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Our History
| 1988 | Public dismay over the development of federal waterfront property leads the Government of Canada to establish the Royal Commission on the Future of the Toronto Waterfront with Honourable David Crombie as Commissioner. |
| 1992 | Ontario establishes the Waterfront Regeneration Trust to implement recommendations of "Regeneration", a Royal Commission report which includes over 80 recommendations based on public consultations. One of these recommendations is to create a continuous waterfront trail along the Lake Ontario shoreline. |
| 1993 | The Trust examines the issues around building an expressway along Hamilton's Red Hill Creek, and works with community groups and residents to develop a plan that protects the Creek while also serving transportation needs. |
| 1994 | The Trust mediates issues concerning Clarington's Westside Marsh and a local quarry expansion. Over the next three years, the Trust facilitates the creation of a plan that preserves 60% of the marsh and lets the quarry continue operations. |
| 1995 | The Trust opens the Waterfront Trail, a 350-kilometre, virtually continuous trail along the Lake Ontario shoreline, which connects hundreds of parks, historic and cultural sites, wildlife habitats and recreation areas from Stoney Creek to Trenton. |
| The Lake Ontario Greenway Strategy is released, which is a blueprint for protecting, restoring, and enhancing the waterfront and bioregion. Also, the first edition of The Waterfront Trail Guidebook is published. | |
| Heritage Canada donates $8.5 million to the Trust to support the conservation of the Rouge Valley. | |
| 1996 | The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) announces a 5-year, $1 million partnership with the Trust. |
| The Trust supports the launch of the Toronto Bay Initiative, a grassroots organization whose goal is to protect and restore the Toronto Bay. | |
| 1997 | The Trust publishes "Greening Toronto's Port Lands", a plan for improving the area's visual, recreational, and environmental quality, in collaboration with landscape architect Michael Hough. The Trust coordinates the first waterfront-wide user survey of the Waterfront Trail. The results confirm the public's overwhelming support for a continuous trail along Lake Ontario. |
| The Washington D.C.-based Waterfront Center honours the Waterfront Trail and the Humber River Bicycle/Pedestrian Bridge for excellence in design. | |
| $1.5 million in donations raised by philanthropist Jim Fleck are held in the Trust's Waterfront Regeneration Fund and designated for the Toronto Music Garden. The design is inspired and championed by cellist Yo Yo Ma. | |
| The Trust begins a partnership with the Toronto Region Conservation Authority, Environment Canada and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, to provide leadership for the Toronto Remedial Action Plan to improve water quality and habitats. | |
| 1998 | In partnership with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the German Marshall Fund, and Environment Canada, the Trust's International Brownfield Exchange is launched. |
| 1999 | The Waterfront Regeneration Trust becomes an independent,
charitable organization. An innovative partnership involving the City of Hamilton, Hamilton Region Conservation Authority, Waterfront Regeneration Trust and the Province begins the long-awaited transformation of Hamilton Beach. The partnership includes the transfer of public lands and financing for Waterfront Trail development. Funds for the latter are held in the Waterfront Regeneration Fund. |
| 2000 | The Trust publishes "Decade of Regeneration: Realizing a Vision for Lake Ontario", a chronicle of revitalization achievements along the Lake Ontario waterfront |
| 2001 | Working with 28 municipalities and over 30 community
partners, the Trust coordinates a funding proposal that would bring
$45 million of investment along Lake Ontario's waterfront. The Trust hosts the fourth annual Clean Waters Summit and launches Clean Waters, Healthy Habitats, a call to action for the Toronto waterfront and watersheds. |
| 2002 | CIBC recommits to the partnership that will complete
the 740 km Waterfront Trail over the next three years. Since the inception
of the Trail, CIBC has contributed $1.25 million.
The Trust organizes the Toronto Star End to End Tour of the Waterfront Trail. The tour becomes the subject of a six-part feature in the Toronto Star, profiling regeneration successes of waterfront communities and the Waterfront Trail. The Trust publishes the 2002 Waterfront User Survey, the only comprehensive research that profiles Trail users and records their assessments of the Trail. The survey confirms that over 90% of respondents support the creation of a continuous Waterfront Trail. The Ontario Trillium Foundation funds the Trust's work in three communities to help them create waterfront strategies. |
| 2003 | The Canada-Ontario Infrastructure Program and SuperBuild announce their contribution of $9.2 million to support the Trust's Expansion and Enhancement of the Waterfront Trail and Greenway. Municipalities and local partners will invest an additional $23 million to complete 53 projects along the Waterfront Trail. The Trust creates the Pedal Passport, a brochure outlining six weekend itineraries that together take people from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Brockville along the Waterfront Trail. 46 kilometres of Waterfront Trail in signed along the Loyalist Parkway in Greater Napanee and Loyalist. |
| 2004 | The Trust launches the redesigned website for the Waterfront Trail. The first phase of the redesign posts a complete set of maps for the Trail from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Brockville and suggested itineraries. Twelve of the fifty-three projects from the Expansion and Enhancement of the Waterfront Trail and Greenway are completed. Gananoque signs its portion of the Lake Ontario Waterfront Trail. |
2005 |
The Trust board approves the extension of the Lake Ontario Waterfront Trail to the Quebec border. Discussions begin with the local communities to set the formal agreements in place. |
| 2006 | Trust staff meets with partners from communities east of Brockville as part of the 2006 End-to-End Tour. Trust receives enthusiastic support for the extension of the Trail from Brockville to the Quebec border. |
| 2007 | The Waterfront Trail is signed to the Quebec border. Trust welcomes 7 new communities to the Waterfront Trail partnership. Plans are put in place to construct a kiosk at the border to mark the connection with la Route Verte. Trust celebrates the completion of the 52 projects that comprise the Expansion and Enhancement of the Waterfront Trail and Greenway. |
| 2008 | In response to overwhelming support from the partnership, the Trust launches the Great Waterfront Trail Adventure, an 8-day end-to-end cycling tour of the Waterfront Trail, designed to showcase the Waterfront Trail and the communities along the route, and promote cycle tourism and healthy, active living in Ontario. The Great Waterfront Trail Adventure is generously supported by the Ontario Trillium Foundation and CIBC. CIBC renews its partnership with the Trust providing $250,000 over five years. |
2010 |
The Trust compiles a second phase for the Waterfront Investment Program that will deliver 25 improvements and enhancements to the Waterfront Trail. The program involves 16 municipal partners and represents an investment of $18 M. Funding from senior governments is not yet secured. |
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