Shortly after we published an article I wrote that mentioned the Ontario Place deal between Therme and the province, The Grind received an email from StrategyCorp. That’s the conservative-connected lobbying and comms firm Therme has used for the last seven years. They wanted us to make a correction.
While looking into it, I was reminded of a shocking and under-reported clause in the Ontario Place lease about commercial activities in “public areas.” That’s at the core of why we won’t be making the main correction they requested. But we have added a line of additional context around rent payments.
The very short section in our original article, “The Dealmaker?”, went online Feb. 21, 2025. It reads:
“[Premier Doug] Ford made a deal with Austrian spa company Therme to redevelop Ontario Place. The province has committed to spending $650 million for a 2,000-car underground parking garage and infrastructure upgrades. And they’re giving tax breaks in the hundreds of millions. So what did Ford get out of Therme in the dealmaking process? Supposedly, Therme will build the spa part of the facility itself. That’s what Ford got for a billion dollars.”
This paragraph was narrowly focused on the construction of the spa building, and we didn’t mention the outdoor space that Therme is leasing on the West Island of Ontario Place. The province also made a bad deal for Ontarians there, but it’s a bit more complicated.
So here’s what happened.
On Feb. 26, StrategyCorp gets in touch about the outdoor space. Their email is from manager Ana Salvagna, a former staffer for Toronto city councilor Michael Thompson. The relevant section of Salvagna’s email (below) contains numerous false and misleading claims:
“The publicly available lease outlines how, in addition to building its destination waterpark attraction, Therme Canada will spend an additional $200 million to restore the Ontario Place West Island, build a 16-acre public park along and a new public beach, picnic areas, aquatic habitat, and trails and bike paths. In addition, Therme will be paying $1.8 billion in rent to the province over the lifetime of the project.”
As we’ll see, the $200 million figure is not in the lease. The “16 acre” figure isn’t in there either. Whatever size the outdoor space is, it isn’t actually a “public park” by commonly-understood definition. And the $1.8 billion figure is speculative, with the province estimating a much lower figure of $1.1 billion over 95 years and experts pointing out that when factoring in inflation and discount rates, the value of this rent falls even lower.
I call Salvagna twice on Feb. 27 and get no answer, so email to set up another time.
The next day, Feb. 28, I get on the phone with a different spokesperson for Therme’s Ontario Place project who speaks on background on the condition that their statements on the call will not be attributed to them by name and that the company they work for will also not be identified. We agree the conversation is being recorded and statements can be used.
“We just wanted to reach out to you because we’re just trying to see if there’s a way to get more of the detail of what’s actually being delivered,” they say. “I get what you guys are trying to do with the piece. And I don’t really — at the end of the day — care what kind of views you guys have on Doug Ford. But from the perspective of Therme, these things are seen globally so we want to make sure they’re accurate.”
I ask about the $200 million claim and note that it’s not in the lease, which was signed in May 2022.
The spokesperson responds: “It is. I can point you to the section. So what the lease requires Therme to do is deliver I think it’s 15.7 acres as part of a public park as part of the West Island.”
I had already triple-checked the lease. It does not specify the $200 million dollar amount. And the number of acres of outdoor space isn’t in there either.
There are, however, requirements around “Therme Public Areas” and the “Shoreline Components,” which we’ll get to in a minute.
I again note that “there is no $200 million in the lease.”
“That is true,” the spokesperson finally acknowledges.
The spokesperson goes on: “That [$200 million for the outdoor areas of the Ontario Place West Island] is what Therme has committed to the government.”
This refers to public announcements that Therme and the Ontario government made in fall 2024.
I ask for any document showing this $200 million investment is a legally-binding commitment and not just an empty promise. Nothing is provided on the call. I send a follow-up email asking about this, as this spokesperson encourages me to, and get no reply.
The lease references other documents which are still being developed, such as the Detailed Design Materials and the Master Development Agreement. Those documents have not yet been made public.
I ask to see them. They are not provided.
“I guess the evidence [for the $200 million commitment] would be they have to build a 16-acre park,” the spokesperson says.
They go on to say this includes work to restore the shoreline, raise parts of the island and deal with contamination.
“The specific costs of that aren’t specifically known yet, but that $200 million number is what Therme has committed to.”
Some of what the spokesperson insinuates will be costs to Therme, such as cleaning up existing contamination, are actually a landlord liability in the lease. So that will be paid by Ontario, not by Therme (as per Section 8.2(b) and Schedule G – 5a(iii)). Only new contamination that Therme creates will be Therme’s responsibility.
The lease also states the province will give Therme up to $25 million in cash to go toward Therme’s work on the outdoor spaces. That’s above and beyond the prep work the province is doing on the site.
I point out the absurdity of being told in an email by StrategyCorp to add the $200 million commitment from Therme to our article when no one can provide evidence that it’s a solid figure.
“You don’t have to print the number. Go ahead, don’t print the number. Like, I don’t care about that. But the fact of the matter is they are delivering a 16-acre park, and in your section [in The Grind] you’re basically saying Therme is giving nothing for it.”
So here we get to the “Therme Public Areas” and the “Shoreline Components.”
In October 2024, after intense public backlash, Therme and Ontario announced this area would be around 16 acres, which is four acres larger than was originally proposed. The spa building would also be smaller.
This isn’t something Ford initially negotiated in the 2022 lease. It was a concession forced by the public. And whether that is the final size agreed on in the Detailed Design Materials remains to be seen, because that document hasn’t been released and may not yet be final. A ministerial zoning order issued by Ford’s PCs in May 2024 states that an outdoor space of around 16 acres (6.4 hectares) needs to be provided on the land, but doesn’t say who needs to provide it. Therme and the lease are not mentioned anywhere.
Therme and Ontario promote this space as though it’s a public park. Most media repeat the claim. And while it may look kind of like one, it definitely isn’t a public park by standard definitions.
This large outdoor area is leased by the province to Therme to control for 95 years. It is privately maintained and controlled land, but the lease requires it to be generally accessible to the public with no entry fee.
This is similar to the notorious “privately-owned public spaces” (POPS) in the city, like green spaces outside of condo towers. They aren’t parks, and the private company controls what happens in those spaces to a large degree, including through deployment of private security. But they look and act sort of like parks.
Spacing Toronto points out that the “Therme Public Areas” at Ontario Place are unique in that it is “publicly-owned private space,” because it is provincial land but privately controlled by Therme.
The real kicker is Therme’s “30% Entitlement” for commercial activity throughout that area.
Section 2.3 (d) of the lease reads:
To the extent constructed, the Landlord acknowledges and agrees that the Tenant shall be entitled to conduct commercial activities on the portions of the Shoreline Components and the Therme Public Areas, such that the Tenant shall have the right to conduct commercial activity on up to thirty (30%) of the gross area of the Therme Public Areas (the “30% Entitlement”).
Will this “public” space for commercial use always be accessible to the public at no cost?
I ask the spokesperson if they can say for sure there won’t be private or ticketed events in the Therme Public Areas.
“I don’t have the answer to that question.”
Will anyone be excluded from these commercial spaces?
“I don’t know the answer to that question. These are speculative, ‘what if’ in the future.”
Will there be brand activations? I’m imagining Coca-Cola or Rogers Communications brand ambassadors working the crowds on the beach while ads blare from a loudspeaker.
“Again, you’re asking a question that I don’t have the answer to because it’s what might happen in 10 years from now when things are … things that might happen in 10 years from now.”
I ask these questions again by email on Mar. 3 and have yet to receive a response.
Therme can also give naming rights to advertisers in the space (section 7.1 (c)), and there is little guidance on whether ads can be put up in the “public” space. My reading is that they can.
The other kicker here has to do with rent Therme pays to Ontario. There is a base rent and, the monthly rent goes up if Therme is bringing in a high enough level of revenue. The revenue-based increase is called “performance rent.” But revenues generated from commercial activities which happen on up to 30 percent of the “Therme Public Lands,” including the shoreline, don’t go into the performance calculation. Any profit from activities in those “public” areas gets pocketed by Therme, and doesn’t go back to the public.
Lastly, I ask what stage of completion the Design Detail Materials are at now. The lease states that the two parties have to agree on the designs when those are 30, 60, 90 and 100 per cent completed.
A major design change was announced in October 2024. Is that the final design, or will there be other changes? And how will that affect the budget?
The spokesperson doesn’t know, and doesn’t respond to email follow-ups.
So, here’s what we don’t know:
- How much money Therme will be spending on the outdoor space.
- How big the outdoor space will actually be.
- How that space will be used, and how publicly accessible it will really be.
All we know for sure is that:
- The province will pay Therme up to $25 million in cash for building the outdoor spaces that Therme controls.
- The province is spending many millions of dollars to prep that space (and hundreds of millions to prep the building site).
- A huge portion of that “public” space can be used for commercial purposes at any time, as determined by Therme, for the sole benefit of Therme.
With so few facts available, we aren’t going to indulge the project proponents’ request for a correction about the outdoor areas.
We have, however, added a note that Therme will pay annual rent but that the amount of rent is uncertain because it is partially based on land value and also Therme’s performance (contrary to StrategyCorp’s claim that Therme will definitely pay a certain amount). OpenCouncil.ca estimates the province will not recoup its costs even after 95 years of rent payments when using a Net Present Value analysis.
Therme is making non-binding commitments in media statements, and their comms teams are push trying to pass off those tenuous pledges as done deals. But when you scratch the surface, the deal looks worse and worse for Ontarians.
This article appeared in the 2025 April/May issue.
