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Volume 55 No. 1
BEACHMETRO.COM
MARCH 3, 2026
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Lunar New Year celebration in East Chinatown
Council to continue debate over Beach development rules By Matthew Stephens
PHOTO: ALAN SHACKLETON
The annual Lion Dance and Parade hosted by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of East Toronto made its way down Broadview Avenue on Saturday afternoon. The Lunar New Year celebration welcomed the Year of the Horse, and started at the Zhong Hua Men Archway on Gerrard Street East by Broadview Avenue then made visits to local businesses in the East Chinatown area.
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DISCUSSION ABOUT the Queen Street East Urban Design Guidelines (UDG) and their connection to a proposal for a 10-storey building at a high-profile intersection in the Beach will continue at Toronto City Council this month. The proposal for the northwest corner of Queen Street East and Kingston Road (the Murphy’s Law site) was the subject of a public meeting on Thursday, Feb. 19, prior to that day’s meeting of Toronto and East York Community Council. At that meeting, community councillors heard from members of the public and city staff regarding the Murphy’s Law proposal, and voted to send the item without recommendation to the full Toronto Council meeting on March 25. City councillors will gather at the March 25 meeting to discuss whether the Queen Street East UDG are still considered relevant in the city’s planning process for new developments in the area. “It’s hard to see how a 10-storey building complies with the intent of the Queen Street East Urban Design Guidelines,” said deputant Jeffrey Levitt, Vice-President of the The Beach Triangle Residents
Association, at the Feb. 19 community council meeting. Further uncertainty arose about whether the UDG still applies to Queen Street East in the Beach when city staff acknowledged that some aspects of the local guidelines were considered in the developer’s updated proposal for the Murphy’s Law site at 1684, 1689, 1700 and 1702 Queen St. E. Adopted by the city in 2012, the Queen Street East UDG was the result of a collaborative effort between local residents, the local councillor at the time, and the city’s planning department. The guidelines limited building heights along Queen Street East in the Beach to six storeys between Coxwell and Neville Park avenues, and also set design standards to preserve the area’s character. Several deputants and two East Toronto councillors at the Feb. 19 meeting questioned whether the 2012 guidelines had been “superseded” by the city’s all-encompassing 2024 Mid-rise Building Design Guidelines (which define a midrise property as five to 14 storeys in height). “The 2024 Mid-Rise Guidelines are the standard for reviewing mid-rise buildings, but the other guidelines are still to have regard,” Continued on Page 4
Hospital partners with students for Vital Venture Fund By Jessica Shackleton
MICHAEL GARRON Hospital is partnering with students from Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute in East York to highlight the hospital’s equipment needs. The Vital Venture Fund 2026 saw the high school students work with physicians at MGH and create 90-second videos presenting
the need for different pieces of medical equipment. Community members will vote on the video that makes the best case for the equipment to be purchased. The project with the most votes will receive immediate funding from the Moez & Marissa Kassam Equity Fund. The Kassams’ investment into Michael Garron Hospital directly supports the diverse
population of East Toronto. Mitze Mourinho, President of Michael Garron Hospital Foundation, said it’s important for the community to have a voice in its local hospital. “MGH is a real community hospital. That’s something I came to learn very quickly when I joined. The community is heavily involved in everything that we do,”
she said. “We often talk about how the work of the hospital is beyond the four walls. The care that is provided does not just happen here at the hospital, it happens in the community.” Having local schools involved in the Vital Venture campaign made sense, as it serves as an opportunity to teach students about
the need for hospital funding and how it impacts patient care. Gillian Evans is the principal of Marc Garneau Collegiate, located at Don Mills Road and Overlea Boulevard and the third-largest high school in the TDSB, and she said the school welcomed the opportunity to have students take part in the campaign. Continued on Page 4