The City is improving the playground in Trinity Bellwoods Park as part of an ongoing program to enhance playgrounds and play spaces across the city so that everyone can experience the joys and benefits of play for years to come.

  • Spring to Summer 2026 Design development
  • Fall 2026 to Winter 2027: Detail design
  • Summer to Fall 2027: Hire a construction team
  • Spring 2028: Construction starts, playground closes
  • Fall 2028: Construction complete, playground reopens

The timeline is subject to change.

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Level of Engagement

This project has been classified as an Involve project based on the International Association for Public Participation Spectrum. This means we work directly with the public, stakeholders and rightsholders throughout the design process to ensure that ideas and aspirations are understood and considered.

In this phase, the project team collected design ideas from community members for the new playground which will guide the development of design options in Community Engagement Phase 2.

The community engagement activities in this phase include:

  • an online thought exchange activity
  • a classroom workshop
  • an in-person pop-up event
  • an in-person summer camp workshop

Community Engagement Meetings and Events

August 2025

Thought Exchange Activity

From July 14 to August 11, an online thought exchange activity gathered ideas for improvements to the playground. The activity received a total of 655 thoughts and 12,318 thought ratings from 740 participants.

Feedback Summary

Respondents were asked to select their favourite playground activities and preferred colour schemes for the new equipment and provide additional comments or suggestions.

Respondents ranked activities that they would most like the new equipment to include, ordering them from most preferred (one) to least preferred (six). Climbing ranked the highest on average, followed by sliding, swinging, balancing, playing pretend then spinning.

Respondents indicated their preferred colour schemes for the playground:

  • Bright colours such as yellow, orange and purple ranked highest (48 per cent)
  • Earthy colours such as green, brown and grey (35 per cent)
  • No preference (16 per cent)

Additional comments that were highly rated by participants included:

  • Build a bold, landmark playground worthy of a major destination park like Trinity Bellwoods and that stands apart from smaller neighbourhood parks.
  • Create a diverse space that is inclusive, accessible and caters to multiple age groups, from toddlers to older kids, with separate zones or modules so everyone can play safely at their level.
  • Maintain and protect the park’s abundant tree coverage for natural shade, keeping the playground cool, safe from UV, and visually beautiful.
  • Provide comfortable, shaded seating areas for parents and caregivers with clear sightlines to all play areas.
  • Include a variety of challenging equipment like climbing structures, balancing elements, and multi-purpose features that encourage risk-taking, problem-solving, and creative play.
  • Offer features that extend play value, like water play areas in shaded spots, accessible drinking fountains, and equipment that supports imaginative play.
  • Prioritize safety with enclosed or well-separated play zones, safe surfacing like rubber, and separation from bike paths.
  • Design for durability and year-round use, ensuring equipment remains functional and appealing over time.

    Review a summary of the Phase 1 Thought Exchange activity results, including the top thoughts and themes.

    July 2025

    In-Person Pop-Up Events

    The project team hosted two pop-up events at the Trinity Bellwoods Park playground on July 16 from 4 to 7 p.m. and July 31 from 3 to 6 p.m. to share information about the playground improvements and collect community feedback.

    Feedback Summary

    Participants were asked to select their favourite playground activities and preferred colour schemes for the new equipment and provide additional comments or suggestions. Approximately 116 people, many of whom were children using the playground, participated by using stickers to indicate their preferences. The total number of responses is shown in parentheses.

    Participants’ preferred playground activities:

    • Climbing (31)
    • Spinning (28)
    • Swinging (25)
    • Sliding (23)
    • Balancing (21)
    • Playing pretend (11)

    On colour schemes, participants:

    • Preferred bright colours such as yellow, orange and purple (14)
    • Had no preference (11) had no preference
    • Preferred earthy colours such as green, brown and grey (eight)

    Additional comments included:

    • Strong desire for a zipline, with requests for it to be long and fast (14 comments).
    • Include additional interactive water play options such as a splash pad and sprinklers (11 comments).
    • Incorporate challenges for older kids and add more climbing opportunities such as walls, geometric structures, ladders and canopies (seven comments).
    • Retain the sandbox area, with some comments requesting close proximity to water features (six comments).
    • Provide accessible equipment and employ universal design principles, ensuring inclusivity for people and children with disabilities (three comments).
    • Retain and enhance natural features, keeping existing trees and shade with comfortable seating for parents (three comments).
    • Add a water bottle refill station, features to encourage all-season use, and unique imaginative elements like hideaway caves (one comment).
    • Construction should be phased to avoid removing all play infrastructure at once (one comment).
    In-Person Summer Camp Workshop

    On July 21, the project team attended a summer camp workshop at Trinity Bellwoods Park from 12:30 to 2 p.m. to share information about the playground improvements and collect feedback from campers.

    Feedback Summary

    Twenty children between four and 12 years old were asked to select their favourite playground activities and preferred colour scheme for the new equipment and provide additional comments or suggestions. The total number of responses is shown in parentheses.

    Campers’ preferred playground activities:

    • Spinning (six)
    • Climbing (six)
    • Sliding (four)
    • Playing pretend (four)
    • Swinging (two)
    • Balancing (one)

    On colour schemes, campers:

    • Preferred bright colour schemes like yellow, orange and purple (five),
    • Had no preference (four)
    • Preferred earthy colours like green, brown and grey (two)

    Additional comments included:

    • Include a climbing area with a high structure, hanging ropes and monkey bars.
    • Include big slides with unique features for speed and thematic elements such as a beach or volcano.
    • Include spinners in creative forms like a flower or a tire swing that spins in circles.
    • Incorporate play structure with elements that encourage playing pretend, such as a house with eyes and a mouth, or a mine shaft with a tunnel.

    June 2025

    Classroom Workshops

    In June 2025, 45 students in grades four and five at Charles G. Fraser Junior Public School and 67 students from grades one to five at Givins/Shaw Public School participated in a workshop to share ideas for the new playground. After a short presentation, students took part in an interactive activity where they built their own bingo cards using tiles that represented different playground features.  The tiles chosen for their bingo cards represented the features they most wanted to see in the new playground. The number of tiles selected for each feature will help inform the future playground design.

    Feedback Summary

    Nature and Planting:

    • All students selected coniferous trees, deciduous trees and pollinator plants, showing strong interest in greenery and planting.
    • Natural elements like rocks were also highly rated.

    Popular play features:

    • Group spinners (111)
    • Monkey bars (104)
    • Spring toys (102)
    • Tunnels (101)
    • Sand play (96)
    • Seesaw (95)

    Additional play feature preferences:

    • Saucer swings (87) were preferred over swing sets (77).
    • Curved slides (78) were preferred over straight slides (67).
    • Among climbing elements, curved bars (91) were second only to monkey bars, followed by climbing nets (85).
    • The senior play structure for ages five to 12 (93) was slightly more popular than the junior structure for ages two to five (83).
    • Other well-liked features included hopscotch (88), spinners (88), balancing steps (88) and play panels (87).

    Amenities and site features:

    • Signage (98) and fencing (97) received strong support.
    • Students also valued tables (87) and benches (85).
    • Shade structures (68) were the least selected feature.

    Students were also invited to share other ideas by writing on the back of their bingo cards. Ziplines were the most frequently suggested feature within the project scope.

    In this phase, the City and its design consultant will work off the outcomes of Community Engagement Phase 1 and share three playground design options with the community for feedback. The feedback will be used to develop a preferred option for the playground.

    The community engagement activities in this phase include:

    • an online survey
    • youth engagement event
    • an in-person pop-up event

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

    In this phase, the final design for the new playground will be shared with the community on this page and with subscribers on 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 develop detailed plans and drawings to be used by the construction contractor.

    Trinity Bellwoods Park Playground is located near Trinity Community Recreation Centre and next to the wading pool.

    The playground currently includes:

    • a north area with:
      • one swing set with four belt swings
      • one swing set with two belt swings
      • one swing set with two bucket swings
      • a combined junior and senior climbing structure
      • a slide
      • sandbox
      • sand surfacing under all play equipment
    • a south area with:
      • a senior climbing structure with rings and cables
      • rubber safety surfacing under all play equipment

    The playground will be redesigned using community feedback and is proposed to include:

    • playground equipment for ages two to 12
    • safety surfacing
    • an accessible pathway to the playground area

      The play equipment and pathway connecting to the playground area will comply with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). Learn more about how playgrounds are made accessible.

      Improvements will only be made in the general playground area and will not include any new water or lighting features or improvements to other areas of the park.