One of Toronto’s most flood-prone neighbourhoods to get $323M in help from city, feds | CBC News

After a summer of heavy rains, one of Toronto’s most flood-prone neighbourhoods is getting some help against future storms.

The city of Toronto and the federal government are spending a combined $323 million to bolster the Rockcliffe-Smythe area against the risk of flooding. 

Homes, businesses and infrastructure in the west-end community were hit hard by a July 16 storm that dumped nearly 100 millimetres of rain on the city. Many residents suffered thousands of dollars worth of property damage and some say they’ve had challenges getting flood insurance.

“It was a stark reminder of the need to invest in storm water infrastructure,” Mayor Olivia Chow said at a news conference in the neighbourhood Friday, announcing the new spending.

Part of that flooding in Rockcliffe-Smythe was caused when the local Black Creek and Lavender Creek overflowed. Part of the new spending will go toward widening and deepening those channels, Chow said. It will also be used to build a flood protection wall on Weston Road, replace multiple bridges and replace culverts.

The government spending will also pay for improvements to local roads and sewer systems, Chow said.

“When it rains, the water needs somewhere to go,” she said, calling the Rockcliff-Smythe neighbourhood “one of the most flood-prone in the city.”

The City of Toronto is spending $193.7 million on the project while the federal government is spending $129.3 million through the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund.

City staff say design details are being worked out and work won’t begin until 2026, with completion scheduled for 2032. 

Rain resilience, flooding top of mind in Toronto

Heavy rains and flooding were a hot topic for the city this year. This summer, city council began looking at a flood mitigation strategy for all of Toronto. They directed city staff to research storm water mitigation measures in July. A report is expected back by the end of the year.

In the Rockcliffe-Smythe neighbourhood, hundreds of houses in the area are at risk of flooding, York South-Weston MP Ahmed Hussen told reporters. The risk is getting worse as severe storms become more frequent with climate change, he said, and constituents have been raising concerns for years.

“They’ve said, ‘Please do something about the flooding,'” he said.

Hussen said spending on flood resilience now will save on spending later, noting that July’s heavy rains caused approximately $940 million of insured damage in Toronto and parts of southern Ontario.

Coun. Frances Nunziata says some homeowners in the area have been struggling to get home insurance.

The city now offers rebates of $7,500 to homeowners in Rockcliffe-Smythe for damage during rainstorms, something several people told CBC Toronto they took advantage of in July.

In 2018, the city and the federal government invested nearly $40 million combined to address flooding problems in the Rockcliffe-Smyth neighbourhood. The money went toward measures like upgrading the Jane Street bridge. Chow said Friday some of that work is still underway.