Trefann Court

Trefann Court
Neighbourhood
New buildings in Trefann Court, built to retain the scale of the original neighbourhood
City	Toronto
Province	Ontario
Country	Canada

Trefann Court is a small neighbourhood in the eastern part of downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north side of Queen Street between Parliament Street and River Street. It extends north only a short distance to Shuter St. In the nineteenth century Trefann Court was considered a part of the Cabbagetown neighbourhood. It was a mix of industry, linked to the nearby harbour, and working class housing of mainly Irish immigrants. In the post-war years the government began an extensive program of demolishing what were then considered "slums." To the north much of Cabbagetown was leveled to create Regent Park and St. James Town, and to the west a large portion of Corktown was cleared for the Moss Park housing project.

A similar program was proposed for Trefann Court: demolition followed by the erection of a series of high-rise public housing projects. This plan was proposed in the 1950s, but delayed as the other nearby projects took priority. In 1966 the city finally moved to expropriate the homes. The 1,500 residents that then lived in the area were at first concerned about compensation. The city promised to pay market value for the properties, but would not guarantee new housing for the evicted residents. This was a grave concern for residents, as Toronto was then experiencing an acute housing shortage. The land value of the area had also been depressed by the almost decade long period of pending expropriation that had seen few interested in moving to the area.

A young law student named John Sewell was recruited to help the residents challenge city hall. Sewell quickly became the leader of the movement to halt the project, launching the political career that would see him become mayor of Toronto. Opposed to him was alderwoman June Rowlands, also a future mayor, who defended the need for rebuilding the neighbourhood.

Soon the campaign shifted from one for better compensation to one of preventing demolition entirely. The Don Mount project across the river and Dundas and Broadview has seen protests as residents refused to leave their homes and had to be evicted by police. Faced with widespread opposition in 1969 the city abandoned its plan to demolish Trefann Court.