Ontario Place Protectors

2026 Governors Awards

Ontario Place Protectors have been awarded a National Trust Governors Award for their legal challenge of the Rebuilding Ontario Place Act at the Supreme Court of Canada. 

When Ontario Place opened in 1971, it was considered a futuristic architectural marvel, designed by landscape architecture Michael Hough and RAIC gold medalist, architect Eberhard Zeidler. Its waterfront setting, monumental interconnected mast-hung pavilions suspended over Lake Ontario, and Cinesphere form a cultural landscape expressing the avant-garde architectural ideas of the time.  

The Rebuilding Ontario Place Act was passed by the provincial government in 2023 and exempts the redevelopment from requirements under the Environmental Assessment Act and the Ontario Heritage Act, while also limiting legal claims against the government. It has become a model for sweeping development legislation in many jurisdictions.  

Ontario Place Protectors argued that exemption from heritage and environmental regulations is a breach of public trust, and that the Act is unconstitutional for limiting accountability in the courts. This is one of the first cases where the notion of a public trust for heritage that transcends legislation has been tested.  

The Ontario Place Protectors have persevered with the court action despite losses in the lower courts and considerable financial risk. At the Supreme Court of Canada, more than 20 groups intervened in the process – including the National Trust – underlining the significance of the questions at issue. 

The National Trust Board of Governors chose to highlight this project as an inspiring example of the conviction and persistence of heritage advocates taking a stand even when the fight is long and uncertain.