Midtown Oakville
TRANSIT ORIENTED COMMUNITY (TOC)
READ THE FACTS. SIGN THE PETITION
Now, a year later, despite widespread opposition and a lengthy report from Oakville Planning Staff stating the Town could NOT support the proposal … the Ontario Government intends to override Oakville's land-use powers, IMPOSE A MINISTER'S ZONING ORDER and move forward with what is one of the most ill-conceived developments Oakville has ever witnessed.
11 monoliths stretching 45 to 56 storeys, packed chock-a-block into a land space that starts just behind the OakLand Ford Mercury dealership and stretches west to the old Hiker's Haven location near the former Oak Queen Mall. (near Home Depot)
Probable Number of People: 12,000
Creates a density of over 2,000 people per hectare
Total Number of housing units: 6,881
An overwhelming majority of are Studio & 1 bedroom - 335 to 550
sq. ft (a typical double garage ranges between 400 and 600 square feet. But 720 sq. feet is common). Only 27% will be 2-bedroom and an even lower 7 will offer 3 bedrooms.
Floor Space Index (FSI) : 10.8
No Green Space
No Improvements to the Oakville GO Station
*** The Bottom Line? ***
Five buildings increased in height; five buildings decreased
Highest storey was 59, is now 56
TOC buildings were 209 m (689 ft) are now 203 m (667 ft.)
Unit count was 6,908 is now 6881 - 27 unit difference
It's Time to Wake Up, Stand Up and Speak Up!
The Transit Oriented Community (TOC) plan for Midtown Oakville is, first and foremost, a Provincially designed and driven program. That's important to remember. Here's why ...
- Oakville Town Council has no power to refuse the TOC in the same way it might a normal development application.
- Council's power has been usurped by the Province. That means our Livable Oakville Official Plan is moot. The Province's TOC and its Minister's Zoning Order supersede it.
- The developer partner working with the Province was selected by the Province, with no involvement by Oakville Town Council or Oakville's Planning Staff. Like so many of the Province's other programs we're hearing about in the news, the selection of the developer to undertake the construction of the Midtown TOC was a back room deal.
- For more than a year, Council has been subject to a Non-Disclosure Agreement imposed by the Province, ( a gag order) which has tightly limited the information Council could share with the general public - residents of Oakville
What's An MZO?
A Minister's Zoning Order or MZO authorizes the minister to make zoning orders that regulate the use of land in Ontario.
Zoning order requests are made or refused at the discretion of the minister.
These zoning orders are similar to local zoning by-laws. They can:
- permit the use of land (for example, manufacturing, housing, health care, long term care uses)
- prohibit the use of land (for example, to protect an environmentally sensitive feature)
- regulate location, use, height, size and spacing of buildings and structures
Under the Planning Act, zoning orders do not have to be consistent with the Provincial Planning Statement, except in the Greenbelt Area.
The Planning Act does not provide for a right to appeal the minister’s decision to make a zoning order to the Ontario Land Tribunal.
What Residents Need to Know About the TOC
NOT FAIR
1. If the Province chooses to proceed with this "enforced growth" it will be forcing over-development on Midtown.
2. The Province is using strongarm tactics to override Oakville's Official Plan the carefully crafted, long-term planning blueprint that guides how our land can be used and developed over coming decades.
3. The power of Oakville Town Council and the citizens they represent has been usurped. Council has no power to reject the proposed TOC plan in Midtown.
NO TRANSPARENCY
The big winner in the TOC is a single developer, hand-picked by the Province in a behind-the-scenes deal.
In February 2025, The Toronto Star's Investigative Reporter, Sheila Wang, wrote an in-depth article on the Midtown TOC.
It revealed familiar developer names linked to the Greenbelt Scandal are also tied to the Midtown TOC.
NO ACCOUNTABILITY
From the start, the Province has said this TOC is part of the push to create 1.5 million new homes in the next 10 years.
BUT...
A Growth Analysis from Watson & Associates Economists projects the Midtown TOC, with its 6,800 + units would take 23 years to fill!
Based on 2025 statistics from CMHC, projections show the province would only be 25% of the way to its goal by the end of 2026.
- Industry leaders, Watson Associates Economists, forecast a total number of housing units in Midtown as 8,900 by 2051. At 6,880 units, the TOC represents an overwhelming portion of that total.
Furthermore, N.Barry Lyon & Associates reported - Over the next decade NBLC expects that demand for residential uses in Midtown could be in the range of 200-300 units ANNUALLY. At a time when markets are soft and investors unlikely to return soon, developers seem to be seeking building heights that defy logic.
- GO transit and local bus routes do not drive demand to the same extent as subway service or LRT service as part of a wider local transit network
- …notable for Midtown Oakville, the four comparable communities that are located in Halton Region (Aldershot, Appleby, Burlington, Milton) all have proposed building heights in development applications that are under 40-storeys, indicating their more modest market appeal relative to other more established nodes like MCC, VMC, and Markham Centre that can support much larger buildings.
If the TOC is allowed to develop to the level the Province is proposing, the results will be ruinous for ALL of Oakville.
TOTAL GRIDLOCK on Trafalgar Rd, the QEW Interchanges, Cornwall Road, Speers Road and the surrounding areas.
8-Minute Delays to Exit the QEW
Access to GO will get worse, not better. The developer's own reports show that cars and buses will be frozen in heavy traffic trying to enter and exit the GO Station.
The Province IS NOT providing any upgrades, new additions or other improvements to the GO Station, parking, express transit services or other assistance.
AND THERE'S MORE …
The TOC will be incapable of providing the services and community supports residents will need. That means widespread effects across a host of areas like schools, retail, parks … and property taxes.
The Condo Crash is Here! As clearly laid out in a recent Macleans article, the bubble has burst and in its wake its leaving thousands of unsellable, unliveable units.
* From January to June 2025, housing starts were down 44% in the Toronto Metro area.
* The investor market - the ONLY people who will buy the tiny condos in developments like the TOC - is no longer interested. As of this Spring, the inventory of unsold units in Toronto totalled more than 23,000. It will take 5-years to sell them in order to clear the backlog.
* Condo developers are dumping inventory at fire sale prices.
* How does the Midtown TOC measure up? Experts in Growth Analysis and Market Viability tell us the building heights being planned in the TOC "defy logic", "no market evidence that would suggest near-term absorption success for projects at this scale” AND it will take 23 Years to Fill the TOC!
The size and scope of the TOC presents undeniably high risk to Midtown's future, the Town and Oakville's residents.
Consider these factors:
- Economic Vulnerability - financial health and timeline for the entire Midtown area become tied to a single developer.
- Market Distortion - the TOCs enormous needs sideline those of other developments.
- Infrastructure Strain
- Phasing & Coordination Issues
- Loss of Incremental Growth - the TOC leaves no room for smaller, more appropriate sized developments that have a better chance of success, would reflect a more suitable style and character of housing for the area and offer the kind of housing young families and first time buyers are seeking.
- No Public Records - none of the financial terms, risk assessments, benefits or other pertinent details of the TOC have ever been released to the public.
- Inevitable property tax increases to pay for infrastructure and TOC associated costs that aren't covered by development charges.
What About the Developer
Chosen By the Province?
As the Toronto Star article outlined…
Distrikt Developments had applied to build the thicket of towers across four parcels of land, one of which is owned by a company co-directed by Christopher Bratty. Bratty is a developer who sat at Table 3 at Ford’s daughter’s September 2022 wedding, according to a copy of the reception’s seating plan.
The province’s proposal mirrors Distrikt’s blueprints…
For some, reminders of the Greenbelt scandal
Oakville council unanimously voted last month not to endorse the province’s proposal, which town staff say disregards the province’s own objectives of transit-oriented communities.
“Overall, the TOC proposal appears as a private development proposal with very little to no community benefit for either the town or the province,” Oakville planning staff told the province in a December 2024 letter.
"For many in Oakville, the situation unfolding there is an unsettling echo of the Greenbelt scandal, where Ford government decisions disproportionately benefitting certain developers were foisted onto local communities".
So, What's The Big Deal?
It's THIS
The Condo Market is in Freefall
High Risk
Building Heights That Defy Logic
Guaranteed Gridlock
A 23-Year Market Absorption
A Housing Product That Won't Sell
Can't Attain the Province's Housing Target
A Plan That Pushes Unsellable Units- Designed for Investors, Not Real People
AND YET…
THE PROVINCE
PLANS TO IMPOSE THIS TOC PLAN
ON MIDTOWN OAKVILLE
WHY???
WE NEED TO TELL SOMEONE
WE NEED TO TAKE ACTION
SIGN THE PETITION
ASK ONTARIO'S AUDITOR GENERAL AND THE OFFICE OF THE ONTARIO OMBUDSMAN
TO PUT THE TOC UNDER A MICROSOPE
https://midtownoakville.good.do/notfairtransparentoraccountable/stopthetoc/
TOC TIMELINE
UPDATE SUMMER 2025
Professional Consultants have weighed in on Midtown. The findings are damning.
In 2024, the Town of Oakville hired industry consultants to undertake two studies on Midtown.
* Watson & Associates Economists for a Midtown Growth Analysis and,
* N Barry Lyon Associates for a Market Feasibility Analysis
The results were eye-opening. Comments like…
" Building heights that defy logic"
"23 Years to fill the TOC buildings alone"
"No market evidence that would suggest near-term absorption success for projects at this scale”.
Get All the Details.
Click to Watch Our Video on YouTube Below
Town Planning staff have submitted a response to the Province's TOC plan. The report details grave concerns from our Planning Department and is an excellent factual review of the TOC accompanied by an explanation of how it compares to the draft Official Plan being presented on January 20 at Council.
"Density of development beyond Town’s draft OPA allocation is not justified"
"The proposal needs to be more modest in scale. It currently represents an excessive and disproportionate amount of the total planned population for Midtown."
"Community benefits are not in line with existing or draft policies"
"In Staff’s opinion, the TOC proposal does not implement proposed policies and schedules regarding maximum density, street alignments, ratio of residents to jobs in terms of gross leasable area associated with residential and non-residential uses, including replacement of existing gross leasable area through redevelopment, as well as urban design direction in the draft OPA and provision of community benefits commensurate with building heights above “as of right” height permissions, that are provided in the current Livable Oakville Plan, the Midtown design guidelines and/or the draft OPA."
The Bottom Line ...
"In conclusion based on the comments provided by Staff and circulated Agencies, the Town is not in agreement with the Oakville Transit-Oriented Community (TOC) Development Proposal from the Province through Infrastructure Ontario, and are unable to support it based on the following:" Go to page 77 of the report for the details.
On November 14, 2024, the Ministry of Infrastructure Ontario released its proposal for the Midtown Oakville Transit-Oriented Community (TOC). Our preliminary assessment has identified serious concerns with this provincially-driven process that overrides the important and legitimate role our municipality plays in our local land use planning.
Hyper Density: It’s Gone From Bad to Worse
- 11 high-rise towers with heights ranging from 46 to 59 storeys on just 5 hectares of land near the Oakville GO Station. 6,908 units, 66% of which will be studio or one-bedroom units.
- The province’s original density target was 200 people and job jobs per hectare. Based on the potential of 14,000 people, the current TOC proposal is an inexplicable 14 times greater than that target;
If this level of development in Midtown is allowed to proceed, the results will be ruinous for all of Oakville
- Total gridlock on Trafalgar Road, QEW interchanges, Cornwall Road, Cross Avenue and others.
- Thousands of people stuck in a wasteland with no liveability without schools, parks, emergency services or a host of other needs for daily life.
- Overloading on other areas and streets throughout Town that will be called on to provide these missing services to those who will need them - think schools, parks, community services, shopping for essentials, etc.
- Your tax bill will have to pay for a new city in the middle of Oakville. A hyper-density Midtown will have needs for services and Infrastructure will not be covered by the developers. The shortfall will be significant to support a community of this size and it will fall on ALL Oakville taxpayers