Building to Commence 2026
What is the City Proposing?
On January 13, 2026, City Council declared the parcel of land at the corner of John St and Junot Ave “surplus”, allowing it to be sold to a developer to build a massive 400 unit apartment complex. The original conceptual proposal was poorly rendered. The City has now provided a professionally rendered revised conceptual proposal along with a site plan. The Memo to the City of Thunder Bay from the engineering/architectural firm of Brook McIlroy Ltd, outlines the feedback received and how the City addressed that feedback. However, the sheer size, mass and number of units, did not change. The conceptual proposal and site map may look nice, but it doesn’t mean that’s what the finished development would actually look like.
This land is full of mature trees and offers the neighbourhod invaluable greenspace. The parcel is zoned Urban Mid-rise so residential development is allowed, but the size, scale and density of this proposed development is not suitable for this neighbourhood.
Definition of “Affordable”
This development is not “affordable housing”. The City’s Call for Proposals only requires that the developer demonstrate “how the proposal includes housing units that meet the City’s definition for affordable housing” (emphasis added). However, City Administration is now saying 10% of the units built will meet that definition. What they don’t say, is those units will only need to meet that definition for 10 years. After that, the rents will be increased to whatever the landlord deems appropriate at that time. For more information, check out our post on “Affordable Housing vs Housing That’s Affordable”.
The Design – What we Know, What we Don’t
As mentioned above, a new conceptual proposal and site plan has been provided. However, it still leaves many questions that the City refuses to answer. 400 units in these two, six storey buildings, just doesn’t compute. We believe these would need to be much taller to accommodate 400 units, and as such, would require Urban High-rise zoning which allows up to 45m tall buildings or approximately 13 to 15 storeys. This zoning designation contravenes the City’s Official Plan as it is not compatible with the surrounding neighbourhood of single family homes, duplexes, small apartment buildings. The proposed development, at any size, would dwarf everything else in the neighbourhood.
Rapid Densification and the Impact to Infrastructure
This 400 unit development will see 400+ vehicles and upwards of 800+ new residents added to a very small neighbourhood. Access is proposed via Junot Ave, a short distance from John St. This increase in vehicles will also cause additional traffic issues to an already very busy area as John St and Junot Ave S are used by residents across the north side of the City to access the Thunder Bay Expressway. But not to worry, City Administration says there’s plenty of room to add an extra turn lane here and there. They’ll just remove more trees, like the ones shown in the new drawings between the road and the apartment building. This is rapid densification that our schools, recreational centres, roads and infrastructure will struggle to support.
Transition Photos
Below is a series of photos transitioning the greenspace to the site plan for the proposed development on Tokio. The majority of mature trees will need to be removed to build this massive development, in essence denuding the entire corner of John & Junot, one of the busiest intersection in the city.
Tell Our City Councillors You’re Not Happy
Regardless of the size, we do not want to see any development on this site. Continue to email and call our City Councillors. Tell them you’re not happy with their decision. Remember, once the City is allowed to sell off our greenspaces and our urban forests, they won’t stop just at this parcel of land in this neighbourhood, they’ll go to other neighbourhoods next. They will keep going, encroaching further and further until we have no greenspaces and no urban forests in our city. Removing trees and surplusing our greenspaces is contrary to the City’s Net-Zero Strategy. The City must be stopped now!