When a massive project comes with significant baggage, it can be difficult for people to evaluate whether said project will provide benefits that outweigh concerns (many legitimate) about the process involved in getting shovels in (or at this stage, pointed at) the ground.
One major project that has generated more controversy than most is the upcoming Ontario Place spa–one that many INsauga.com readers voiced their displeasure over last year.
The project, which is part of a significant overhaul of the underutilized Ontario Place lands, has been controversial since the Doug Ford government signed a lease agreement with Austrian-based luxury spa company Therme in 2022. The 95-year agreement allows the private company to build a 65,000-square-metre, seven-storey indoor private wellness facility and water park on the West Island of Ontario Place.
The entire Ontario Place redevelopment plan has faced more than its share of scrutiny since its announcement. In 2024, the Ontario auditor general’s report found that Therme received special access to provincial executives during a submission process that it called neither fair nor transparent.
Auditor General Shelley Spence also found that it will cost the government more to build a new Ontario Science Centre at Ontario Place (the new facility is officially under construction) than to maintain the site it closed about two years ago, citing vulnerabilities in the roof. As of February 2024, Infrastructure Ontario projected the total cost of the Ontario Place redevelopment to be $2.2 billion.
The almost 100-year lease has drawn the ire of critics, especially for the promised inclusion of 1,600 parking spaces for the private facility, which Spence’s report pegged at more than $280 million.
Last year, a New York Times investigation said Therme “misrepresented itself, misleading the Ontario government and exaggerating its experience” in its bid to secure the deal. This prompted outrage from the opposition NDP and critics, who demanded that the contract be cancelled, a request the province denied. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court of Canada agreed to hear an appeal from a coalition challenging the constitutionality of legislation that paves the way for the development of Ontario Place.
A decision from the Supreme Court has not yet been rendered.
But despite long-standing opposition to the project from some residents and advocacy groups, Therme Canada says the new vision redefines the relationship between people, place, and wellbeing — offering public waterfront access, Indigenous-informed design, and immersive spaces for family-friendly recreation.
The project has also earned the support of an unlikely ally: Former Toronto city councillor and Liberal MP Adam Vaughan.
Vaughan surprised everyone when he was hired as a senior advisor to Therme Canada and began praising the ambitious project, making a salient point about Toronto culture that, tangly optics aside, resonates with anyone who lives, works or plays in Canada’s biggest city: Maybe it’s too much fun for Toronto.
“Look, I’ve been in my share of protests, and I’ve fought for things that I believe in in the city all my life,” Vaughan told INsauga.com.
“I’ve been to the facilities in Europe. I know that Therme is a real company with real financing and a real business model and what I also know is that the [spas] are just absolutely wonderful facilities to spend a day in, and you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg.”
For Vaughan, championing a project mired in controversy and concern is an uphill battle, but one he’s willing to take on because he believes it’ll add something exceptional to the waterfront.
“If your life is focused on complaining about stuff, yeah, you’ll complain about something. But if you’re focused on enjoying the city in the summertime and enjoying the waterfront in the wintertime, if you’re focused on hanging out with your family and friends, you can, you know, have some fun.”
When asked about the New York Times article, Vaughan says he wants to “correct the record,” adding that Therme Group currently owns five facilities in Europe, including the flagship location outside of the Romanian city of Bucharest that the NYT identified at the time as Therme’s only operational facility.
As of June 2026, the group’s website indicates it operates locations in Germany, with other projects planned for the United Kingdom, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and the United States.
“Our flagship project in Bucharest is up and operating and it’s the one that most closely resembles the project that we’re going to be building in Toronto,” he says.
Vaughan says that at the time of the application, Therme had a longstanding corporate agreement with the Josef Wund Foundation, which was founded by late architect and Wund Holding owner Josef Wund, who died in a plane crash in 2017.
“Wund was a visionary in the field of large-scale spas. He built and constructed six, largely in Germany,” Vaughan says, adding that Therme was in the process of taking over the Wund Foundation when Wund died.
“We had hired about 200 of his staffers that had built, designed, managed, run, and marketed the facilities, and we were in the process of acquiring the capital plans that they were attached to when he passed away,” Vaughan says, adding that complexities involved in acquiring the full Josef Wund portfolio made it look like Therme “overstated its footprint.”
“It was the direction we were going, and it’s the direction we’ve now landed at. It just took longer to get there than we expected, and that was clarified during the bid process. So we are now the largest operator of spa destinations on the planet.”
In December 2025, Therme announced its acquisition of the full Thermengruppe Josef Wund portfolio through Therme Horizon, Therme Group’s joint venture with CVC Capital Partners. The acquisition included Euskirchen, Sinsheim, and Titisee-Neustadt spas, all located in Germany.
In a news release, Therme said the move, subject to approval by the German Federal Cartel Office, brought five properties under its corporate umbrella, serving a total of 5.3 million visitors a year. The company also said it broke ground on a sixth spa in Manchester, U.K.
“Contrary to what The New York Times said, the construction documents for the Manchester project went in before our bid documents went into Ontario. We didn’t leverage Ontario to get Manchester,” Vaughan says.
“So we’re a large global company, well-funded, properly documented, well-financed. We have significant corporate investments and capital to pursue the next stage of our development, and everything’s looking good from our side.”
As for the facility itself, Vaughan says the project, once complete, will be much more than a luxury spa frequented exclusively by people seeking facials and massages (although those, of course, will be available).
The project includes both a waterpark and wellness centre that will feature waterslides, thermal bathing, social saunas, pools, restaurants and relaxation areas.
Beyond the waterpark and spa, the project also features 16 acres of publicly accessible parkland, walking trails, beaches, cultural gathering areas, and nature play zones along Toronto’s western waterfront — all of which will be free and open to the public year-round.
While spas are not typically associated with children, Therme previously said the project will pay homage to the family-friendly nature of what was once a popular amusement park, offering slides, wave pools and food and beverage areas geared towards guests of all ages.
A project this ambitious comes with a much simpler question–especially considering the province’s track record on other major infrastructure projects–will it face significant delays?
Vaughan is candid about some of the challenges involved in getting the spa and waterpark up and running, saying that its construction isn’t as simple as that of the new Ontario Science Centre, which is slated to open in 2029.
The spa is being constructed on an island, so getting construction equipment to the site isn’t as easy. That said, Vaughan says the groundbreaking is expected to take place after the FIFA World Cup matches wrap up.
“We’ve just been fully permitted, and all systems are go for construction starting right after the soccer tournament ends. We’ll be under construction by midsummer, if not sooner. The real challenge for us is we have to grow the island before we build the building,” he says, adding that steps involved include accessing the island, prepping the site, expanding the island and excavating the land for below-grade infrastructure.
The facility is expected to be about a third of the size of the Eaton Centre and as tall as the crystal structure on the ROM.
Vaughan says the year-round facility will offer several pavilions: one for water slides, splash pads, and kid-friendly pools; a quieter area for rest and relaxation featuring saunas, steam rooms, and mineral pools; and another with pools, bars, and additional recreational features.
“So there’s the spa, there’s just a place to relax by a beach, and then there’s the place to have fun if you want to go sliding down a slide,” he says.
“There was a waterpark at Ontario Place and we’re effectively moving it from the East Island to the West Island and putting it inside glass pavilions. There are components which are outdoors, and you’ll be able to swim outside in the winter, but come inside to get warm.”
Vaughan says the facility will be much like a resort without a hotel, offering daytime activities and nightlife elements in the later hours.
“It’s more than just a spa. It has a lot of different dimensions, and that’s part of the way we drive the business model,” he says.
Vaughan also says the facility will have real palm trees and employ a state-of-the-art water-based heating and cooling system. On its website, Therme said it plans to invest approximately $200 million to restore the island’s shoreline and rehabilitate the land, addressing flooding and creating new habitats for fish and wildlife. The company has also announced plans to invest approximately $500 million in the project.
While the construction timeline isn’t as clear-cut, Vaughan anticipates that, much like the Science Centre, the spa and waterpark will open in 2029. According to its website, Therme estimates that, once open, the facility will welcome up to 2.6 million visitors annually.
While the project is anticipated to draw tourists, Vaughan says it’s paramount that it be accessible to–and beloved by–the community it calls home.
“It’s got to work for Torontonians first and foremost. It’s got to be a place that Torontonians use on a daily, if not weekly, basis, certainly more than a couple of times a year,” he says, adding that Therme aims to set admission rates at $40 per person. Spa treatments, some of which might be covered by private insurance, will be extra.
“It’s priced accordingly and it’s also positioned accordingly in the downtown, in and around dense urban areas where getting to the water is not necessarily something that’s easy to do all the time,” he says.
In a prime location on the west end of the city, Vaughan also notes the facility will be well-served by existing (GO and TTC) transit infrastructure, as well as the future Ontario Line, which will run from Ontario Place/Exhibition to Line 5 Eglinton at Don Mills Road.
Vaughan says the project represents something significant: an enormous investment in the province’s economy and improvement of a once-beloved landmark that has seen portions fall into disrepair since the amusement park’s closure in 2012.
“There are about 700 to 800 jobs in construction alone on our site. Unlike the last time Ontario Place was built when you didn’t have any environmental standards for lake infill. We have to clean up the previous artificial island that’s been leaching contaminants into the water for decades now…but we’re on track, we’re on target. We’ve built these before, so we know what to look for,” he says.
As the spa and waterpark move forward, Vaughan expects some of the pushback to fade.
“I think as people start to see that it’s not a luxury spa, that it’s an affordable, aquatic activity center that includes 20 water slides and 20 saunas, [they’ll] start to understand it more as part of the way in which they traditionally used Ontario Place as a place to go and have fun. I think a lot of the opposition starts to disappear,” Vaughan says.
“When you take a look at what the critics first, and I was one of them, identified as problems, is it going to be a casino? No. It’s not allowed to be, it’ll never be. It doesn’t work. It’s all glass. Casinos never function that way with indoor-outdoor pools. It’s a purpose-built building and it’s not going to be converted anytime soon.”
Vaughan expects other aspects of the project, such as the bonfire pits, performance space and sprawling acreage of publicly accessible land, to also win critics over.
“I’d be the first person to criticize it if I thought it wasn’t adding to a waterfront city in a way that was clean, green, and wonderful for all. This achieves so many of the benchmarks that community consultations have established as being a prerequisite for any change at Ontario Place.”
– With files from The Canadian Press
All renderings from Therme Canada
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