Many have asked why the City didn’t try pedestrianizing Church Street years ago, and why we’re only doing two blocks. The simple answer is that even temporarily pedestrianizing a road, particularly one with commercial businesses, is surprisingly complicated: since October of 2025, my staff have been in dozens and dozens of meetings with residents, businesses, Transportation Services, the FIFA Secretariat, Toronto Fire Services, Toronto EMS, Toronto Police Service, Social Development, Solid Waste Services, Economic Development and Culture and Toronto Public Health and more to make this happen.
The work needed to pull off pedestrianization is massive, and includes:
- Finding funds to pay off-duty police to allow intersections to close;
- Figuring out how deliveries and waste pick-up will function for dozens of businesses;
- Working with local organizations to help activate the street during the closure;
- Helping set up temporary patios for businesses to spill out onto Church Street; and
- Working with the local community to solve accessibility issues.
This pedestrianization will be successful for residents, businesses and visitors, and should lead to an expanded footprint on Church Street in future summers. But the City needs to get out of its own way to allow these to happen, and I truly hope that Church Street provides the template needed for more summer pedestrianizations throughout Toronto.
One person in particular deserves special recognition: Rodney Chan, an urban planning student at the University of Waterloo, who created the idea that is now coming to fruition.
That said, it takes a village AND the Village, so I also want to thank the dozens and dozens of City staff, police officers, residents, business advocates, volunteers, and the more than two thousand people who voiced their support for this project. Based on the incredible and overwhelming support this idea has garnered, I am confident that my fellow councillors will vote to green light the pedestrianization of Church Street when it goes to Toronto City Council for final approval on May 20.
Yours in service,
Chris Moise
City Councillor
Ward 13 - Toronto Centre
