David Crombie, Toronto Mayor 1972-1978: St. Lawrence & Waterfront

David Crombie (born April 24, 1936) was mayor of Toronto from December 1972 to August 1978, the years when a reform-minded council reshaped downtown planning. His term is linked to the St. Lawrence neighbourhood. After a federal career he returned to chair the Royal Commission on the Future of the Toronto Waterfront, whose 1992 final report was titled Regeneration.

Teacher, then alderman

David Crombie was born in Toronto on April 24, 1936, and studied at Western University and the University of Toronto, according to the Canadian Encyclopedia. He lectured in political science and urban affairs at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, the school that grew out of the work of Egerton Ryerson, and served as its director of student affairs from 1966 to 1971.

He was a central figure in the late-1960s civic reform movement and helped found the short-lived Civic Action Party. He lost an aldermanic race in 1966 but won in Ward 11 and served as alderman from 1970 to 1972.

Winning the mayor’s chair

The 1972 municipal election brought a loose coalition of urban reformers to control of City Council, a University of Calgary design research study notes, and Crombie led it as mayor. Sources date his term slightly differently. The Globe and Mail gives 1972 to 1978, the Canadian Encyclopedia says he won the mayoralty in 1973, and the City of Toronto’s chronological list gives 1973 to 1978 as a year range. The Canadian Encyclopedia says he resigned in August 1978.

The encyclopedia says he was easily re-elected twice and earned the nickname “Tiny Perfect Mayor.” Sources disagree on the years of those re-elections, so this article does not give them. The City’s list also shows Fred Beavis and John Sewell under 1978. For the full sequence see Toronto mayors and municipal elections.

What “reform” meant in practice

Reform in this period meant a different approach to planning downtown. The Globe and Mail reports that Crombie introduced a 45-foot height bylaw that temporarily froze downtown development while plans for the St. Lawrence area were prepared. Wikipedia adds that the Ontario Municipal Board later overturned that limit and that a citywide official plan with varying height rules was upheld instead. That detail rests on Wikipedia alone here, so treat it as a lead for further reading.

The same Wikipedia article says his council ended redevelopment plans for several older districts, including Cabbagetown and Kensington Market. Both neighbourhoods have their own histories: see Cabbagetown and Kensington Market.

The St. Lawrence neighbourhood

St. Lawrence is the project most often tied to his mayoralty. The University of Calgary study records that City Council approved land assembly in 1973 and chose the site in May 1974. The City Housing Department led the work with the federal and provincial governments, private developers and community groups. A citizen committee set urban design guidelines.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation issued a $25 million loan in August 1977, and construction of the first phase began that September. The first units were occupied in June 1979. The Globe and Mail says planning began in the mid-1970s under the architect Eb Zeidler and was later led by Alan Littlewood.

Size: about 4,310 units and roughly 10,000 residents, per the Calgary study. The area is given as 56 acres there and as 18 hectares in the Globe and Mail, so the two sources differ.
Design: new streets extend the existing grid, buildings face the street, and a linear park runs along the Esplanade.
Mix: 39 per cent condominium apartments, 30 per cent non-profit co-ops and private non-profit rentals, 27 per cent municipal non-profit rentals and 4 per cent ownership townhouses.
Funding: a 25-year federal mortgage for land purchase, federal grants and provincial interest-free loans. The City kept title to the land.

The Calgary study credits Crombie’s reform coalition with creating the political conditions for the project but does not say he designed it. The Globe and Mail notes that David Crombie Park is named after him. The neighbourhood sits beside the St. Lawrence Market, and phase work continued into the 1990s.

Ottawa and the Royal Commission on the waterfront

Crombie won the Rosedale federal by-election for the Progressive Conservatives in 1978 and held the seat through the 1979, 1980 and 1984 elections, the Canadian Encyclopedia reports. He served as Minister of Health and Welfare in Joe Clark’s government, Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs from 1984, and Secretary of State and Minister responsible for Multiculturalism from June 30, 1986. He did not run in 1988.

He returned to Toronto that year as commissioner of the Royal Commission on the Future of the Toronto Waterfront. The Waterfront Regeneration Trust says the commission began in 1988 after public opposition to federal waterfront development. In 1989 Ontario widened its mandate to the wider Greater Toronto watershed. A second interim report, Watershed, followed in 1990 with more than 80 recommendations.

The final report, Regeneration: Toronto’s Waterfront and the Sustainable City, was published by the Privy Council Office in 1992. The same year Ontario created the Waterfront Regeneration Trust to carry out its recommendations, including a continuous trail along the Lake Ontario shore. The Trust says the Waterfront Trail opened in 1995, running about 350 kilometres from Stoney Creek to Trenton, and that it became an independent charity in 1999. Background on the shoreline itself is in Toronto harbour and waterfront history. The Trust also links the commission’s work to protection of the Rouge Valley, later part of Rouge National Urban Park.

The Canadian Encyclopedia adds that in 1994 he was asked to step into the Railway Lands dispute in Toronto.

Later roles and what is uncertain

According to Wikipedia, Crombie served as the first chancellor of Ryerson University from 1994 to 1999 and later headed the Canadian Urban Institute. The article also lists honours including the Order of Canada. Those later details are not confirmed here from an official source, so check them with the institutions concerned before relying on them.

What can be checked shows a teacher who became a reform alderman, led a council that backed mid-rise downtown housing, and later chaired a federal inquiry into the future of the lakeshore.

Frequently asked questions

When was David Crombie mayor of Toronto?

From December 1972 to August 1978 by most accounts. The City of Toronto’s list gives 1973 to 1978 as a year range, and the Canadian Encyclopedia says he resigned in August 1978.

Why was he called the “Tiny Perfect Mayor”?

The Canadian Encyclopedia says he earned that nickname after being easily re-elected. The sources checked here do not explain what the phrase meant.

What is the St. Lawrence neighbourhood?

A mixed-income downtown housing area planned by the City in the mid-1970s. It has about 4,310 units and roughly 10,000 residents, and David Crombie Park runs along the Esplanade.

What did the Crombie royal commission recommend?

The commission, chaired by Crombie from 1988, issued reports in 1989, 1990 (Watershed) and 1992 (Regeneration). Its work led to the Waterfront Regeneration Trust and the Waterfront Trail.

Was David Crombie a federal cabinet minister?

Yes. He was Minister of Health and Welfare under Joe Clark, Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs in 1984, and Secretary of State responsible for Multiculturalism from 1986.

Sources

The Canadian Encyclopedia, “David Crombie” (accessed October 2026)
City of Toronto, “Mayor, Reeve & Chairman” chronological list (accessed October 2026)
University of Calgary, Faculty of Environmental Design, case study “St. Lawrence” (accessed October 2026)
The Globe and Mail, “35 years on, St. Lawrence is a template for urban housing” (February 2013)
Waterfront Regeneration Trust, history of the charity (accessed October 2026)
Government of Canada, Privy Council Office, Royal Commission on the Future of the Toronto Waterfront, Regeneration: Toronto’s Waterfront and the Sustainable City: Final Report (1992), catalogue record
Wikipedia, “David Crombie” (used for orientation; claims resting on it alone are hedged in the text)

Last verified: October 2026

Cite this page

APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 31). David Crombie: Toronto’s Reform Mayor, 1972 to 1978. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/david-crombie

MLA: “David Crombie: Toronto’s Reform Mayor, 1972 to 1978.” History of Toronto, 31 Oct 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/david-crombie. Accessed .

Chicago: History of Toronto. “David Crombie: Toronto’s Reform Mayor, 1972 to 1978.” Last modified October 31, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/david-crombie.

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