Guild Park's Future Neighbours - Homes or Businesses?

City of Toronto officials are proposing new zoning by-law amendements that allow residential buildings across from Guild Park & Gardens to include street-level massage parlours, cannabis shops, licensed bars, fitness clubs and other commmercial activites.

According to City of Toronto planners, Guildwood Parkway, directly north of Guild Park, is suited for new commercial businesses, including restaurants, licensed bars with patios and even massage parlours. Google Maps

These proposed changes to City of Toronto bylaws have raised serious concerns by the Scarborough United Neighbourhood (SUN), a volunteer-based, non-partisan network of residents' assocations, in which the Guildwood Village Community Assocation (GVCA) participates.

As part of a series of intiatives to encourage more housing, City of Toronto planners have designated the two-lane Guildwood Parkway (shown above), along the north boundary of Guild Park, as a "major street." 

After followiing this issue for months, SUN volunteers have released a new document to explain how these bylaw changes as recommended by City planners will affect many Scarborough residents. 

SUN points out the "major streets" are defined by the City's road network system, rather than by current land use or zoning. As a result, major streets include both busy commercial corridors as well as roads through many quiet, fully residential areas (see map, City of Toronto). 

Many of Scarborough's long-established residential neighbourhoods include roads now designated as "major streets", such as Guildwood Parkway, Morningside and Scarborough Golf Club Road.  

According to SUN, under this "major street" designation, any home along Guildwood Parkway - or on any other "major street" in Toronto - "could be converted to commercial use on the ground floor, with no requirement to ... get additional permission" from City officials.

SUN identifies the many types of businesses that the City automatically allows along such major streets. These include bars, cannabis shops, massage shops, retail stores, grocery stores, restaurants (dine-in and takeout), fitness clubs, music schools, pet grooming and many others.

"This is the most drastic change to residential zoning in 70 years," states SUN in a community email dated Mon. July 21, 2025. "The City plans to permanently amend the Zoning By-Law, rezoning hundreds of thousands of residential properties to allow commercial uses As-Of-Right." 

This means owners of residential property along any "major street" can automatically convert that home into a commercial operation, with no recourse by neighbours or City officials.

The Scarborough advocacy group notes that once a business is established along a "major street," a legal precedent is set that encourages other properties in nearby residential areas to convert into commercial use. 

SUN also points out that under current laws, residential property owners who intend to convert their homes into commercial use are allowed to evict tenants. Ironically, while this City proposal is intended to encourage new commercial activities to expand established neighbourhoods, it will likely lead to reduced housing supply across Toronto. 

Meanwhile, according to SUN, this proposal does nothing to encourage businesses to return to and reopen the empty storefronts commonly found in many of the City's existing commerial areas.

Under the City's complex system of regulation, SUN has found that once officlals pass these zoning amendments, they are "irreversable." 

"These changes risk permanent Impacts on our neighbourhoods by reducing housing supply, increasing noise, crime and traffic and eroding the residential character that many residents value," warns SUN.

Residents from Scarborough and across Toronto have identified a slew of related concerns related to 'major streets" . These include:

• The hours of operation for commercial business are largerly unregulated

• The City admits it lacks resources to consistently enforce its existing bylaws regarding noise and illegal operations

• Once a commercial operation opens along a major street, there's little to prevent it changing into another type of business, such as a cannabis outlet, vape shop or massage parlour.

These and other factors tend to discourage single-family homeowners from staying in their homes.

For more information about the impact these zoning changes will have on the homes adjacent to Guild Park, across Scarborough and throughout Toronto, visit the SUN Facebook page at  https://www.facebook.com/ScarbUnited/