Twenty-five properties in Toronto’s Riverdale neighbourhood are being expropriated for the construction of the Ontario Line.
Metrolinx told Global News in a statement that “updated assessments” revealed the homes between Langley and Riverdale avenues are “vulnerable to potential structural impacts … due to tunnelling activities.”
Resident said the news came as a shock.
“We’re all a little shell-shocked, a little numb, but also angry, too, because if we’d known a couple of years ago that this was going to happen, I think we would have all changed our plans in selling our homes and thinking of what our options were. And now the option to move, the option to decide when and where we want to live … it’s been taken away from us,” said Kate Maynard, whose home is among those being expropriated.
Maynard said she received a letter in the mail earlier this month advising her of a meeting with Metrolinx several days later.
“We were informed at that time that all our houses were being expropriated due to sandy soil underneath our houses which was going to make it very dangerous for the tunnel boring machines. It took us a bit by surprise because we watched them doing drilling samples over the last couple of years, and we’ve been assured by Metrolinx that we were good,” said Maynard.
Her neighbour Jo-Ann Dodds also attended the meeting when she too received a letter in her mailbox.
“They were very polite. ‘Oh, we know how you feel.’ No you don’t. You have no idea how we feel because it’s never happened to you,” said Dodds.
It has been an especially emotional time for Dodds, whose husband died last November.
“The real sad thing about it is that my husband asked me to promise I’d stay here, and I said, I’ll stay as long as I can. I didn’t have any idea that they were about to pull the rug out from under me,” she said.
While Metrolinx did not provide an exact date when homeowners and tenants are expected to vacate the properties, residents told Global News they must leave by Nov. 1, 2025.
Construction of the 15.6-kilometre Ontario Line began in December 2021 and is expected to be completed in 2031.
“I’ve been in this neighborhood all my life, and I love it. I don’t want to leave,” said Peggy Leung.
She will be losing both her home and her livelihood because she runs a daycare and a before and after care program from her house.
“All the principals, all the teachers know me … there goes my business,” said Leung.
Metrolinx says it only acquires properties that are “absolutely necessary” and aims to “alert property owners and tenants as early as possible when it is determined that the property may be needed.”
“Transit has to happen. We have no question about that. It’s just the manner in which we’ve been treated that I think we’re all finding a little bit difficult,” said Maynard.
Metrolinx noted it will work directly with property owners and tenants “to reach amicable agreements” and that owners are compensated at fair market value for properties, based on appraisals conducted by external accredited appraisers.
Maynard said she questions fair market value and worries about the future as she nears retirement.
“I’ve lived in Riverdale for 40 years. I’ve lived in this house 32 (years) and this was our retirement. We have an income property … it would have paid the bills. My husband retired. I’m about to retire. Odds are we’re not going to be able to find anything like this and stay within the community.”