National office plans 2026 move-in with United, Presbyterian churches

The office of General Synod is finalizing plans to move from its current Toronto building to a new location in the city, where it will share office space with the United Church of Canada and the Presbyterian Church in Canada.

Archdeacon Alan Perry, general secretary of General Synod, said in a staff announcement Aug. 4 that the Anglican Church of Canada was preparing to enter into a lease agreement with the United Church of Canada in the coming months for a property at 300 Bloor Street West, owned by Bloor Street United Church.

The property is in the midst of redevelopment to include four floors of commercial space and several floors of residential condos.

Perry said the move is planned to take place in the first quarter of 2026 and will provide “a more efficient use of resources and increased collaboration among the three churches.” The Anglican, United and Presbyterian national church offices will share facilities including an assembly hall, kitchen, worship space.

“The critical advantage is the opportunity for more ecumenical engagement and collaboration among the three churches,” Perry told the Anglican Journal.

The national office takes up the first four floors and basement of a 21-storey condominium tower at 80 Hayden Street in Toronto, adjacent to the Anglican church of St. Paul’s Bloor Street. General Synod moved into the space in 2004 and assumed ownership of its part of the building in 2006.

Erik Mathieson, chief financial officer for the United Church of Canada, said its plans to share office space with other churches began roughly a decade ago. The United Church currently rents space commercially, he said, but began to look at other options after the lease on its old office expired, eventually settling on the idea of moving into the Bloor Street United Church-owned building.

“The idea was we’d be paying ourselves instead of a commercial company,” he said. Being next to a church, with its outreach programmes, would serve as “a reminder, to us folks in an office building, who we work for.”

The United Church had already tried some staff-sharing with the Anglican and Presbyterian churches. While the United Church was looking at options for its head office, general secretaries from the three churches began to discuss the possibility of sharing office space.

A formal lease had not yet been signed at the time this article was written. “We anticipate being able to say more as we take steps forward,” Perry said.

Construction work on 300 Bloor Street West, however, was well underway. Mathieson said redevelopment was scheduled to be finished by the end of 2025 or early 2026, after which head offices of the three churches will move in.

The Rev. Victor Kim, principal clerk of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, said Presbyterians were looking forward to opportunities for ecumenical cooperation with the planned move, addressing issues facing each denomination as well as broader social and cultural needs.