2025 year in review – the Bathurst Quay Neighbourhood

Bev Thorpe, BQNA Board of Directors Chairperson

The BQNA celebrated its 35th anniversary this year

Since 1990 the BQNA’s mandate has been to help improve the quality of individual and community life in the Bathurst Quay neighbourhood. So, to mark our 35th anniversary we hosted "A Breath of Air" interactive community art event during Earth month in April to celebrate 35 years of community building. Visitors to the Arcadia Art Gallery saw an impressive collection of artwork, memorabilia and photos of our community over the decades while many took part in events ranging from song writing workshops, ‘playing with air’ scientific experiments for children, and a community improv event. We were joined by Councillor Ausma Malik and MPP Chris Glover for our cake cutting celebration while our workshop on air pollution featured Dr. Marianne Hatzopoulou who told the story of the University of Toronto’s partnership with the Bathurst Quay community. It was great to see a good turnout over 22 days and a big thank you goes out to all who helped make this happen.

Encampment Prevention Measures – the power of community action

This year saw a lot of activity to prevent more encampments in and around Little Norway Park. Due to an overflowing public turnout at our last AGM on November 6, 2024 the City moved into action two days later. The park was designated a priority for housing with action promised within 24-48 hours to clear any further tents and enforce the City by-law prohibiting overnight camping and tents.

On March 6 we saw the last of the tents removed after all the people living in Little Norway Park accepted more suitable shelter or found permanent homes thanks to action taken by the City and our own community. In total 87 indoor referrals were completed, 111 encampments were resolved, and 39,895 kg waste were removed. Since then however, many individuals and the encampment prevention committee have remained vigilant to alert the city when new tents appear. For example, the encampment underneath the grotto was fully removed, on October 10th thanks in large part to the steadfast stream of emails and phone calls from the community and the fast action by our Parks department, headed by Daniel Vala. Please consider joining the encampment prevention committee and add your voice for solutions to the housing crisis.

Community response to the fire at Windward Co-op

On August 29, 2025, a fire at Windward Co-op resulted in Thelma, Omari, and Naya losing their home. Luckily no one was hurt and our community immediately responded by helping to set up and advertise a GoFund me donation site for the family as well as other physical support.

BQNA launches Canada’s first national petition to regulate ultrafine particle air pollution – as a response to our Bathurst Quay Neighbourhood air quality study

We learned in 2024, that after three years of air quality measurements conducted by the University of Toronto research team, emissions from the nearby island airport have increased our air pollution exposure and in particular that flight and ground activities are major sources of ultrafine particles in our community. Ultrafine particles are linked to dementia, cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke and although the study did not do a full health assessment in the community, the results concern us. So, in the summer of 2025 we launched Canada’s first national petition to regulate ultrafine particles, along with a video about why we did this. Please watch the video, circulate the petition widely and consider joining the Air Quality Committee as we work to reduce emissions in our neighbourhood.

Island Airport to expand Runway End Safety Areas – We highlighted our concerns to Ports Toronto’s Environmental Assessment Report

The city airport is mandated to extend its runway end safety areas (RESA) and from a range of options, Ports Toronto has chosen to add 150 meters of infill on either end of the current runways into the harbour and lake. The construction will take place overnight and will last, at a minimum, one year.

Because our community exists next to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, we needed to understand what impact this will have on our community, so on June 26 we held a public information meeting at Windward Co-op. We had only 30 days in the middle of the summer to respond to Ports Toronto’s multi hundred-page Environmental Impact Report. Our BQNA written response met the deadline and outlined major concerns. We asked why alternatives to lake filling were dismissed out of hand, and why our community now faces 18 months to over 2 years of nighttime construction, noise, and light pollution when cheaper and more sustainable options are available.

These and other events are listed on our website and we encourage everyone to sign up for our newsletter and join one of our many committees to help make our community an enjoyable and safe place to live.

BQNA financial snapshot as at 24-November-2025

BQNA executive

Beverley Thorpe, Chairperson

Jacqueline McLaughlin, Vice-Chairperson

Brian Gottheil, Secretary

Ingrid van der Zande, Treasurer and Digital Designer

BQNA Board members by building

Arcadia Co-op: Holly Watson (rep) and Hannah Sherrett (alternate)

679 Queens Quay West: Jacqueline McLaughlin (rep)

Windward Co-op: Ash Legesse (rep) and Corrie Galloway (alternate)

King’s Landing: Lesley Monette (rep)

Quay West: Diane Jameson (rep)

Harbourside Co-op: Colleen Day (rep) and Tony Makepeace (alternate)

Harbour Channel Co-op: Todd Hollingsworth

Atrium on Queens Quay: Beverley Thorpe (rep)

Tip Top Lofts: Ingrid van der Zande (rep)

South Beach Marina: Brian Gottheil (rep) and Carolyn Sealfon (alternate)

25 Bishop Tutu: Jacqueline McLaughlin

500 Queens Quay west: rep positions open

550 Queens Quay west: rep positions open

Queens Harbour – 600 Queens Quay west: rep positions open

BQNA committees:

Air Quality

Health and Safety

Noise

BQNA liaison committees:

Billy Bishop Airport CLC

Billy Bishop Airport CLC Noise Subcommittee

City of Toronto – Toronto Island Projects

545 Lakeshore Shelter CLC

Toronto Emergency Measures Taskforce

Homelessness Taskforce