TTC has plan for station rebrands, including Pioneer Village

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The possible renaming of the Pionerskaya Derevnya metro station has been discussed in the Third Transport Ring for at least a year. Toronto Sun learned.

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While Sun reported that renaming Dundas Station to TMU Station was a “priority” for Mayor Olivia Chow and TTC Chairman Jamaal Myers, a City Council member, the future of the Dundas West subway station is unclear. However, its theoretical rebranding was discussed in emails received by Sun following a Freedom of Information request – along with other radio stations not associated with 18th-century Scottish politician Henry Dundas.

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Pioneer Village Station's namesake landmark, Pioneer Village Black Creek, has been renamed The Village at Black Creek. The Toronto and Region Conservancy, the non-profit organization that runs the living history museum, said the word “pioneer” is “an obstacle to efforts related to reconciliation and engagement.”

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According to both sources, the internal email and statement provided by SunThere were no plans to rename the Pioneer Village station. At that time Sun said the signage changes are only related to the rebranding of the Village at Black Creek. will cost TTS $25,000..

Meanwhile, in a February email, Laura Leming, who is in charge of pathfinding at the TTC, emailed Josh Collet, who is in charge of customer experience, after learning from Chris Ronson of the City of Toronto that money would need to be set aside to rename Dundas. ( Sun reported that Ronson estimated the cost at $400,000..)

“If there are future name changes—Dundas West, Science Center, Pioneer Village—he will be asked if he can be brought into the discussion early so he can budget accordingly,” Leming wrote. (The Science Center station, which has not yet opened and will serve the Eglinton-Crosstown and Ontario line, has already been renamed Don Valley following the closure of a nearby landmark.)

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“Pending name change”

Colle, in two emails to Myers in October 2024, mentioned renaming Dundas West and Pioneer Village.

On Oct. 3, in an email with the subject line “Station Naming Schedule,” Colle asked Myers about the “current thinking” about when the stations would change.

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“It's also worth noting that with the upcoming name change to Black Creek Pioneer Village, we may be considering changing the name of a third station. That's another reason to stick with our policy,” Colle wrote.

Then, on October 7, Collet wrote to Myers again about the sequence of station name changes in Dundas, Dundas West, and possibly Pioneer Village.

In an emailed statement, TTC spokesman Stuart Green confirmed the transit authority. completed the renaming policy in June, but added that “nothing is currently planned” regarding future station changes.

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The policy states that the TTC has “reexamined its station naming process from a racial equity perspective.” It also says that “renaming subway stations, especially those associated with the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade and colonization, is a priority” for groups such as the United Indigenous Council and the Black Transit Workers Association and should therefore be “involved throughout” the renaming process.

“The TTC will engage carefully internally and externally with Indigenous and Black communities and organizations during future station naming processes,” it said.

The policy also states that the “timeline for developing a new name or renaming an existing TTC station under this revised policy” is expected to last between six and 10 months. “This is best done in conjunction with other system-wide navigation changes” to minimize costs and the need for private businesses and organizations to change maps and signs, the report said.

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How Sun reported that in November 2024, Colle told interim CEO Greg Percy in an email that after the TMU changeover, this “new policy will only apply to Dundas West and that the renaming process will continue subject to (board) approval.”

Talk of renaming Dundas West comes despite the fact that when TMU's renaming was approved by the TTC board in May, board member Dianne Sachs referred to the process of removing the Dundas name from all city assets as “extremely unpopularand potentially “really harmful.”

Although Sachs expressed displeasure that Henry Dundas' descendants would feel offended by this change, City of Toronto Advisory Committee The effort to erase Dundas's name was led by a consultant—Melanie J. Newton of the University of Toronto—who said the politician was not a pragmatist on the issue of abolition but the author of a “shocking orgy of violence and racial hatred.”

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