Downsview’s Suburban Development

• Following the Second World War, the Downsview area faced a substantial population growth from a farming village with over 200 British population to an industrial urban centre with 140 000 residents. This increase in population was experienced throughout Toronto due to servicemen and women’s return to Canada post-war. A massive increase in the natural birth rate followed.
  

• Another factor that added to the general increase in the post-war Toronto population was Immigration. This was the time when Immigrants, refugees, and displaced persons were permitted to enter Canada. Before the war, immigration to Canada was only restricted to persons of British and western European origin. However, due to the post-war destruction, the country opened its border to immigrants from different parts of the world.
  

• Today, Downsview community is largely comprised of new Canadians of different cultural groups, speaking 112 different languages. In 1950, Immigration to Canada of the Italians grew substantially, settling from the downtown core and relocated to Downsview. A predominantly Italian community formed adjacent to Dufferin St, west across Lawrence Ave. and then north along Jane St. 
  

• There has also been a formation of Jewish community in the Downsview area when Reuben Phillips sold 25 acres of land to Mount Sinai Jewish Cemetery, which is adjacent to the railway. (find data chart)
  

• Following the wartime expansion of the airport, Dufferin St. faced restrictions and congestion between Wilson and sheppard avenues. By 1955, the area’s population was 34000, expected to grow to 67000 by 1980. To address the congestion, the metro toronto council approved the spadina expressway project on october 22, 1957, intended to link hwy 7 and lakeshore blvd. However, concerns about its impact, particularly regarding noise and safety related to the nearby downsview airport, emerged. By the early 1970s, the roadway, partially completed and renamed the Allen Expressway, faced criticism. The 1958 dufferin study recommended relocating baycrest public school and controlling lighting in spadina expressway to mitigate airport-related issues, while also noting the need for additional parkland near lawrence avenue. 
  

• Wilson Avenue was a concession road built between Hogg’s Hollow and Humber River with intersections that suffered traffic congestion. In 1948, the largely rural area of Wilson Avenue was quickly developed and improved, with jogged intersections eliminated and traffic lights installed to ease congestion. By 1953, the area quickly became a “commercial ribbon development.” Commuting workers driving to and from the airport also contributed to the traffic congestion at Wilson Avenue. These traffic congestion became a concern for emergency proportions. Moreover, if it was necessary for the runway to get extended from north-south of the Downsview airport, the federal government would need to provide a tunnel across that portion of Wilson Avenue, or that this portion will have to be closed at that point. 
  

• In 1962, the Sheppard Avenue Diversion Report suggested several solutions to the closure of Sheppard Avenue between Keele and Dufferin Street which was disruptive to the traffic and commuters in the Downsview community. This closure happened post-war when the Department of Defence Procurement expropriated private lands adjacent to the Downsview Airport. In response, the Department of National Defence allocated 86 feet of land north of the airport to North York Township to create a highway to replace the closed section. The department also contributed $30,000 to help build this new road, known as the Sheppard Avenue Diversion, a four-lane highway designed to handle 10,000 vehicles daily. Additionally, a railway underpass was built to manage the intersection with the Ottawa National Railway. 
  

• The proximity of the airport to the Downsview community had an adverse effect upon the development of the adjacent area. Because of this, building heights were restricted. But the most threatening, however, is the possibility of an aircraft crashing into the surrounding homes, schools, and businesses.  (find archive photographs of Sheppard Avenue adjacent to the runway. )