Plans and Documents
The plan to build a National Bahá’í House of Worship was announced in April 2023. Before this announcement, however, steps were taken to ensure that the land acquired by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Canada in 1968 could be used for a Place of Worship.
Responses to questions submitted at the May 2, 2024 community meeting will be posted to this page once they are finalized.
Process to date
A feasibility assessment study was initiated between 2017-2018, focusing on preliminary planning, engineering, and environmental assessments. Between 2019 and 2021, meetings involving city staff and the Toronto Region Conservation Authority were undertaken to discuss the site’s ecology and natural hazards and to identify the most appropriate location for the temple.
Since 2021 several extensive technical studies, including ecological surveys, have been completed to support the temple siting. This includes the inventory and assessment of more than 1,000 trees. Further technical studies and environmental impact surveys and studies extended the range of ecological assessment in 2022.
In May 2023, concerns about the proposed emergency access route were addressed and an alternative solution was investigated and designed that involves raising Leslie Street out of the flood hazard.
In February 2024, following a presentation to the first Thornhill Subcommittee on the application, a resubmission of the application was made to the City of Markham responding to all comments received to date.
Planning
Submitted documents and studies documents
All Final Resubmission documents may also be accessed through the Markham website