The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) has started a project to rebuild the access route into the Vale of Avoca ravine starting at the west end of the St Clair Avenue bridge (see map). This access staircase has been closed since 2014, forcing users to access the ravine from below St. Clair at David … Read more
On February 25, City Council’s Infrastructure & Environment Committee spent part of its meeting that day discussing Toronto’s Ravine Strategy, and hearing from a number of groups that are active in ravine advocacy. Midtown Ravines Group Chair John Bossons was among the deputants to appear at the committee. The ravine discussion was agenda item IE27.7, … Read more
The Toronto and Regional Conservation Authority (TRCA) and the City of Toronto are developing a plan to address the erosion hazards and improve ravine access and creek trails in the Vale of Avoca, including pedestrian bridges and staircases. Increased flooding in Yellow Creek has resulted in greater slope instability and the loss or deterioration of … Read more
On July 16th 2024, Toronto was hit by a record-breaking rainstorm, with some areas getting up to 100 millimeters of rain in just four hours (CBC News). The city saw over half of its average amount of rainfall for July in just a couple of hours. Following a particularly wet spring, Toronto’s infrastructure was not … Read more
Congratulation to local teams of volunteer ecological stewards who are doing their part to promote biodiversity in the midtown area. The teams operate within an arrangement between Toronto Nature Stewards and the City of Toronto, in which trained lead stewards guide ecological restoration activities in designated parkland locations around the City. The local midtown sites … Read more
A deteriorated ravine path, which some call “the missing link” in Toronto’s recreational trail system, may soon be coming back to life with the help from a midtown residents’ group. Funding for the first steps toward rehabilitating the long-neglected trail through the Vale of Avoca, a steep valley near Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue E., was approved by council … Read more
Digital Waters is a Toronto-based non-profit developing affordable, made-in-Canada water monitoring technology to better understand and protect our local waterways. Since early fall of 2024, we’ve been monitoring Yellow Creek using a series of three devices spaced roughly 500 meters apart along the creek, beginning just south of Mount Pleasant Cemetery. Each device captures high-frequency … Read more
The MRG believes that the release of the 2025 Yellow Creek GSMP represents an important element of progress towards the restoration of the Vale of Avoca, but we believe it is important to recognize that it takes an extremely narrow view of the problems that it addresses.
On March 5, 2025, the City published an environmental assessment that looking at the remediation of water services infrastructure emptying into Yellow Creek in the Vale of Avoca ravine.
Our vision: a well-maintained woodland environment that provides a green haven for midtown Toronto. Our plan: a set of goals for restoration and remediation met through a combination of City investment and private funds.
