Peggy Leung stands outside her Toronto home, which has been slated for expropriation by Metrolinx in preparation for construction around the Ontario Line, on Dec. 13.Cole Burston/The Globe and Mail
The expansion of Toronto’s subway system is forcing dozens of homeowners to sell their properties to the provincial government, more than 100 renters to find new apartments and the planned relocation of an elementary school.
Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency, is expropriating dozens of east-end properties for the construction of the Ontario Line, a 15.6-kilometre subway line from the city’s core to an area northeast of the downtown to increase capacity and reduce overcrowding.
“It’s been bumpy,” said Coun. Paula Fletcher. “This is an unintended consequence of building transit.”
Under provincial law, there is no mechanism for homeowners whose land is required for priority transit projects, such as the Ontario Line, to fight expropriation. Some residents have already been displaced while others have until late 2025 to leave. Major construction work on the $27.2-billion project began last year and is expected to be completed in 2031.
“It’s basically, no pun intended, like a train coming down the track,” said Ava Kanner, a lawyer who represents some of the affected residents. “You just have to get off the track and make the best deal that you can.”
Peggy Leung learned that her home of 14 years was being expropriated when Metrolinx representatives knocked on her door last summer. The news was especially shocking because Ms. Leung said she and her neighbours had previously been told their properties on a stretch of Pape Avenue north of Dundas Street East were not needed.
“I’m sick to my stomach,” said Ms. Leung, who operates a home daycare. “I’m so sad that this is happening to me.”
Metrolinx is working closely with affected homeowners and tenants to reach “amicable agreements,” spokesperson Andrea Ernesaks said in an e-mail.
“We only acquire properties that are absolutely necessary for the construction of transit projects, and we strive to limit project footprints with our designs,” she said.
Metrolinx compensates owners of expropriated properties “at fair market value” based on third-party appraisals, Ms. Ernesaks said.
In addition, homeowners receive an additional 5-per-cent allowance for the inconvenience of finding another place to live and coverage for expenses, such as legal and moving costs, Ms. Kanner said.
Unlike with typical expropriations, Metrolinx is not planning to demolish the two dozen houses on Ms. Leung’s block. Instead, the agency is acquiring the properties and requiring residents to move out by November, 2025 because of concerns over potential structural damage caused by underground tunnelling.
Metrolinx initially said homeowners could repurchase their properties at future market value when the project is completed, Ms. Leung said. However, the agency is now considering allowing owners to buy them back for the same price it agrees to pay, according to Ms. Kanner.
Metrolinx considers “all potential real estate options, including a buy back with existing owners,” Ms. Ernesaks said.
The expropriation process has been especially difficult for renters, said Ms. Fletcher, who has calculated that more than 150 tenants, homeowners and businesses in her east-end ward are being displaced, a process that began a couple of years ago. (Metrolinx declined to provide figures.)
Ms. Fletcher said Metrolinx has done a poor job of helping low-income, vulnerable tenants find affordable replacement housing in the city’s expensive rental market. One man who had lived in a rooming house ended up couch-surfing for months, she said.
“The impact on them has just been a tremendous change in their life, over which they’ve had very little control,” she said. “I love the transit. I love we’re having it built, but we just can’t be displacing people to that degree in a thoughtless way.”
Metrolinx “works diligently and with empathy directly with tenants throughout the process to provide supports based on their unique needs” to help them find new accommodations, Ms. Ernesaks said.
In addition, the construction of the Ontario Line is poised to temporarily displace a school. Toronto District School Board staff have recommended the relocation of Pape Avenue Junior Public School and an on-site daycare to a board property 1.2 kilometres away that now houses an adult learning centre. The school has 284 students from junior kindergarten to Grade 6 and the daycare has a capacity of 47 toddlers and preschoolers.
“The recommendation to relocate was made, out of an abundance of caution, to address concerns around health, safety, and potential disruptions to the learning environment,” principal Carol Shea said in a Dec. 19 letter to parents.
However, Metrolinx disputed the need to move the school, saying its health and safety plan “protects for the continued, safe operation of the school throughout construction,” Ms. Ernesaks said. She said Metrolinx is working with the TDSB to “minimize or avoid impacts” and has built a noise wall and provided crossing guards and paid duty officers.
For its part, the TDSB said information provided by Metrolinx “does not fully allay concerns” about the project’s impacts on the school, according to a presentation to families in late November. These concerns include noise, dust, debris, vibration and traffic.
A report recommending the school’s relocation, which would take place over the summer and last for an estimated two years, is expected to be considered by TDSB trustees in January.
Asked if Metrolinx would pay for the relocation costs, board spokesperson Zoya McGroarty said: “This is currently under negotiation.”