OVERVIEW

Toronto’s earliest Chinatown developed around Elizabeth Street in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Much of the district was later expropriated and demolished for the construction of Toronto City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square, displacing residents, businesses and community institutions.

Many businesses relocated west along Dundas Street to Spadina Avenue, creating the downtown Chinatown recognized today. Its markets, restaurants, herbal shops, community services and streetcar-lined streets have made it one of Toronto’s most visible and enduring cultural districts.

A second Chinatown emerged during the early 1970s around Broadview Avenue and Gerrard Street East. Shaped by Chinese and Vietnamese migration, East Chinatown developed its own smaller-scale commercial and community character, now marked by the Zhong Hua Men Archway. Together, the two districts reveal a community repeatedly reshaped by displacement, new arrivals and the changing geography of Toronto.