The City of Toronto is planning important state-of-good repair work in Kensington Market, including watermain replacement, road resurfacing, and road reconstruction. Construction is planned on six streets and two laneways in the neighbourhood.
As part of this work, the City is also making changes to help improve road safety and accessibility, and enhance the overall experience for people moving through the area by building wider sidewalks adding and curb extensions.
This work is intended to renew aging infrastructure while creating streets that are more comfortable, accessible, provide more space for pedestrians and support traffic calming, while balancing the needs of local businesses and residents in this unique, historic, and culturally rich neighbourhood.
Construction is expected to start in Spring 2027 and will take 1-2 years. This work will be implemented in phases.
The City is currently finalizing construction plans for Kensington Market. This work is also being coordinated with Toronto Hydro, which will begin replacing poles along Augusta Avenue in October 2026, following the end of the CaféTO season.
The City has also begun early engagement with local businesses and residents to ensure that business operations and access requirements are incorporated into construction planning.
Improvements are planned on the following streets within the Kensington Market area:
Watermain replacement and road reconstruction as planned to ensure that the road, sidewalk and water infrastructure in Kensington Market remains in a state of good repair. This important work presents an opportunity to make changes to roads and sidewalks to improve safety and accessibility and increase space for pedestrians.
The planned improvements on these streets include:
The planned changes have been designed to support pedestrianization, which will be piloted after construction is complete.
Public consultation on changes to the design of streets in Kensington Market began under the project name “Kensington Safe Streets”, and was carried out through multiple phases from 2021 to 2023. Consultation activities included virtual public meetings, meetings with community interest groups, multiple public drop-in events, email and print notification, and a survey with over 1600 responses. Through the phases of consultation, the proposed design changed in response to public feedback as well as technical feasibility requirements.
The consultation explored a wide range of design options in different sections of the market. In addition to the final design elements described above, the project also considered:
These elements have not been included in the final design for several reasons:
The public consultation materials are provided below:
The staff recommendations for this project was adopted with amendments by Toronto and East York Community Council on June 22, 2023. See details under agenda item TE6.54.
Kensington Market has long been valued as a cultural, community and commercial destination with high pedestrian traffic. During public consultations for this project, the city heard consistent requests to increase space for pedestrians and business loading activities and decrease space for on-street paid parking and driving.
Starting in summer 2026, the City will initiate early community engagement to support the development of a suitable pedestrianization pilot project that could be implemented following construction. This engagement will focus on establishing a working group of local representatives to collaborate with the City throughout the planning process. This project would test a temporary, pedestrian-focused zone within Kensington Market. The pilot would allow the City, local businesses, residents, and community interest groups to continue working together to determine the right balance of pedestrianization for the neighbourhood.
Subscribe to the project email list for updates and invitations to apply for committee membership in mid-2026.
Subscribe to our email list to receive project updates.