Good afternoon, bonjour, and thank you for your invitation to speak today. My name is Meg Davis. I am the chief development officer at Waterfront Toronto. With me is Kristina Verner, Waterfront Toronto's vice-president of innovation, sustainability and prosperity. She has worked in the field of intelligent and smart communities for over 20 years. We are pleased to have the opportunity to share with this committee background on Waterfront Toronto and our Quayside project, and the roles and responsibilities of Waterfront Toronto and our innovation funding partner, Sidewalk Labs.
Of particular interest to this committee, we also want to address the policy considerations presented by the Quayside project and Waterfront Toronto's perspective on those matters. Let me assure the committee that Waterfront Toronto is approaching the Quayside project with the full force of the fundamental right to privacy, beyond the strict letter of the law.
For those of you not familiar with Waterfront Toronto, we were created in 2001 by the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario and the City of Toronto. We were given a mandate to transform 800 hectares of former industrial lands on the shores of Lake Ontario into thriving neighbourhoods that grow our economy and improve the quality of life. I'm proud to say that the revitalization of Toronto's waterfront is the largest urban redevelopment project currently under way in North America, and it is one of the most significant waterfront revitalization efforts ever undertaken in the world.
This unique tri-government model is clearly working. Since Waterfront Toronto's inception, we have helped generate over $10 billion in new private sector investment and create 26 hectares of new public spaces, including award-winning iconic parks such as Canada's Sugar Beach and Corktown Common. This investment helped create over 14,000 full-time years of employment, 5,000 new residential units, about 600 affordable housing units and 1.5 million square feet of commercial office space to date.
As members of this committee are aware, in March 2017, Waterfront Toronto launched an international request for proposals seeking an innovation and funding partner to transform part of the waterfront called Quayside. This innovation and funding partner would help create a plan for the future neighbourhood and address key priorities, including fighting climate change by radically reducing energy consumption and household waste; offering affordable housing to families and single people alike; reducing traffic congestion and improving road safety for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists; and creating jobs and prosperity by serving as a testbed for Canada's clean tech, building materials, and broader innovation-driven sectors.
The goals we set for Quayside are about using innovation and new ideas to deliver a better, more affordable quality of life. Protecting data and privacy are integral to the realization of these goals.
Like you, Waterfront Toronto is committed to ensuring the use of technology to facilitate better services for people, while at the same time absolutely protecting personal privacy.
After a rigorous competitive selection process, Sidewalk Labs was selected as our innovation and funding partner. Their sole job at this point in time is to prepare for our consideration a master innovation and development plan, or MIDP, for Quayside. They are spending up to $50 million of their own money to prepare this plan. As Kristina will elaborate, the plan will be subject to approval, which is contingent upon the protection of privacy as a condition.
Waterfront Toronto has developed a rigorous process to evaluate the MIDP. This evaluation will use subject matter experts and a due diligence panel, and it will seek public input on the MIDP through consultations. The plan will be reviewed by all levels of government and Waterfront Toronto's board of directors. If approved, any MIDP proposals will be subject to all usual federal and provincial regulations, and municipal planning approvals.
To be clear, if the MIDP proposed by Sidewalk Labs does not deliver on these priorities in a manner that is in the public interest, then the proposed plan will not be approved by Waterfront Toronto and will not be implemented.
I'd like now to turn the microphone over to Kristina Verner to discuss our approach to the protection of privacy.