The Ward, Toronto

For several decades of the late 19th and early 20th century, it was a highly dense mixed-use neighbourhood where successive waves of new immigrants would initially settle before establishing themselves.

The YWCA at 87 Elm Street was originally the Toronto House of Industry, a workhouse established in the centre of the Ward in 1848 to serve impoverished residents.

For the several thousand new arrivals, mostly impoverished and unable to speak English, the densely packed houses of The Ward became their new community.

The Ward was also home to Toronto's first Chinatown as Chinese railway workers settled along York and Elizabeth Streets north of Union Station.

The development of the neighbourhood caused much consternation in Toronto, including anti-Semitic riots and government clearance efforts.

[8] Son to Italian immigrants, Johnny Lombardi was born in The Ward in 1915, and went on to found one of the first multilingual radio stations in Canada, CHIN in 1966.

This was initially resisted by the Toronto City Hall, but was eventually overturned by then-newly appointed Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Charles Hastings who commissioned the in-depth study.

[12] The 1911 report detailed over 5, 000 homes that contained various health risks, from leaky roofs and peeling wallpaper to overflowing outdoor privies.

A section in the report described the severity of overcrowding, due to both a housing shortage and subdivisions by landlords to extract the most money.