Chinatowns in Toronto

In fact, the large Chinese communities of northern Scarborough, Markham, and Richmond Hill actually form a continuous L-shaped belt.

[1] The earliest record of Toronto's Chinese community is traced to Sam Ching, who owned a hand laundry business on Adelaide Street in 1878.

[6] The 1909 Toronto city directory showed them as two distinct clusters of Chinese shops located at: When the Qing dynasty fell in 1912 the reform association became defunct and the business next to it moved away from the Queen Street East neighbourhood.

Situated in what was then known as "The Ward", one of the city's largest slum areas for incoming immigrants, the area was expropriated and razed in 1955, despite myriad protests, to make way for Toronto New City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square, with only one-third of this original Chinatown left south of Dundas Street.

Nevertheless, due to the city's disruption, much of the cultural and economic centre of the downtown Chinatown have since shifted west to Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street.

The subsequent waves of immigration from Hong Kong and Taiwan in the 1980s and 1990s increased the Chinese population and resulted in the creation of Chinatowns first in Scarborough, and later North York, and neighbouring municipality of Markham.

A number of Chinatowns have developed in the surrounding region as Chinese Canadians began to settle throughout the Greater Toronto Area.

However, the gradual departure of the northern Scarborough Chinese clientele has led to the decline of businesses around Victoria Park and McNicoll.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, then-Mayor Tony Roman was leading trade delegations to Asia in which he promoted Markham as a great place to live and invest.

Several kilometers east of Highway 404 (wholly within Markham), is an older plaza is at the southwest quadrant with the intersection with Kennedy Road.

Between Woodbine Avenue and Rodick Road is First Markham Place, which contains numerous shops and restaurants; formerly anchored by Home Outfitters.

While the influx of new immigrants brought many jobs and much wealth to the areas they settled, their presence and "Chineseness" became a target of racial intolerance from some.

This large complex, built in the late 1980s, was constructed to reflect China's cultural heritage; an elaborate gate greets visitors on Dundas Street, with a Nine Dragon mural just inside, while red towers with pagoda-styled roofs abound.

West at Central Parkway (near the Erindale GO Station) which remains in the growth phase catering mostly to the needs of the growing Chinese population in the city who live nearby.

The Ward , c. 1910. Toronto's first Chinatown was situated in The Ward , an area that attracted new immigrants to the city.
The first Chinatown went along Elizabeth and York Street, between Dundas and Queen Street .
Shops along Spadina Avenue in downtown Chinatown
Chinatown East another smaller Chinese community in Riverdale . Formed in 1971, Chinatown East is centred around Gerrard Street .
The Scarborough neighbourhood of Agincourt saw an influx of Chinese people from Hong Kong and Taiwan during the 1980s.
A Chinese supermarket at the Finch Avenue / Leslie Street intersection in North York. Small plazas featuring Chinese businesses began to proliferate into North York in the 1980s.
First Markham Place , a Chinese mall in Markham
Time Square, a Chinese plaza on the Richmond Hill side of Highway 7. During the 1990s, wealthy Chinese immigrants moved to both Richmond Hill and Markham.
New Century Plaza and the adjoining Metro Square are architecturally typical of Chinese malls built during the 1990s.
Golden Square Centre in Mississauga