Reimagining the Queen's Park Farm

Project Update, April 25, 2023: Council has adopted the Queen’s Park Farm Master Plan, approving the Habitat + Grow concept and triggering the Phase 1 implementation to begin transforming the space into an interactive habitat for creatures as well as creating places to learn, play and gather.

Next steps are set to get underway later this spring and summer, and include:

• Detailed design of the Habitat + Grow concept
• Removal of six huts and feeder structures
• Retrofit of the long narrow building and both gazebos
• Working with an Indigenous Knowledge Keeper to incorporate culturally-significant features and/or programs into the space
• Opening the space for summer programming, such as day camps, etc.
• Developing year-round programming opportunities such as eco-art, workshops, educational programs, artist-in-residence, etc.

Click here to review the Queen's Park Farm Master Plan, and click here for the final report to Council on April 24, 2023.

Project Update, March 2023: Thanks to your input through this engagement, the preferred design option "Habitat + Grow" is being recommended to Council for adoption.

While the engagement results indicated a higher level of support for the Habitat concept, there were features from the Grow concept that were clearly favoured by the community. As a result, the preferred option is a revised version of the Habitat concept enriched with popular features from the Grow concept such as:

• Mushroom wall
• Log slide
• Plant tunnel
• Understory planting
• Sound features

Based on community feedback, the preferred concept, referred to as “Habitat + Grow,” aims to create a centralized location in Queen’s Park to:

1. Promote principles of environmental stewardship and habitat restoration: lessons that are particularly important in a time of climate change and biodiversity loss;
2. Encourage community members to recognize food in nature (holistic view of food systems and cycles within Queen’s Park);
3. Grow edible plants that will inherently foster wildlife habitat (food systems form the basis of habitat and healthy thriving ecosystems);
4. Provide resilient interventions and stewardship opportunities to withstand frequent use and help reduce need for intensive maintenance;
5. Offer interactive educational opportunities that engage with Indigenous knowledge and traditions 1; and
6. Actively engage toddlers (ages 18 months to 4 years) and young children (ages 5-12 years+) with play, exercise, and exploration, including experiential features that do not require reading to have an element of learning."

Project Update, February 6, 2023: The What We Heard Engagement Summary Report is now available for the Phase 2 engagement! Click here to read about the preferred concept and features, key themes we heard from participants, and all the details about the engagement process.

Participants in the Phase 2 engagement were asked to share their overall preference for which design concept they would like to see in the Farm space. More than 400 responses were received across all engagement activities, and these were the results.

You can also review the direct comments from participants in the verbatim report, here.

Next Steps: City staff are applying community feedback as they develop a final preferred concept for the future of this unique space in Queen's Park. A report to Council with the engagement results and final design is expected in March 2023.

Implementation of Phase 1 of the final design is anticipated for summer 2023.

Phase 2 Community Engagement: November 2022

The project team is excited to share two design concepts for the future of the farm space! Phase 2 Engagement took place November-December 2022.

Concept A: Habitat: This concept option focuses on where plants or animals live and where they get food and water. The design includes three types of habitat that support a diversity of animals and plants – a pollinator meadow, smaller forest plantings, and a wetland.

Concept B: Grow: This concept option focuses on edible plants that will grow well in the shade in a forested area. The design encourages exploration and aims to educate visitors about plants grown for eating and medicine, and how to grow and harvest responsibly.

Click here to review the conceptual plans for the Habitat and Grow design options!

The conceptual design options were developed based on what we heard from community members during the Phase 1 engagement last year. Click here or scroll down for more details on the Phase 1 engagement, what we heard, and the project background.

Community members were invited and encouraged to explore both of the concept designs and then share feedback through several engagement opportunities: An online survey, virtual workshop on Zoom, and a drop-in engagement session with family-friendly activities at the greenhouse in Queen’s Park.