The City is improving Buttonwood Park near Royal York Road and Eglinton Avenue West. The park design will be determined through community engagement and is proposed to include upgraded pathways, a shade structure, seating and lighting.

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    • Summer 2025: Hire a design team
    • Fall 2025 to Spring 2026: Community engagement and design development
    • Spring to Summer 2026: Detailed design
    • Summer 2026: Hire a construction team
    • Fall 2026: Construction starts
    • Fall 2026: Construction complete

    The timeline is subject to change.

    Level of Engagement

    This project has been classified as a Consult project based on the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) Spectrum. This means the City will seek feedback from community members and stakeholders at key stages of the project. Public input will help inform the park improvements.

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    In this phase, the project team collected feedback to develop a vision statement, guiding principles and big moves, which will guide the development of design options in Community Engagement Phase 2.

    Vision Statement

    The vision statement is co-created with the community and describes the ideal future park. It is a big picture statement that should inspire everyone towards a common understanding of the project’s overall goals and objectives. The draft vision statement for the new park is:

    Buttonwood Park will be a peaceful and inclusive family-friendly space that supports the health and well-being of a growing community. The improved park will offer a natural setting for relaxation, active recreation and community connection. The park will accommodate diverse community needs through improved amenities, while maintaining and enhancing the park’s green spaces. The park will ensure accessibility and safety, and be welcoming to people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds.

    Guiding Principles

    Guiding principles are high-level directions that reflect the community’s most important values and ideas for how the park should look and feel. They help to clarify the vision statement and guide how the park should be designed by describing the desired outcomes. The draft guiding principles for the new park are:

    Keep the park natural and green

    Protect, enhance and improve green space and plantings.

    Ensure safety and accessibility

    Design the park improvements with community safety and accessibility as top priorities.

    Welcome all people

    Ensure that the park accommodates people of all ages and abilities, while being especially sensitive to the needs of families, children and seniors.

    Balance green space and recreational amenities

    Enhanced recreational amenities will improve the park’s appeal and usability for people of all ages, but this must be done in a way that also preserves the park’s natural and green character.

    Allow for both quiet relaxation and community connection

    Foster a sense of community while maintaining the peaceful nature of the park.

    Ensure the design allows for the addition of other amenities in the future

    Take into consideration that future park improvements may include more amenities that are outside the scope of the current park improvements.

    Big Moves

    The big moves communicate the main priorities of both the community and the City for the design of the park. They are specific directions for how the physical design can achieve the vision and guiding principles. The draft big moves for the new park are:

    • Add more shade by incorporating a closed-roof shade structure with seating underneath.
    • Add more seating, including accessible seating, shaded seating and seating with tables.
    • Add, enhance and improve pathways for leisurely walks and exercise, ensure all pathways are accessible and include a connection to the seniors’ residence next door.
    • Enhance safety with improved lighting along pathways and other key areas of the park.
    • Enhance natural landscaping by adding planting beds to beautify the park.
    • Include playful features that allow for children’s play, which are separate from the existing playground.
    • Include a splash pad and/or recreational amenity in one of the design options to keep this possibility open for future improvements.

    Community Engagement Meetings and Events

    December 2025

    Residents Association Meeting

    On December 16, the project team met with executive members of the Buttonwood Hill Residents Association to share information and discuss community engagement.

    November 2025

    Online Thought Exchange Activity

    From November 4 to 18, community input was gathered through an interactive thought exchange activity where participants were asked to share their ideas and rate the ideas of others. 281 participants contributed 251 ideas and 4711 ratings.

    Review top thoughts and themes in the November 2025 Online Thought Exchange Activity summary.

    October 2025

    Residents Association Meeting

    On October 20 and 31, the project team met with executive members of the Buttonwood Hill Residents Association to share information and discuss community engagement.

    In this phase, the project team will work off the outcomes of Community Engagement Phase 1 to develop two design options for the park improvements. These will be presented to the community for feedback. This feedback will then be used to develop a preferred design for the park improvements.

    The community engagement activities anticipated in this phase include:

    • an online survey
    • in-person engagement with seniors in the community

    The anticipated outcome of this phase is the selection of a preferred design.

    In this phase, the preferred design for the park improvements will be shared with the community on this page and the project mailing list. The project will then move into the detailed design phase, where the design team will work through the technical details and plans for the construction contractor.

    Buttonwood Park is a 4.3-hectare park located just south of Eglinton Avenue West, between Royal York Road and Scarlett Road in Etobicoke. The immediate area surrounding the park is undergoing new development, including a new elementary school next to the park on the south side and residential developments north of Eglinton Avenue. Chartwell Scarlett Heights retirement residence is located on the northeast side of the park.

    Buttonwood Park currently includes:

    • Three outdoor tennis/pickleball courts with lighting / outdoor artificial ice rink in winter
    • Children’s playground
    • Pathways, mainly around the perimeter of the park
    • Large open space with grass
    • Two horticulture beds
    • Eight park benches, two picnic tables
    • Eight light poles

    Due to the project’s limited budget and timeline constraints, some amenities will not be considered for park improvements at this time. This includes but is not limited to:

    • Children’s playground upgrade
    • Splash pad
    • Swimming Pool
    • Baseball diamond
    • Additional sports courts or modifications to existing courts
    • Off-leash area for dogs
    • Artificial ice rink or skating trail
    • Washroom

    However, community feedback about some of these amenities may help guide additional park improvements if opportunities arise in the future. This approach is reflected in the project’s guiding principles and big moves shared under Community Engagement Phase 1.