Projects

Toronto Tempo Performance Centre

Advancing women’s sport through a first-of-its-kind performance centre in Toronto.

The ask: Bousfields was retained to support the Toronto Tempo,Canada’s first WNBA franchise, and Kilmer Group, in securing Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment approvals for a new performance centre at 701 Fleet Street, adjacent to Exhibition Place. The vision was to create a world-class training facility for professional athletes while delivering meaningful community access, recreation opportunities, and a new public park.

Collaborator
HOK
NAK Design Strategies
BA Group
Schaeffers
Two Row Architect
Client
Toronto Tempo
Location
701 Fleet Street, Toronto

Tags:

  • Community Design
  • Community Engagement
  • Planning

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Team Members

Partner

Partner

Senior Associate

Kieran Luckhai

Planner

Project Manager

Community Designer

Images

The Challenge

The project required a planning approach that balanced the needs of an elite professional sports organization with the City’s objectives for public access, community programming, and placemaking on City-owned lands. Located on an underutilized parking lot near Exhibition Place, it was important to create a facility that would serve both high-performance athletics and the broader community.

Our Solution

Bousfields worked closely with the Toronto Tempo and City staff to advance the planning applications for a purpose-built athletic training facility that reimagines how professional sports infrastructure can serve the public and relates to the public realm. The Toronto Tempo Performance Centre will include elite training amenities for the team alongside community recreation facilities, indoor and outdoor basketball courts, new parkland, public gathering spaces, and programming opportunities. Developed in partnership with grassroots organizations across the Greater Toronto Area, the facility is designed to expand access to basketball and create a welcoming environment where community members can share a world-class performance centre with professional athletes.

The Outcome

In July 2026, Toronto City Council adopted the City Staff Report recommending approval of the Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments. Once complete, the Toronto Tempo Performance Centre will be the first facility of its kind in Toronto, providing a permanent home for Canada’s first WNBA team while delivering year-round community recreation opportunities, expanded access to sport, and new public amenities. The project represents an innovative model for leveraging professional sports investments to create lasting community benefits and inspire the next generation of athletes.

Toronto Tempo Performance Centre

Toronto Tempo

Address: 701 Fleet Street, Toronto

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Peter Smith

Partner

Planning
416-947-9744x212
psmith@bousfields.ca

Peter is one of the leading urban planning practitioners in the City of Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area and beyond, having graduated from the University of Waterloo in 1979 with a Bachelor of Environmental Studies (Urban and Regional Planning). 

Over the ensuing four decades (and counting), Peter has developed a particular expertise in leading the planning approvals for some of the most complicated and highest profile developments in the Province and, in particular, in the Downtown Toronto area. As well, he has undertaken planning policy studies for the Province and municipalities throughout Ontario and has spoken at numerous conferences and events regarding the need for properly balanced and integrated policy initiatives.

He has been recognized as an experienced professional witness before the Ontario Land Tribunal and the Courts on numerous occasions and has developed a strong reputation for analytical thinking, professionalism and integrity. Peter is a full member of the Canadian Institute of Planners and is a Registered Professional Planner.

Projects Include:

45 La Rose Avenue

Supporting intensification through thoughtful infill development.

1 Front

Planning for growth. Building on history.

Jocelyn Deeks

Partner

Community Engagement
416-947-9744x284
jdeeks@bousfields.ca

Jocelyn Deeks is a Partner at Bousfields and leads the Community Engagement practice. Jocelyn is a Registered Professional Planner and brings several years of experience working at the intersection of planning, development, and community engagement in the public and private sectors. She has developed and executed stakeholder engagement strategies for some of the GTA’s most complex and challenging development projects. Jocelyn also has experience developing strategic plans for Ontario municipalities.

Jocelyn has a Master in Planning (M.Pl) degree from Queen’s University.  She is a member of the Ontario Professional Planning Institute and the Canadian Institute of Planners. She is a regular presenter at conferences including those hosted by the International Association of Public Participation and the Ontario Professional Planners Institute, speaks on panels, and enjoys sharing ideas with peers on podcasts. 

Projects Include:

Eastgate Square

Evolving Eastgate Square into a revitalized transit-focussed retail destination and vibrant residential community.

320 McCowan Road

Delivering residential intensification with consideration for existing tenants.

45 La Rose Avenue

Supporting intensification through thoughtful infill development.

Alex Savanyu

Senior Associate

Planning
416-947-9744x280
asavanyu@bousfields.ca

Alex has a broad range of experience in land use planning, development approvals, project management and feasibility analysis and has appeared in front of several municipal Councils and committees. He joined Bousfields in 2019, having previously worked with a Toronto-based private consulting firm.

At Bousfields, Alex is involved in a variety of land use planning matters and development projects throughout the Greater Toronto Area. He is actively involved in the management of various development applications and regularly prepares planning rationale reports and associated studies for applications for Official Plan Amendments, Zoning By-law Amendments, Site Plan and Minor Variance approvals. He also regularly appears before the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) and the Toronto Local Appeal Body (TLAB) as an expert planning witness.

Alex is a Full Member of the Ontario Professional Planners Institute (OPPI) and the Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP).

Projects Include:

Christina Hoang

Project Manager

Community Engagement
(416)-947-9744 x 233
choang@bousfields.ca

Christina Hoang is a Project Manager on the Community Engagement team at Bousfields. She is an urban planner with an interest in the storytelling of personal and urban histories through maps, recipes, data visualization, and other mediums. She is passionate about community engagement and participatory planning within city-building processes.

A Master of Urban Planning graduate from McGill University, Christina is also a McCall MacBain and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSRCH) scholar where she received funding for her Supervised Research Project on equity-forward cultural planning in North American cities. Prior to joining Bousfields, she was a Junior Planner at Jay Pitter Placemaking, an award-winning, bi-national practice mitigating growing divides in cities across North America. 

Projects Include:

Sarah Furlong

Community Designer

Design
416-947-9744x217
sfurlong@bousfields.ca

Sarah joined Bousfields in November 2021 as a Community Designer, responsible for the preparation of conceptual site layouts and plans of subdivision, in addition to official plan amendment and zoning by-law amendment schedules.

She obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Geography in 2019 from Trent University, where she focused on affordable housing and sustainable transportation strategies in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. In 2021, she obtained her Regional and Urban Planning & GIS Technician diploma from Mohawk College and began working at a private consulting firm as a Planning Technician. Her experience working as a Planning Technician expanded her passions to include shaping the urban landscape through sustainable and mixed-use design, prompting her to join the Bousfields family.

Sarah is an Associate Member of the Canadian Association of Certified Planning Technicians (CACPT).

Projects Include: