port Lands Flood Protection project is being funded by all three orders of government. The design for Port Lands Flood Protection was established through an Environmental Assessment, approved in 2015. The plan established design and development objectives for the area. The plan was developed by Urban Strategies Inc. of Toronto, with support from Arup and other firms, with the City of Toronto and Waterfront Toronto. In 2024, the precinct plan was updated to update the vision from a predominantly mid-rise community to a dense, urban neighbourhood to increase the amount of affordable housing.[8]
In November 2024, Waterfront Toronto announced it had completed the new mouth for the Don River and the City of Toronto announced the new island would formally be named Ookwemin Minising.[9] Plans for Ookwemin Minising show a greenbelt, and parkland, surrounding a developed central area based on a grid. The developed central area will be primarily residential, with up to 9,000 units planned.
The new river channel was modelled on other natural river mouths in the Toronto area and includes significant new natural space that provides habitat for migrating birds and wildlife. The new channel empties into Toronto Harbour at what is now the Polson slip. The island lies on former industrial land, first created through landfill in the early 20th century. Several buildings were demolished or moved during construction to build the new river and parks. Buildings considered to have heritage value will be preserved. Some existing industrial uses were moved to the main shipping channel to the south.
South of Lake Shore Boulevard East, Cherry Street was relocated slightly to the west with new bridges crossing the Keating Channel. The Cherry Street lift bridge was demolished to widen the Keating Channel to improve flood conveyance during large flood events.[10] The Don Greenway, a new river valley, was constructed south from the Don River, crossing Commissioners Street under a new bridge, and continuing south into the Ship Channel. This new channel allows high water from the Don River to flow move easily south by avoiding the 90-degree turn into the Keating Channel.
The new parkland, named Biidaasige Park is opening in 2025 and people can expect to move into new housing on the island by 2031 as part of a first development phase.[11]
Four new bridges provide three access points to Ookwemin Minising. All bridges were built by Cherubini Bridges and Structures in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, at a total cost of . All three locations will have provision for future streetcar service, which may be a future expansion of the proposed East Bayfront LRT. All four bridges have the same esthetic design and each span have a curved steel dome (designed by CIG Architecture of the Netherlands) rising over the road surface. All bridge spans were pre-assembled in Dartmouth and shipped on a barge via the Saint Lawrence Seaway.
The four bridges are as follows:
| Cherry Street North (transit) | 340 tonnes | ||||
| Cherry Street North (road) | 450 tonnes | ||||
| Cherry Street South | 790 tonnes | ||||
| Commissioners Street | 1,210 tonnes |
There will be a provision for three additional bridges in the future:
On May 6, 2024, it was announced that another bridge called the Equinox Bridge will be constructed to connected the island to mainland Toronto. It will be in the shape of an "S" and have an array of fanning cables.[13]
The island is a product of Waterfront Toronto's Port Lands Flood Protection Project. In November 2024, after six years of construction Waterfront Toronto connected the Don River to the channel forming the new mouth of the river and the island, Ookwemin Minising.[14] Before this milestone water from the Don River made a 90-degree turn into the Keating Channel, creating a bottleneck for water and a risk of flooding.
The new channel is the primary outlet for the Don River; the Keating Channel is a secondary outlet if the need arises; and the Don Greenway is a third outlet, located south-east of the Island. The Don Greenway is a spillway and wetland situated between where the new Don River channel bends from south to west and the Ship Channel. Normally, water in the Don Greenway will only come from the Ship Channel. However, if the new Don River channel cannot handle high water volumes, then that water would be allowed to flood the Don Greenway and flow into the Ship Channel.
The island was first part of the "Ashbridge's Bay" wetlands around the original mouth of the Don River, connected to a sandbar that is now the Toronto Islands. By the turn of the 20th century, the marsh had become polluted, and the city filled it with landfill, and devoted it to industrial purposes. Some of the early twentieth century landfill was polluted, contaminated with heavy metals or toxic chemicals. The industrial enterprises were also polluting, including acres of petroleum tank farms and berms of road salt.
The city had also canalized and straightened the lower reach of the Don River, so it flowed straight for 5km (03miles) from Bloor/Danforth to what is now Lake Shore Boulevard, where it made a right hand turn and ran 1km (01miles) west into the Keating Channel. This right-hand turn caused a significant build-up of silt and debris that had to be removed by the port authorities regularly to minimize flooding of the surrounding area after a storm.
By 2000, the area around the mouth of the Don River had declined in usage and significant areas were vacant. These lands were not developable due to the cost of remediating the polluted lands, and the lack of flood protection. To "unlock" the area for development, Waterfront Toronto proposed to "naturalize" the mouth of the Don River. In conjunction with this, berms were built at Corktown Commons. The area between the Keating Channel and the new naturalized mouth would become a new island, Ookwemin Minising, to be redeveloped for a mix of residential and open space uses.