About the Friends of Allan Gardens

We are a volunteer-based organization that is working to imagine and lead the revitalization of Allan Gardens.

Mission

We aspire to grow the park and conservatory from their heritage roots as a horticultural garden of education, beauty, and cultural influence to become a year-round green oasis and vibrant destination at the heart of downtown Toronto. The Friends of Allan Gardens aims to share the stewardship of this land with Indigenous organizations and support groups throughout the city, and with our many benevolent society neighbours adjacent to the Gardens. We recognize the donation by George Allan to the citizens of Toronto of the five acres that became Allan Gardens, an early example of Canadian park philanthropy.

Vision & Impact

Growing with the City is our strategic vision and engagement document on the future of Allan Gardens. Click on the image below to learn more. Additionally, if you’d like to see our impact on the community, check out our annual report below too.

Staff

Matt Canaran, Executive Director

Matt joined Friends of Allan Gardens (FOAG) in 2021 as a volunteer who quickly became enthralled by the beauty of the gardens, and by the rich cultural diversity of park users. In 2022, he was hired as project manager to lead initiatives like the Miziwe Biik garden restoration, artistic bike rack installations, and the Growing with the City strategic plan. He also expanded his role to coordinate volunteers and manage FOAG’s programs, helping grow the organization’s community impact. In 2024, Matt was promoted to Executive Director, where he combines his expertise in landscape design, project management, community engagement and horticulture to lead FOAG in its mission to imagine and collaborate on the revitalization of Allan Gardens. For fun, Matt likes to garden, travel, and cook for his family and friends!

Li Xiao, Program Coordinator

Li is passionate about coordinating events and building strong community relationships. With a background in providing equitable services and policy work, they are excited to bring their expertise to serve Friends of Allan Gardens. They have a Masters of History with a specialization in Ethnic, Immigration, and Pluralism Studies from the University of Toronto. In their spare time, you can find them reading about Traditional Chinese Medicine and hanging out with their cat and dog!

Residencies

Amanda Johnson, Horticulturist in Residence

Amanda is an Urban Farmer, landscape apprentice and houseplant enthusiast. She is a true lover of growing plants and has grown everything from native flowers and cultural foods to tropical houseplants. Currently a vermicompost instructor and now the Horticultrist in Residence, Amanda will bring her focus in decolonizing horticultural spaces, passion for growing, and dedication to fostering community to the FOAG team. When she isn't at the Allan Gardens conservatories, she runs an online space called @theblackplanter dedicated to documenting her experiences with growing. You can often find her at home tending to her garden or checking her worm farm & isopods colonies.

Vanessa Zilic, Horticulturist in Residence

Vanessa is a passionate plant lover and tropical specialist. She started as a volunteer at Friends of Allan Gardens in the summer of 2023 to connect with more local plant lovers and it quickly became an integral part of her life. She fell in love with the community, the plants and seeing the joy the gardens and events brought others. She is now a Horticulturalist in Residence leading the Greenhouse Plant Care sessions. When she’s not at the gardens she enjoys hosting/going to music events, doing all the crafts and playing with her bird and cat!

Board of Directors

Michael McClelland, Chair

Michael helped found the Friends of Allan Gardens in 1999 to steward and enhance one of Toronto’s oldest and most important downtown green spaces. Michael is a registered architect with over 30 years of experience in heritage conservation, cultural planning, and urban design. He is principal and co-founder at ERA Architects and has spearheaded many ground-breaking heritage projects in Canada, including the transformation of North America’s largest collection of Victorian industrial architecture into The Distillery District. Michael frequently contributes to discourses on architecture, heritage, urbanism, culture, and landscape and is the author of numerous articles and books including Concrete Toronto and The Ward Uncovered.

Dana Alexandrescu

With an MArch from UAUIM Bucharest, Romania, and PMP and LEED ID+C certifications, Dana has 30+ years of experience in design, construction, facility management and business development in the retail and education sectors and currently works for Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) as Facility Manager, University Libraries. A transplant to Toronto, Dana is a long time volunteer at the Art Gallery of Ontario and loves exploring diverse cultural and natural spaces, here in Toronto and around the world.

Julius Aquino

Julius Aquino, a licensed landscape architect in Ontario with 20 years of experience, recently joined the Friends of Allan Gardens and is eager to support the Growing With The City initiatives. He specializes in streetscape, public space, and green infrastructure design, and currently works as a project manager with the City of Toronto’s Transportation Services Division. His past roles include positions at DTAH and IBI Group. Notable projects include the 2010 King Street revitalization in Kitchener and Pape, Park & Play, a community-led urban intervention. Julius holds a Bachelor of Architectural Science from Toronto Metropolitan University, with a focus on urban ecology and horticulture. He has served on the editorial board of OALA’s Ground magazine and is part of an electronic music collective promoting Toronto’s underground artists.

Laura Dean

Laura started as a director with the Friends in 2018 to help advance various agreements and governance initiatives. Laura is a municipal and land use planning lawyer with a well-known downtown firm. Before law, Laura worked with the provincial government in policy positions related to climate change and housing. Laura attended McGill University for undergrad, has a master’s degree in urbanisation and development from the LSE and a JD from the University of Windsor. Laura is drawn to Allan Gardens and its unique power to unite all different people over a shared interest in nature and beautiful spaces.

Ionela Florescu

Ionela is an advocate for Allan Gardens, having been involved since 2018. Her contributions have been pivotal in securing FOAG’s charitable status and establishing its financial infrastructure, significantly contributing to its growth and autonomy. Ionela is a Chartered Professional Accountant and holds an MBA from the University of Fredericton. She serves as the Director of Financial Planning and Analysis at Maple. Previously, she was the Director of Strategy and Planning at Manulife Investment Management, where she was honoured with the Global Star of Excellence Award in 2020. Ionela is passionate about the storytelling power of accounting, viewing it as a means to narrate an organization’s history and future through numbers and trends.

Rina Fraticelli

Rina Fraticelli has a diversified background in artistic creation and cultural programming. A Genie award-winning documentary filmmaker, she led to National Film Board of Canada studios and was founding director of Women in View. She worked as theatre translator and dramaturge and wrote the landmark Status of Women in Canadian Theatre. Her multi-disciplinary career is marked by a commitment to fostering equity, innovation and sustainability in arts and cultural organizations.

Robert McKaye

Robert McKaye is an interdisciplinary designer, educator and maker with a background in interactive art and architecture. Prior to his appointment to the Friends of Allan Gardens, he held a position with KPMB Architects in research and development. Working with advanced tools for microclimate analysis and generative design. From 2016-2019, he acted as project architect for Canada’s Diversity Gardens at the Assiniboine Park Conservancy. In his own time, he has explored the realm of public art through experiments and installations in prototyping and digital fabrication. Robert has exhibited his work at Toronto’s Nuit Blanche, Nuit Rose and Making Waves festivals, Ontario Place’s Illumination Festival, and Barcelona’s Festival of Lights.

Brendan Stewart

Brendan has been involved with Friends of Allan Gardens since 2010, contributing to key initiatives like Hoarding Suggestions (2013), the Refresh document (2017), and Growing With The City. He is an Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Guelph, following over a decade of practice in Toronto, including as an Associate at ERA Architects. Brendan holds degrees from Guelph, Edinburgh College of Art, and UC Berkeley. His work focuses on transforming overlooked spaces through community-led, culturally informed design. He co-leads plazaPOPS, creating inclusive public spaces along Toronto’s strip-mall corridors.

Steven Shuttle

Steven has been collaborating with the Friends since 2022 on initiatives around Growing with the City, community engagement, horticultural and cultural programming. He is a landscape designer and planner with ERA Architects focusing on conservation through reactivation. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Planning from the University of Alberta, and Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Guelph where he was recognized as a 2022 LAF Olmsted Scholar. His current practice focuses on leading with landscape, and intersections of planning and design with the stewardship of equitable and resilient places. Steven is excited by the cross-pollination of horticulture, community-building, and cultural landscape in the stewardship of Allan Gardens.

Sophia Zhao

Sophia joined Friends of Allan Gardens in 2024. She is a Chartered Professional Accountant and holds an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University. Sophia currently works as a Senior Financial Analyst at Tribe Property Technologies, with over five years of experience in financial statement consolidation, data analytics, forecasting, and budgeting. Prior to joining Allan Gardens, Sophia actively volunteered at the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery and served as a student mentor with JA Canada. She views her involvement with Allan Gardens as an opportunity to learn and grow, and she is committed to using her accounting expertise and professional experience to support the organization’s financial reporting and infrastructure.

Past Directors

  • Adele Freeman

  • Blaine Pearson

  • David Winterton

Partners

  • Taiaiako’n Historical Preservation Society

  • Centre Francophone

  • Common Boots Theatre

  • GreenThumbs Growing KidsSherbourne Health

  • CAMH

  • St. Luke’s United Church

  • Dixon Hall

  • Dot Dot Dash

  • City of Toronto, Parks Forestry & Recreation

  • Toronto Metropolitan University

  • Toronto & York Region Metis Council

  • Miziwe Biik

  • Native Women’s Resource Centre

  • ERA Architects

  • Park People

  • Garden Club of Toronto