Please visit www.fightforwestonarena.com to one-click send an automatic letter of support to Premier Doug Ford and Mayor Olivia Chow.
The letter is below:
doug.fordco@pc.ola.org; mayor_chow@toronto.ca
Honourable Doug Ford,
Constituency Office
964 Albion Road
Unit 110 (Second floor)
Etobicoke, ON
M9V 1A7
And to:
Mayor Olivia Chow
City of Toronto, Mayor’s Office
100 Queen St. W, 2nd Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M5H 2N2
RE: WESTON LIONS ARENA – PLANNED CLOSURE
I am writing to ask you to stop the cancellation of hockey and save Weston Lions Arena from closure as doing so would displace 1200 active users, 7 organizations, 400 active seniors, more youth, children and young families.
Decision by City Council
On October 21, 2025 the City of Toronto’s Executive Director published a report to the Executive Committee recommending the closure of Weston Lions Arena. On November 4, 2025 the Executive Committee accepted the recommendation, and on November 12th, 2025, City Council voted to accept the recommendations by vote of 23 in favour, and two opposed. The City recommendation was made without its own review or consultation but in sole reliance on an online survey conducted only by Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.
Concern for Seniors
Four of the seven organizations currently using Weston Arena are senior’s leagues. The leagues were not consulted before the date the Executive Directors final report was issued. They, the 400 seniors who use the rink, did not have a meaningful process to engage in, provide feedback or have their say before the report and decision was made. Their voices were not heard in the process of making this decision and they were not treated with dignity or respect in having this decision forced upon them without an opportunity to provide feedback. For some unknown reason the City and MLSE disregarded them altogether.
The seniors who currently use the rink are a vital part of our social fabric and continue to contribute in meaningful ways to community life, sport, and civic engagement. The importance of supporting their continued involvement in sport is well documented. For example, the World Health Organization has identified regular physical activity for older adults as essential for maintaining mobility, mental health, and social inclusion (WHO Guidelines on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour, 2020). Ensuring that seniors have continued access to organized hockey and similar community programs is therefore not only a matter of recreation, but also of health, social connection, and dignity for those who have spent decades paying taxes, building and sustaining our communities in Toronto on and off the ice.
Peer-sport environments, such as recreational hockey, have been shown to promote emotional wellbeing, community belonging, and a sense of purpose among older adults, (see “Promoting successful aging through competitive sports participation: Insights from older adults” — published in Qualitative Health Research in 2013. Heo J., Culp B., Yamada N., et al. (2013). Promoting successful aging through competitive sports participation: Insights from older adults. Qual Health Res, 23 (1), 105–113).
Concerns with the Decision & Report
The Report was finalized and recommendations made on the limited response from an online survey CONDUCTED BY MLSE, not the City of Toronto, and that only received 873 responses. The decision appears to have been made without considering the voices of the 1,200 affected participants. Some of the concerns with the City’s report include:
- The MLSE canvassed only 873 “online survey” participants a limited cross-section in the community, and 201 (or 23%) did not want to remove the community ice pad and cancel hockey.
- The City of Toronto did not conduct its own review and made its recommendations based on MLSE’s survey a third party private, self-interested organization in a clear conflict of interests.
- The City and MLSE did not engage with all relevant stakeholders in the community,
- The Survey has self-selection bias and does not lay a proper foundation for local community, or City or any regulatory decision making on this scale.
- There are over 1200 active weekly users of Weston Arena who do not want the rink closed and were not consulted.
- It’s unclear if any of the 873 online survey participants use or have used the arena.
- There are over 300 seniors that use Weston Arena weekly for social, physical and mental health and wellbeing actively throughout 8 months of the year (not 5 as suggested in the report).
- The City does not have all of the relevant usage information, it obtained information about one organization, Weston Minor Hockey, but obtained no information about the other organizations using the rink
- Nearby rinks are at full capacity, Chris Tonks is unusable due to a bad roof, George Bell is undergoing construction, and Amesbury cannot accommodate the other organizations.
- The report failed to consider whether there are suitable alternatives for MLSE, and why those alternatives are unsuitable or less of a fit for MLSE’ Launch Pad program.
- Suitable alternatives for MLSE Launch Pad DO exist such as an empty-not-in-use nearby school (Scarlett Heights Collegiate), but have not been explored or canvassed.
- The re-imagining plan was hatched through the efforts of Councilor Nunziata who attended many secret meetings with a developer, Harley Vanetine, Partner, Castlepoint Numa and liaised with MLSE as early as May of 2024 and subsequent meetings thereafter.
- The City’s process of engagement with the community and community organizations appeared selective to youth groups who do not use the rink, disregarding the many benefits for the youth, children and seniors who call the rink home from year to year.
Service of Children, Youth & Volunteers
The rink has served the community consistently for over 80 years. As an example, if rink only served 300 children and youth each Saturday (assuming Weston Minor Hockey was the only tenant, and disregarding those same 300 use the rink Sundays for games) then the rink has seen 9,000 feet impressions per year (assuming 30 Saturdays between September 1 and April 30). This would translate into 720,000 impressions (entry and egress) over 75 years of only players, that easily doubles or triples when Sunday usage is added as well as siblings, parents, grandparents and friends are added. If you add one parent to the equation the Weston Lions Arena has seen over 1.4 million in foot traffic on Saturdays alone since inception, a significant track record of people through its doors.
Up until a few years ago Weston Lions Arena was the home of The Last Gasp Tournament, which ran for 3 consecutive weeks hosting teams from all over Ontario, and the U.S. with 1496 participants, 4 games each week night and 24 games on the weekends.
The arena is a vibrant hub of activity bringing thousands of people together and into the community on a weekly basis. It benefits local shops, restaurants and contributes to park usage. As a heavily used arena, with a significant community presence, closure of Weston Lions Arena will displace so many hard-working families, youth and seniors in the community. This will negatively impact local businesses, families and the community and will lead some to simply quit hockey. It will further terminate jobs and terminate the roles of about 50 to 70 volunteers annually.
- Weston Arena is home to the following organizations:
- Weston Minor Hockey League - over 50 years
- Faustina Toros - 28 years
- CMS Senior Hockey League - 47 years
- Etobicoke Senior Hockey League - 49 years
- Sunday Morning Hockey League - over 50 years
- GTHL - over 25 years
- Lucas Miller Hockey School - 24 years
- Saturday Morning Hockey League - 40 years
Significance and History
The arena was built in 1949 and donated to the City of Toronto by the Lions Club. It was retrofitted after World War II from a barn, and for 75 years it has served the community. Proceeds from its concession stand funds a local food bank, and it serves many underprivileged families from a multitude of diverse ethnic backgrounds.
Conn Smythe ran a Junior B team from Weston Lions Arena, and it was said he donated the sand that forms the base layer for the arena. In a 2018 article in The Atlantic, it was estimated that the snack bar sold 10,000 fries per year over its 8 months of operations (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/226587/2018/02/01/another-toronto-arena-leafs-owner-conn-smythe-helped-build-except-with-better-french-fries/
Heritage Value
As a rink it has hosted many great NHL players and celebrities such as Drake, Connor McDavid, P.K. Subban, Wayne Gretzky, Elvis Stojko and many others. Through ice-sports Weston Arena has brought different cultures, races, socio-economic classes together and underpinned the fabric of Canadian culture, family values and Canadian ideals – and provided a safe space for all, and for those interested in the proud heritage of hockey.
In August of 2025 an application was also been filed to designate the arena as a heritage property but there is no mention of this application in the City’s official and final Report.
An online petition has formed to save Weston Lions Arena and to date has received over 3500 signatories asking to keep Weston Lions Arena as an active community rink available to all.
Please help us save Weston Arena.
Sincerely,