Why revitalize?

The original Don Mount Court development was built in 1968 at a time when providing housing only for low income households was thought to be the best approach. The design removed city streets and placed buildings in a self-contained, park-like setting. The unintended result was a design that isolated the community from the surrounding neighbourhood.

In 2000, an engineering study revealed extensive concrete deterioration and the need to take action to ensure resident safety and meet provincial housing standards. When Toronto Community Housing was created and had responsibility for Don Mount Court in 2002, a significant number of units were deemed uninhabitable. Based on tenant and community input and engineering advice, Toronto Community Housing and its partners decided to revitalize Don Mount Court as a mixed community, including both rental and ownership housing. 

Making revitalization happen

Toronto Community Housing created a subsidiary, the Don Mount Court Development Corporation (DMCDC), to oversee redevelopment plan.

Through a request-for-proposals process, the Don Mount Court Development Corporation Board selected Intracorp Development Inc. and Marion-Hill Development Corporation to redevelop the site and oversee the redevelopment.

The Don Mount Court Plan is a community-based endeavour. The planning process for redevelopment involved neighbourhood and tenant advisory committees that met over 20 times each to provide local input to the plans. There were also a number of community open forums which helped to balance the demands on the site. 

On September 14, 2004 the Toronto and East York Community Council unanimously approved a Zoning Bylaw and Official Plan Amendment to redevelop the Don Mount Court housing complex. Toronto City Council gave the final stamp of approval on September 28, 2004.

About the plan

The The Don Mount Court Plan knits social housing back into the fabric of the surrounding community. The plan calls for all original 232 rent-geared-to-income units to be replaced within stacked townhouses and a low-rise apartment building. In addition, 187 market-ownership condominium townhouses are included in the plan. The result is a mixed-income, mixed-use neighbourhood that is reintegrated with surrounding communities. A new neighbourhood park will be built to expand the Joel Weeks Parkette into a two-acre community-designed facility.

Revitalization in action

Demolition began in October 2004, with care taken to recycle building materials, save as many trees as possible and minimize dust and noise during the demolition. 

During the revitalization of Don Mount Court, a large number of residents moved to other Toronto Community Housing developments in nearby areas and were guaranteed the right to return to a new rent-geared-to-income home in the Don Mount Court/Rivertowne community. Returning tenants were given a tour of the new units and the response was positive. Tenants who lived in phase one and phase two have all had the opportunity to move to new, completed units.