Everything you need to know about the Guildwood TOC Project
- Ashley Tilley
- Dec 22
- 5 min read
Updated: 8 hours ago
Led by two provincial agencies – Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx – the Ontario government has identified the Guildwood GO Station area as a site for a Transit-Oriented Community (TOC). TOCs are intended to concentrate housing, jobs, and services near major transit to support ridership, reduce car dependence, and address housing supply pressures across the Toronto region.
The proposed plans call for extreme density of approximately 2,500 housing units through the construction of tall towers (two at 60 storeys, one 40, one 35 and two more at 30) on the north parking lot of the GO station. The consultant’s report uses other nearby proposals to justify this development application, but the report ignores that many of the nearby proposals have not moved from the conceptual stage to building in decades. For example, the most recent application at the former car dealership at 4121 Kingston Road is proposed to have 1,029 housing units (additional towers at 38, 29, 13, and 12 stories) but this site has remained undeveloped for ~10-15 years. Even if this adjacent site were to be approved and constructed, there would be 3,500+ new housing units to the north side of the Guildwood GO station. This magnitude of development would be significantly out of character for this community and would have many negative impacts.
What Is Being Proposed (in principle)
While detailed designs for the Guildwood location have not yet been finalized, the current designs TOC frameworks typically include:
Mid- to high-density residential buildings, potentially with a mix of market and affordable units
Ground-floor community or retail uses near the station
Improved station access, pedestrian routes, cycling connections, and public realm upgrades
Limited parking, emphasizing transit, walking, and cycling
Integration with existing GO rail operations and future service increases
This proposed development includes 6 towers:
2X 60 storeys at 520 units each
1X40 storey of 340 units
1X35 storey of 270 units
2X30 storeys at 220 units each
3X7 storey buildings with 176/168/120 units
Total = 2,534 new housing units, with new office, retail and commercial space.
The consultant’s report also shows that there will be 709 underground parking spaces on two levels and 760 at-grade parking spaces, plus a pickup and drop-off area.
The lands around Guildwood GO are controlled or influenced by Infrastructure Ontario (the real estate arm of the province), meaning that Queen’s Park can advance development through a TOC process that can override certain local planning controls normally exercised by the City of Toronto. This is important to understand, and community participation in all of the consultation processes are essential to shaping the proposed development.
Potential Community Impacts
Potential Positive Impacts
Housing supply near transit: New homes close to GO service can help relieve broader housing pressures while enabling car-light living.
Better station area design: TOC projects often fund safer crossings, lighting, sidewalks, landscaping, and weather-protected access to trains.
Local economic activity: Construction jobs, new residents, and small-scale retail can bring modest economic uplift to the area.
Environmental gains: Concentrating growth near transit can support lower per-capita emissions and aligns with climate goals with proper supporting infrastructure
Potential Negative Impacts
Neighbourhood scale and character: Massive proposed buildings have zero comparable structures anywhere in the vicinity, and higher density may feel out of context with Guildwood Village’s established low-rise, green character.
Traffic and parking spillover: Without careful design and enforcement, nearby streets could experience congestion or commuter parking pressure.
Infrastructure strain: Schools, parks, sewers, and local roads may face added demand if growth outpaces upgrades.
Reduced local control: Provincial TOC powers can limit community and City influence over height, massing, and land use outcomes.
The Guildwood GO Transit-Oriented Community presents a rare opportunity to build on its strongest asset: direct access to regional rail service that can anchor growth aligned with broader housing and climate goals. With the potential for publicly funded improvements to the public realm, the area could evolve into a more connected, welcoming hub. Yet the station’s location—hemmed in by existing infrastructure, limited road capacity, and challenging topography—means that any development must be carefully tailored to Guildwood’s context rather than relying on a one‑size‑fits all model. Further, while the aim of reducing car reliance is a lovely thought, with Canada’s harsh winters, Scarborough’s lack of supporting infrastructure (including proposed EELRT) now and for the foreseeable future means that we can’t just bury our heads in the sand and assume everyone will make an instant transition. If the Scarborough Cross town project is used as an example, we’re 15-20 years out from viable supporting infrastructure. The net impact on the surrounding community should be a positive one, not one that makes everyone’s situation worse.
Thoughtful early engagement could potentially help improve design elements, focus more on actually liveable units, affordable housing inclusion, and to secure meaningful community benefits, such as upgraded parks, safer pedestrian and cycling routes, and better accessibility, while also setting a new precedent for context-sensitive TOC design in established neighbourhoods.
However, the path forward is not without risks; overdevelopment without matching infrastructure investment, eroded trust if consultation feels performative, and long-term impacts on livability from height, shadowing, and traffic pressures all pose real threats. Navigating these tensions will require a balanced approach that respects the character of Guildwood while embracing its potential as a transit-connected community.
The Bottom Line
A TOC at Guildwood GO presents real potential opportunities—better transit access, new housing that matches consumer demand and needs, and upgraded public spaces—but also real risks if scale, infrastructure, and community fit are not addressed upfront. For Guildwood residents, the key issue is not whether growth happens, but how it happens: it needs to be with clear limits, tangible community benefits, and transparent collaboration between Infrastructure Ontario, Metrolinx, the City, and the Guildwood community. Please take the time to review the documentation, come out to the virtual and in person consultations happening in January armed with your questions, comments and support or concerns as “Details related to the preferred community benefits for Guildwood TOC will be confirmed through public, stakeholder, Indigenous, and municipal engagement, and be included as part of a revised Guildwood TOC Development proposal submitted to the City at a later date.
UPCOMING CONSULTATIONS
VIRTUAL: Thursday, January 15, 2026, at 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM
Click here to register
IN-PERSON: Tuesday, January 20, 2026, at 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM Guildwood Community Presbyterian Church, 140 Guildwood Parkway
Click here to register
Key Report Quotes:
“Section 2: Site and Surrounding Area Site and Surrounding Area introduce the TOC Land and the surrounding neighbourhood, helping to contextualize existing conditions in the area. This includes a review of site and neighbourhood history, immediate adjacencies, and the existing and planned context as it relates to the built form, transportation, the public realm, and development activity.”
“The design process gave careful consideration to the height, massing, and positioning of buildings, with the intent to concentrate height and density closest to the station area (Block B) and provide appropriate transitions to the surrounding context. The siting and height of the towers would mitigate shadow impacts, with priority given to limiting shadows on parks and open spaces and achieving at least 5 hours of sunlight on such areas.”
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