Making Toronto’s parks more accessible

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow dropped in on the annual conference of Park People, a national non-profit that advocates for urban parks, to make a welcome announcement just days before the official start of summer.

The mayor announced that starting on Friday, June 20, 2025, the City of Toronto will no longer charge a fee to individuals, registered charities and community groups who want to hold a community event in a public park for 100 people or less if there is no fee to join the activity. Examples include: ravine walks, birdwatching and other events that involve learning about nature; family fun days; tai chi, meditation and other wellness activities; community picnics, and learning events involving sharing Indigenous knowledge.

“Toronto’s parks are where neighbours meet. We want to make the city’s 8,000 hectares of parkland and ravines accessible to all,” said Mayor Chow.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow spoke to about 400 urban parks advocates and community activists who attended the half-day conference at Daniels Spectrum in Toronto on June 14, 2025.

Ange Loft (Kanien’kehá:ka), an Indigenous artist from Kahnawà:ke, Québec, inspired conference participants to think about Toronto’s rivers and ravines from an Indigenous and treaty perspective. Many of Toronto’s parks are situated on the sites of pre-European-contact Indigenous settlements.

On June 20, the City of Toronto parks permits web page will be updated to include detailed booking guidelines and an application form. Toronto Parks and Recreation is holding virtual information sessions on how to apply for a no-fee park permit on June 24 and June 26, 2025. You can register here.

The no-fee permit program will launch on June 20 and remain open for activities in Toronto’s 1,500 parks until the end of October 2025. City staff will then evaluate the program to identify opportunities for future improvements. The City of Toronto estimates that the annual loss in revenue to provide free park permits will be about $50,000.

Lumy Fuentes Castillo (L) and Robin Buyers of the Indigenous People's Solidarity Group plant milkweed in Toronto’s parks because the endangered monarch butterfly will only lay its eggs on the plant, which is commonly eradicated as a weed. — Lumy Fuentes Castillo (L) and Robin Buyers of the Indigenous People’s Solidarity Group plant milkweed in Toronto’s parks because the endangered monarch butterfly will only lay its eggs on the plant, which is commonly eradicated as a weed.

“The best ideas come from kids and seniors,” said Ana Cuciureanu, founder of Splash on Earth, which creates paint from food waste. She and fellow community activists shared ideas about how to create innovative programming in parks.

Erika Nikolai, Park People’s executive director, said the nonprofit has long recognized that the previous one-time park permit fee of up to $112 was a barrier to families and non-profit groups wanting to hold community events in Toronto’s parks. She said Park People has been advocating for a decade to have the city introduce a free, simplified permit system. “This will mean community groups won’t have to fund-raise to pay for a community event in their local park.”

All photos by Ian Darragh