Spring Into Don Valley North
- Apr 2
- 6 min read
Spring is finally here, and with it comes a season full of meaning and celebration. Whether you're marking Passover with family or celebrating Easter this weekend, I hope the holiday brings you warmth, joy, and time with loved ones. Along with these special occasions comes the usual flurry of activity in our neighbourhoods: residents out walking, kids back on bikes, gardens waking up, and a whole new list of things to keep an eye on.
I always look forward to this time of year as a chance to reconnect with the community, so I wanted to send along a few important updates and reminders as we head into the warmer months.
Spring Street Cleaning
Starting mid-April, the city kicks off its annual spring-cleaning operations across Toronto, and it's a pretty comprehensive effort. Street sweepers will be out on arterial roads and local streets removing the winter's worth of debris, salt, and dust that's built up since November. Beyond the roads themselves, crews will also be clearing grassed boulevards, sidewalks, walkways, and laneways; removing litter and debris from parks; cleaning fence lines; clearing graffiti from bridges and public walls; and tidying up watercourses and ravines along arterial roads. Derelict and abandoned bikes will be removed as well.
Once that initial spring sweep is done, local roads move to a scheduled rotation of once every two months. If your street looks like it needs attention before its next scheduled sweep — or if something was missed — you can submit a 311 service request directly. It takes just a minute and helps crews prioritize where the need is greatest.
Plow Damage to Boulevard and Lawns
This year was a rough one for plow damage, torn-up sod, gouged boulevards, lawns that look like they've been through something. If your property was affected, report it to 311 either by phone or through the online form. Once you do, your address goes into the repair queue and crews will come by to restore the area, typically with fresh sod.
A couple of things worth knowing: the city coordinates the repairs, but the winter maintenance contractors pay for them, not the City's budget. Repairs are targeted for early summer, but given the volume of damage this year, it may take a bit longer than usual.
Catch Basins
With the rain and melting we've had so far this spring, this one's worth a quick mention. Catch basins, those metal grates at the edge of the road, are what keep our streets from flooding. They get clogged with leaves, garbage, and leftover ice and when that happens, water pools up fast. If there's one near your home and it looks blocked, clear it if it's safe to do so. If it's damaged or fully clogged, call or report online to 311 and the City will send someone out.
Long Grass and Property Standards
While the City goes about it’s clean up, homeowners are reminded of their responsibilities too. As soon as the weather turns, my office starts hearing about overgrown grass, it's the number one property standards complaint every spring. If you've got a traditional turf lawn, keep it under 20 cm. You're also responsible for the boulevard in front of and beside your home. Landlords, that applies to your properties too.
That said, the City's updated bylaw is quite supportive of pollinator-friendly gardens, so you're not locked into turf. Native plants like goldenrod are welcome, the prohibited list is really about noxious species like ragweed, poison ivy, giant hogweed, and garlic mustard. If you're thinking about converting some of your lawn to a pollinator garden, the Toronto Master Gardeners have great resources.
For other property standards issues — litter, debris, general disrepair — you can report to 311 or reach out to my office directly.
Parking
A few seasonal reminders as more people get outside and we become more aware of parking infractions. Nearly all residential streets in Don Valley North have a three-hour parking maximum, including overnight. The parking maximum applies whether there are street signs or not, so don’t get caught with a ticket! Other common issues: parking facing the wrong direction, blocking driveways, parking in front of fire hydrants or bus stops. These are all handled by Toronto Police Parking Enforcement, you can report online or call their non-emergency line at 416-808-2222.
For off-street parking issues, like a car parked on a lawn or on the paved portion of a boulevard (yes, that's also a bylaw infraction), report to 311. These situations can take a couple of months to resolve since bylaw has to issue a written warning first, but if it's a chronic problem, reach out to my office and we'll stay on it.
Coyotes
Many of you along the hydro corridor have reached out with concerns about coyote sightings, and I want you to know Council has been listening. City Council has approved a strengthened Coyote Coexistence and Response Strategy, including a new dedicated Wildlife Response Team within Toronto Animal Services. This team will take a proactive approach: monitoring hotspots, putting up signage, doing enforcement and education work, and engaging directly with communities.
In the meantime, spring means it’s pup season, coyotes are actively defending dens and can be more reactive right now. Keep dogs leashed in all public areas unless you're in a designated off-leash zone. A few other things worth keeping in mind:
Never feed coyotes
Pick up after your dog! Waste attracts rodents, which attract coyotes
Don't leave pet food, bird feeders, or garbage accessible outside
Don't approach coyotes, their dens, or their young
If you see a coyote approaching people or pets, acting sick or injured, or behaving strangely, call or report online to 311
Large Item and Yard Waste Collection
Spring yard cleaning tends to generate a lot of material, so a quick reminder: bins need to be out by 7:00 a.m. on your collection day. If your pickup is missed, report it to 311 after 5 PM on collection day and before 5 PM the following day. If you're dealing with repeated missed collections, contact my office and we'll follow up with Solid Waste directly.
If something is too big to fit in your regular garbage bin, just put it out next to your bin on your normal garbage collection day — no tags, no appointment needed.
If your items aren't picked up right away, don't panic. Sometimes the first truck fills up before it gets through the whole route, and a second truck will come around to collect what's left. Give it one business day, and if things are still sitting there after that, submit a 311 request and a crew will come back for them.
Illegal Dumping
Every year as the weather warms up, we see an uptick in people using parks, ravines, and public spaces as a convenient place to offload things they don't want anymore. We see situations such as discarded furniture, tires, construction debris, bags of soil, and household waste stuffed into park garbage cans. It falls on City crews and our neighbours to deal with the mess. This year we have already seen dumping on highway ramps, which creates a serious safety hazard.
If you see illegal dumping happening, or come across a dump site in a park, ravine, or trail, please report it to 311, either online or by phone. It doesn't matter whether you witnessed it happening or just stumbled across it after the fact; 311 wants to hear about both.
The faster these get reported, the faster crews can get out and clean it up. Let's keep Don Valley North's green spaces clean this spring.
As always, don't hesitate to get in touch if something's come up in your neighbourhood that you need help navigating. Spring brings a lot of activity, the good kind and the kind that needs a little sorting out and my team and I are here for both. Wishing you a great start to the season.
Safety in Don Valley North
I want to speak directly to what many of you have been hearing about and asking me. Home invasions and break-and-enters are serious crimes, and we have seen incidents here in Don Valley North, including a home invasion last week. These are deeply unsettling, especially when people are home. While overall numbers across the region have been trending down, the level of risk in these cases is something police are taking very seriously.
In my role as Chair of the Toronto Police Service Board, I have asked Chief Myron Demkiw to provide a detailed briefing to the Board on how the Toronto Police Service is responding. That includes how these crimes are being investigated, how patrols are being deployed, and what additional steps may be needed. I will share what we learn so you have a clear picture of what is being done and where we need to strengthen the response.
In the meantime, there are practical steps you can take. Our local 33 Division officers are available to meet with neighbourhood groups, condo boards, and residents to walk through prevention measures and property security. If your association or building would benefit from that, reach out to my office and we will help coordinate it. Don Valley North remains a safe community, but staying informed and taking simple precautions can make a real difference.
