Ontario moves to block plans for Toronto apartment complex near Sanofi pharma plant

A Toronto real estate developer says the Ontario government is using a rarely deployed ministerial power on behalf of a global pharmaceutical manufacturer to block plans for a new rental apartment complex.

Tenblock Development Inc. has proposed three residential buildings of 14, 33 and 39 storeys that would replace an existing four-storey apartment building it owns on Steeles Avenue West in north Toronto. The redevelopment site is near a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility owned by Sanofi Pasteur Limited, which employs more than 2,000 people. Sanofi SNY-Q, which is headquartered in Paris and has a large presence in Canada, has a market capitalization of close to $100-billion.