The country's largest wildlife hospital could soon open in what's now in a vast, disused field in Scarborough, CBC Toronto has learned.

The proposal goes to the Toronto Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) — which owns the 67-acre site near Markham Road and Steeles Avenue — next Friday.

Coun. Glenn De Baeremaeker, who sits on the TRCA and strongly supports the idea, expects it will pass easily.

"I think it'll get overwhelming support in principal," De Baeremaeker told CBC Toronto Thursday. "The hard part will be, how do we go out and raise collectively $30 million?

"That's a lot of money. We are building a wildlife hospital that will look like a hospital for people, except that it's not for people, it's for wild animals."

The Toronto Wildlife Centre takes in about 5,000 injured animals a year, like this owl getting a bath.

The facility would be owned and operated by the non-profit Toronto Wildlife Centre (TWC), which is currently run from an aging, crowded warehouse in Downsview Park.

Nathalie Karvonen, the centre's executive director and founder, said the TWC currently takes in about 5,000 injured animals a year. And the facility can't keep up with the demand for help from members of the public who routinely call about sick or injured animals.

"As busy as we are right now — and we're already the busiest wildlife centre in the country right now — we're not meeting the needs of the community," she said.

Coun. Glenn De Baeremaeker (Ward 38, Scarborough Centre) stands in the field in northeast Scarborough, which could be the location for a new wildlife hospital. (Mike Smee/CBC News)

"It is heartbreaking at times, reaching our capacity to help, and the new facilities will really allow that to be done a lot more."

The new centre will cover 34,000 square feet and, according to a TWC hand-out. it will include "a full veterinary hospital including surgery, exam rooms, intensive care units, x-ray, diagnostic labs and more."

It will be able to treat 270 species, with pools for diving birds and beavers, nurseries for orphaned willdife — even a hibernation room.

Nathalie Karvonen, founder and executive director of the non-profit Toronto Wildlife Centre, tends to an injured animal recovering at the Downsview clinic. (Mike Smee/CBC News)

There will also be education areas for the public and large outdoor holding areas for larger animals and birds re-learning to fly.

Next Friday, the TRCA will meet to vote on a funding plan for the hospital. That would include $10 milion from the city of Toronto and about $5 million from other municipalities in the GTA, De Baeremaeker said. The TWC and its donors would have to come up with the remainig $15 million, as well as operating costs.

The TRCA has already agreed to lease the site to the centre for $1 a year.

Both De Baeremarker and Karvonen said they hope to see shovels in the ground by next spring.