Toronto Searching for a Future for its Public Golf Courses

Jennifer Pagliaro previews an impending report by Toronto city staff to plan for an "improved status quo model" for the city's five public golf courses

In the process of creating the report, Toronto is attempting to balance two ardent political bases: those who want public land devoted to golf in the city converted to open space and agricultural uses, and those who want to protect the public's access to the game.

According to Pagliaro, the report headed to the Toronto City Council's Infrastructure and Environment Committee is a first step toward balancing those competing interest, but the report still favors the future of publicly owned golf courses in the city. For instance, "the report contains no clear direction on plans to improve environmental sustainability and what the other recreational uses might be" (in the "improved status quo").

The report is really a plan to start planning. "A process for a request for proposal on future operations would be started if council supports the plan, with the goal of implementing those yet-to-be-defined models for the 2024 season," according to Pagliaro.

A lot more detail about the considerations going into the continued priority on golf, and the potential for other uses, in the specific context of these five courses are included in the source article below. Environmental, social, demographic, and financial considerations are discussed.