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Planning is advancing for an 11-storey patient tower at St Joseph’s Health Centre in Toronto’s Parkdale–High Park area, backed by a record $60 million donation from Peter Gilgan, the founder of Mattamy Asset Management, the parent company of Mattamy Homes. Designed by Cumulus Architects for Unity Health Toronto and Infrastructure Ontario, the 11-storey facility would rise on the footprint of the existing parking structure and adjacent Sunnyside buildings on the southeast corner of the hospital campus, and would expand emergency, surgical, and mental health services.
The new patient tower would add over 7,400m² of institutional space across 11 storeys and one underground level, replacing aging infrastructure with up-to-date facilities. Plans call for a significantly expanded Emergency Department, 13 new operating rooms, 38 intensive care beds, and two full floors dedicated to mental health services. More than 300 new single-patient rooms, each with a private washroom, are included, improving infection control. A new sterilization centre, pharmacy, and updated diagnostic and support services will support clinical functions. Designed to accommodate future growth, the tower would also include initially ‘shelled’ floors that would provide an additional 72 beds once opened in the future.
Gilgan’s gift is the largest donation in St Joseph’s Health Centre’s history, and one of several contributions he has made to healthcare across the GTA. Born at St Joe’s alongside his six siblings, Gilgan, speaking at the announcement, remarked that the hospital was “well past its best-before date” and expressed hope that his contribution would inspire community support. The new facility is set to carry his name in recognition of the donation, which adds to his $325 million in total healthcare giving, including past gifts to Trillium (at Mississauga and Queensway campuses), SickKids, and St Michael’s.
The new tower is part of an Ontario government push to modernize the province’s healthcare infrastructure, particularly in fast-growing urban areas. Serving a catchment of 500,000 people, St Joseph’s plays a critical role in delivering acute and mental health care in Toronto’s west end. Hospital CEO Dr. Tim Rutledge described the project as a turning point for community-based care, with design features that incorporate both pandemic-era lessons and long-term flexibility. Community members and donors echoed the need for upgraded facilities, citing overcrowding and outdated wards.
The announcement at St Joe’s came just a day before shovels hit the ground in Mississauga, where construction is now underway on the 2.8-million ft² Peter Gilgan Mississauga Hospital. Backed by a $14 billion provincial investment, the new Trillium Health Partners facility will triple the size of the existing campus and eventually become Canada’s largest teaching hospital. Plans include a 22-storey patient tower with over 950 beds, a major emergency department, and the 200,000 ft² Shah Family Hospital for Women and Children. Once complete, the hospital is expected to bring in 2,400 new healthcare workers and roughly 400 additional physicians to serve Peel Region’s growing population.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you’d like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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