[3] The son of Italian immigrants, Lombardi was born in what is now Trinity Square, in The Ward neighbourhood in central Toronto, Ontario.

[10] He began his broadcasting career as a producer for an hour-long Italian music program, first on CHUM and later on CKFH in which he advertised his supermarket.

A champion of multiculturalism before it was implemented as Canadian government policy, he and James Service founded one of the first multilingual radio stations in Canada, CHIN in 1966[3] and CHIN-FM in 1967,[3] which now serve over 30 ethnic communities.

[15] A funeral mass was held at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Little Italy on 25 March, and was attended by over a thousand people, including former Premier of Ontario Mike Harris.

[16] The day after his death, York West representative Judy Sgro paid tribute to him in the House of Commons of Canada.

[15] On 20 March, Eglinton—Lawrence Member of Parliament Joe Volpe also paid tribute to Lombardi in the Commons, referring to him as "king of Little Italy" and the "father of multicultural broadcasting",[18] also stating: Johnny was an integral part of the transformation of urban society in post-war southern Ontario.

His radio station, home to broadcasting in 30 different languages, gave voice to the marginalized and served to give newcomers a sense of comfort and familiarity in a new and often strange land.

[19] Lombardi was a recipient of the Order of Canada and was invited by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1994, in which he had originally participated.

[15] His son Lenny and daughter Theresa, and daughter-in-law Grace, along with Joe Pantalone, established The Johnny Lombardi Multicultural Foundation on 21 May 2008.

[22] The hour-long documentary, produced by his son Lenny and his wife Grace Fusillo-Lombardi, Johnny Lombardi: The Great Communicator about his life contains interview clips from many well-known Canadians, including Jean Chrétien and Ted Rogers.

"That's worse," said the man at the gate, and Lombardi spent the long walk home in tears.Lombardi was memorialized in a Heritage Minute, discussing his service at Juno Beach and subsequent impact on Canadian culture.