About 34 workers have left the Ontario Science Center since the iconic attraction abruptly closed in summer 2024, and its exhibits were moved to pop-up locations while the government looked for a temporary location.
In June 2024, the Ford government announced the science center at Don Mills and Eglinton would close permanently, citing reports that raised concerns about the structural integrity of its roof.
The shutdown went from announced to enforced in a matter of hours, even though political staff had spent more than a week planning it and working with engineers to complete an independent report.
Critics complained the decision to close the historic site was driven by a desire to support the government’s vision for Ontario Place rather than safety concerns, which they said could be addressed with investment in improvements.
When the attraction closed, smaller pop-ups opened at Harborfront Center and at Sherway Mall, with the workforce slowly decreasing to match the reduced number of venues.
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A science center spokesperson confirmed to Global News that the number of workers employed at the attraction has been reduced from 219 people when it closed in June 2024 to 185 full-time staff. No one was forced out, they said.
“To be clear, there are no job losses resulting from the closure of the facility at 770 Don Mills Road,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement.
“Approximately half of FTE changes are due directly to periodic employee departures, primarily due to retirement. The remainder of the variance reflects normal labor movements, including natural attrition, and routine operational fluctuations driven by seasonal demand.”
However, supporters say that number does not include the contract workers who typically offer services such as catering at Don Mills locations – and they worry the number could be reduced further when the science center moves from pop-up status to a temporary location later this year.
“Attrition is just another word for downsizing,” said Jason Ash, co-founder of the Save Ontario Science Centre.
“Attrition is people who leave without you replacing them, and you don’t feel the need to replace them because you won’t have the same level of programming, the same quality of programming, or the same access to programming.”
The next phase of the science center, which will eventually reopen at Ontario Place, will be a temporary location at Harbourfront Centre.
The temporary science center will open at a larger footprint than the current pop-up exhibit, at about 86,000 square feet. The area is still a fraction of the old location, namely 568,000 square feet.
The last word from the government regarding when the science center would open at Ontario Place came in June from Ford, who said “hopefully 2029.”
A spokesperson for the science center did not say how many staff would be employed at the temporary location.
“Specific work figures for the Ontario Science Center at Ontario Place, as well as the temporary location at Harbourfront Centre, have not been finalized,” they told Global News.
“Any initial assumptions about job numbers are premature.”
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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