Barrie paves way for Tollendale Village expansion

After years of red tape, zoning orders and the better part of a decade, the City of Barrie is taking things into their own hands.

Since 2019, Tollendale Village has been looking to expand its care to seniors in our region.

RELATED: Innisfil council approves Tollendale Village proposal

The City of Barrie crossed township boundaries into Innisfil and along with the provincial government speeding up the process to make Tollendale Two a reality.

Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall used strong mayor powers to provide municipal servicing to enable the next phase of the build.

“Get this moving as fast as possible, give the opportunity for our local Tollendale Village community to get going and to be able to deliver those houses as soon as possible,” said Nuttall.

The $4.5 million grant would allow Tollendale Village to utilize the City of Barrie’s wastewater and water services.

Executive Director of Tollendale Village Drew Currie said it will help push the new building forward and praised the collaborative effort by all levels of government.

“I think everyone’s working together, As the mayor mentioned, municipalities in the province are in such a need,” said Currie. “So that has been really helpful and a blessing, and we look forward to the days ahead.”

The expansion into Innisfil would see Tollendale expand its number of units to 588.

Currently, Tollendale has 282 apartment units in independent living and 160 beds in its long-term care.

Currie added the addition of a new building is needed as the demand for senior housing continues to increase.

“Right now, we have a waitlist for Tollendale Village Barrie, approximately 1,500 units. That’s about, on average, 1,800 people waiting to get into this location,” said Currie. “So that’s really the motivation for expansion into this building.”

Minister of Red Tape Reduction Andrea Khanjin said the province stepped in, thanks to advocacy from local council.

“People want results, especially in this economy, and they want to see projects moving as they can’t afford delays,” said Khanjin. “So not only support actual jobs to build the project, (but) to support jobs once the project is completed and it’s going to support a lot of seniors.”

It remains unclear when shovels will hit the ground on Tollendale Two, but officials say the grant allows them to pave a path for more affordable senior units in the community.