Final Draft

Assignment #3 GGR124H1S

Kensington-Chinatown Neighbourhood Changes in the City of Toronto

Name: Tong Li Student Number: 997 024 786 Professor: Dr. D. Dupuy TA: Helen Looker Tutorial Session: T5202 Tutorial Room: SS1088 Word Count: 2975 Date: April 8th, 09

The scope of this paper is to cover the Kensington-Chinatown Neighbourhood changes in the City of Toronto. The first part of the paper deals Kensington and Chinatown separately. It includes an overall description of the current profile makeup of Kensington and Chinatown, and a brief history of the neighbourhood. The second part of the paper will mainly focus on the statistical analysis of the social, cultural, and economic trends of the neighbourhood from 1981 to 2001. Each aspect is examined in a number of areas using census data drawn from CHASS. The last part of the paper is a future analysis of the possible trend in gentrification. Before any specific detail is discussed, one needs to know what kind of vibrant cultural diversity the current Chinatown and Kensington are offering. Being one of the largest Asian communities in of North America, the Chinatown today not only has food shops, house-ware stores, Chinese emporiums, karaoke bars, clothing boutiques, and restaurants, it has also many Chinese import and export firms, electronic companies, and banks. It is located around Bay, Queen, and Dundas Streets, but mainly centred on Dundas Street and Spadina Avenue. Kensington, on the other hand, is one of the most dynamic and culturally diverse areas in Toronto. The Kensington Market is an entire neighbourhood area that is full of cheese stores, fish shops, coffee houses, fruit stands, butcher stalls, as well as second-hand clothing outlets. In the busy and crowded streets, one can find international eateries that include delicacies from Portugal, France, Italian, Mexican, and even the Middle East. It stretches from Spadina in the East to Bathurst in the West, and from College in the North to Dundas in the South. In order to have a better understanding of the present, one needs to know its past. As for the case for the Chinatown and Kensington, the ethnic communities were set up after an

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immigrant group had adjusted to the new society both economically and socially (Hou and Milan, 2003). During the mid-1920, the Chinatown was centred on Elizabeth Street between Queen Street West on the south and Dundas Street West on the north. It was during the construction of the new city hall in the early 1960s, when the Chinese community moved to the present site at the Spadina and Dundas intersection (Thompson, 1989). In 1978, the Canadian Government introduced an "entrepreneur" category of immigration through the Business Immigration Program. This resulted Chinatown to experience its greatest growth in the early 1980s (C. Ember, M. Ember, & Skoggard, 1994), as thousands of Chinese emigrated from Hong Kong fearing that Communist China will take possession of the British colony, ending their capitalist economy. This is why prior to 1997, the largest source of Chinese migrants was from Hong Kong. After 1997, mainland China became the largest source of immigrants to Canada, because mainland China has gone through a series of social and economic transformations (C. Ember, M. Ember, & Skoggard, 1994). As a result, the Chinese population became more culturally mixed, which helped to boost its economy. An increasing variety of social and cultural skills and the economic status of the population began to widen as well. Chinatown saw its transformation in the past couple decades, as there has been many ethnic Chinese people from Vietnam. As a result, an increasing number of store signs are now in Vietnamese, in addition to original, well-established Chinese stores. On the other hand, Kensington was first habited by British working-class immigrants who worked in open-air market (Bruce, 2005). But in the 1920s and 1930s, the ethnicity of Kensington was changed as waves of immigrants arrived in Kensington from continental Europe and Russia (Bruce, 2005), these immigrants were predominantly Jewish. This was why the entire Kensington area was originally called as the “Jewish Market" (Pacher, 2008). Kensington offered a refuge for ethnic minorities to get away

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from the social prejudices from the rest of the society. The market mainly served Jews, Italians, Portuguese, Ukrainians, and Hungarians immigrants (Cochrane, 2000). By the 1970s, new waves of immigrants from South Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean moved into the neighbourhood, further contributing to the already rich mix of cultures. Next, the social, economic, and cultural aspects of the Kensington-Chinatown Neighbourhood is examined, to study their trend from 1981 to 2001. The census data was drawn at the census tract level. Census tracts (CTs) are relatively small and stable geographic areas located in Census Metropolitan Areas, which is the City of Toronto in this case. The KensingtonChinatown Neighbourhood covers four CTs: 36, 37, 38, 39. All the data below were based on information obtained from these CTs. In order to have consistency, all the data are obtained from 1981 to 2001 either in time intervals of ten years or five years. It is important to note that CHASS does not provide CTs for the year 2006, that’s why the analysis is limited to the years before 2006. It should also be noted that because some of the data are not provided by CHASS in 1981, that’s why some figures are missing in the tables. In addition, some data provided for the year 2001 are estimated based on surveying 20% of the population instead of the 100%, therefore they may be not as accurate. The population trend in the social aspect of the Kensington-Chinatown Neighbourhood is being studied first. The following table shows the total population in the neighbourhood from 1981-2001 in periods of five years.

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Year Total

1981 14459

1986 15207

1991 15988

1996 16579

2001 17093

The data above has shown that the population of the neighbourhood is rising over the two decades. The rise in population of the Kensington-Chinatown Neighbourhood may be largely attributed by immigration. The Immigration Act of 1976 removed the all discrimination against immigrants from countries in Asia and Africa, so the immigrants from China were under the same regulation as immigrants from other countries. The population rate of change during each time interval of five years can be calculated using the formula:

Time Interval

1981-1986

1986-1991

1991-1996

1996-2001

Total % Change

5.2

5.1

3.7

3.1

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According to the above table, the growth during 1981-1986 and 1986-1991 were over 5%, and the growth slows down during 1991-1996 and during 1996-2001. The slowing down of the population growth may be due to less available living spaces can be found in the neighbourhood, after successive waves of immigration over a long period of time. With the population trend in mind, the changes in age group during the period of 1981 to 2001 are examined. The table below categorizes the population into three age groups. One is the “Learning Group”, which includes the population that are 14 and younger. The other one is the “Working Group”, which includes the population that are between 15 and 64 years of age. This group is the work force, and contributes to the economy of the neighbourhood. The third group is termed as the “Retiring Group”, which includes the population that are 65 and older.

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1981 1991 2001

Learning Group (0-14) 2235 1945 2170

Working Group (15-64) 10155 11825 12500

Retiring Group (65+) 2010 2210 2415

According to the graph above, both the Learning and the Retiring Groups are relatively steady over the two decades, while the Working Group has increased by more than 2000 people. This may suggests that there has been an increase in work opportunities in the neighbourhood. The fact that the population in Learning and Retiring Group remained relatively stable may suggests that the public services such as schools, and elder-care provided by the neighbourhood remain mostly unchanged. Since the Working Group that has experienced the most change, it is necessary to see the trend in marital status of the neighbourhood, to find out whether the working population have their families living in the neighbourhood as well. The table below has divided the marital status into two categories. One group is called “Without Partner”, which includes people that have never married, widowed, or divorced. The other group is “With Partner”, which includes people who are either married and stay together or married but separated. 1981 1991 2001

With Partner 6650 8230 9225

Without Partner 5565 5820 5690

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The graph above shows that the group “Without Partner” remained relatively stable over the two decades, while the group “With Partner” experience significant growth. This is consistent with the previous graph, where the Retiring Group remained relatively stable, while the Working Group experienced growth. The two graphs above may also suggest that from 1981, as the population of the working group increased, more families were settled down in the neighbourhood. With the social aspect in mind, the cultural aspect of the Kensington-Chinatown Neighbourhood is explored next. The first area being examined is the population’s mother tongue, to see the change in the ethnic diversity of the neighbourhood. Here, only single mother tongue is provided in the table. Note that the data for number of Italian mother tongue is not provided due to the fact that the numbers are too insignificant, and the mother tongue for the Jewish population is also not provided due to the fact that Jews from different countries speak different languages. Note that the data provided for 2001 were estimated from 20% of the population. 1981 1991 2001

English 5675 6300 6460

Chinese --5665 3475

Portuguese --870 500

Spanish --255 125

Vietnamese --405 635

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From the table, we can observe that English and Chinese are the two dominant mother tongues. It is clear that the Chinese mother tongue is increasing, because in 2001, the number of Chinese mother tongue is higher than the number of English mother tongue. Both English and Chinese are much more significant than the other three. The Portuguese and Spanish mother tongues dropped slightly from 1991 to 2001, while the Vietnamese increased slightly in the same period. Next, the diverse ethnic origin of the Kensington-Chinatown Neighbourhood is studied. It was certain affected by the Canadian Multiculturalism Act passed in 1988, which made Canada to be the first country in the world to embrace a national multiculturalism law (Heritage Community Foundation, 2007). Here, only the population with a single ethnic origin and the major ethnic groups are examined in the following table. Note that the data provided for 2001 were estimated from 20% of the population. 1981 1991 2001

British 3190 1415 1470

Canadian --465 1695

Chinese --7010 7560

Portuguese --930 615

Jewish --160 445

Ukrainian --180 310

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According to the graph above, the population for British ethnic origin has declined more than twofold from 1981 to 2001, while the majority of the decline happens from 1981 to 1991. Despite the decline in British population, the majority of the population living in KensingtonChinatown Neighbourhood has always been Chinese ethnic origin. In the Canadian Journal of Urban Research, McDonald (2004) has argued that the concentration of an ethnic group in an area would increase the possibility of new immigrants of the same ethnic group to live in that area. This may help to explain why the Chinese ethnic origin was rising and was significantly higher than other ethnic groups living in the same neighbourhood. The population for Jewish ethnic origin is relatively low in the graph. This is a surprise finding, because Kensington was originally known as a Jewish Town. The nearly three-fold increase may suggest that Jewish population have moved into the neighbourhood since 1991. Another surprise finding is that there has been a three-and-half-fold increase in Canadian ethnic origin at the neighbourhood between 1991 and 2001, while the Portuguese population has declined in the same period. The third area cultural aspect of the Kensington-Chinatown Neighbourhood being explored is religion, because changes in ethnic makeup of the neighbourhood also changes the religious aspect of the neighbourhood in ethnicity affects overall religion. The table below shows

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the trend in Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, as well as Atheist during 1981-2001. Note that the data provided for 2001 were estimated from 20% of the population. 1981 1991 2001

Catholic 4020 3460 3545

Protestant 3405 2745 2220

Buddhist --1455 1820

Jewish 295 275 360

Atheist 5600 7005 7570

According to the table above, the most obvious trend is the increase in atheists. Since 1981, the Atheist population is the highest, and has been growing for the following two decades. This may be caused by the fact that a lot of the Chinese immigrants from China are Atheist, and the increasing number of immigrants from China increases the Atheist population in the Kensington-Chinatown Neighbourhood as well. Since Buddhism is the largest religion in China, out of the immigrants who have faith, most of them are Buddhism believers. This explains the rise in Buddhism from 1991 to 2001. The religion with the least number of believers is Jewish. The number of Jewish believers has experienced minor increase, which is consistent with the findings of previous graph, where only a small number of people have Jewish ethnic origins. As for Christianity (Catholicism and Protestant), there is a steady decrease in the believers from 1981 to 2001. This may due to the fact that there has been less Portuguese and British ethnic origin population living in the neighbourhood. 11

The last part to be explored is the economic aspect of the Kensington-Chinatown Neighbourhood. The overall standard of living in the neighbourhood is mainly affected by the average income of the population. The table below shows the average annual income of male, female, and private household during the time from 1981 to 2001. Only the average income of the Working Group aged 15 to 65 are calculated. The average income that has been rounded to the nearest whole number. Note that the data provided for 2001 were estimated from 20% of the population.

1981 1991 2001

Average Male Annual Income ($) 11139 21503 29486

Average Female Annual Income ($) 8228 17525 22481

Average Household Annual Income ($) 18538 37312 47608

The graph above shows a general trend that that the increase in income of both female and male has led to the increase of the average household income by two-and-a-half-fold during the two decades. The male average income over the two decades has been fairly consistent, in that it increases by roughly $10,000 every decade. On the other hand, the increase in the female average income has gradually slowed down in the two decades. The table above shows the gap between average male and female income is almost $3000 at 1981, but by 2001, the gap has increased to around $7000. This means that difference has widened by more than twofold. It may be argued that this is caused by high birth rates, so more women need to stay at home to care 12

their children. But this is not the case, because the population 14 and under in the Learning Group remained relatively stable over the two decades. The widening average income difference between the two genders may suggest that sexism still exists in the job force, as males tend to be more successful in finding a job with higher pays or having a more successful business. Besides income, the other key factor that affects the economic aspect of the neighbourhood is the change in property ownership from 1981 to 2001. The table below shows the change in the number of private dwellings that are owned or rented from 1981 to 2001. Note that the data provided for 2001 were estimated from 20% of the population. 1981 1991 2001

Owned Private Dwellings 1005 1460 1935

Rented Private Dwellings 4070 4835 5535

The above graph shows that the number of people who rent their dwellings has increased more than the number of people who own their dwellings from 1981. The graph also shows that the gap between renting private dwelling and owning private dwelling has decreased from 1981 to 2001. In 1981, the ratio between number of rented dwelling and the number of owned dwelling is close to 4:1. But by 2001, the ratio has decreased to roughly 3:1. This means that a greater proportion of the population were able to purchase for their housing by 2001 as compared to 1981. As noted earlier, the previous graph has shown that the average household income has

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significantly increased from 1981 to 2001. It can be said that the results of this graph and the previous graph both confirm that the standard of living in the neighbourhood is getting higher. As more business is being opened and as the standard of living rises, there may be gentrification taking place in the Kensington-Chinatown Neighbourhood in the next decade. The neighbourhood may be subjected to new condo development and spare land may be invested by developers. They will raise the land and material prices in the neighbourhood, which forces lowincome and anyone who are unable to afford to live the neighbourhood to gradually move out of the neighbourhood to other inner suburbs, leaving space for the upper-class population to move in. Chinatown is one of the largest Asian communities in North America, while Kensington is the most dynamic and diverse area. The Chinatown was present in Toronto since the 1920s, but its development only gained momentum after 1978, when the Business Immigration Program attracted a lot of Chinese who emigrated from Hong Kong. But after 1997, with the increasing immigrants from mainland China and Taiwan, there was an increasing variety of social and cultural skills and the economic status of the population began to widen as well. On the other hand, the Kensington Market was at first dominated by Jews in the 1920s. But over time, successive immigration from Continental Europe diversified the ethnic makeup of the area, as Kensington offered a refuge for the minorities from the social prejudices. Between 1981 and 2001, the rising population in the neighbourhood may be largely attributed by immigration. As the population of the working group increased, there were more families were settled down in the neighbourhood. As for ethnicity, English and Chinese have always been the two dominant mother tongues. With the decline in British population, the neighbourhood experience a great growth of Chinese ethnic origin. In terms of the religion, there is a rise in Buddhism and a decline in Christianity, while the Atheist population has always been the highest. As for

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economy, the average household income was more than doubled, while there is more increase in average income for male than female. With the rise in income, there are increasingly more portion of the population who could afford to own their dwellings, but the total of people who rent their dwelling are still higher. The rise in standard of living may lead to gentrification of the neighbourhood in the next decade, which would force poorer people to move out, leaving spaces for richer people to more in.

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Bibliography Bell, Bruce. (2005). Toronto: A pictorial Celebration. (J. E. Sigler, Ed.). New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. Canadian Census Analyser. (2005). Canadian Census Profile. Retrieved from CHASS. Cochrane, Jeam. (2000). Kensington. Toronto: The Boston Mills Press. Ember, C. R., Ember, M., Skoggard, I. A. (Eds.). Encyclopedia of diasporas: immigrant and refugee cultures around the world. New York: Springer, 2004 Heritage Community Foundation. (2007). In Alberta Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved March 29, 2009, from http://www.albertasource.ca/aoe/ui/index.aspx Hou, F., Milan, A. (2003). Neighbourhood ethnic transition and its socio-economic connections. Canadian Journal of Sociology, 28. Retrieved March 27, 2009, from http://search3.scholarsportal.info/ids70/advanced_search.php? SID=aeba7547f0cc8b2f3d0467c3a1cf3293 McDonald, J. T. (2004). Toronto and Vancouver Bound: The Location Choice of New Canadian Immigrants. Canadian Journal of Urban Research, 13. Retrieved March 25, 2009, from http://search3.scholarsportal.info/ids70/advanced_search.php? SID=aeba7547f0cc8b2f3d0467c3a1cf3293

Pacher, S. (2008, March 21). Hello From Toronto – Exploring Chinatown and Kensington. See the Globe. Retrieved from http://www.seetheglobe.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1129 Parker-Pope, T. (2008, May 6). Psychiatry handbook linked to drug industry. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com Thompson, Richard H. (1989). Toronto’s Chinatown: The Changing Social Organization of an Ethnic Community. New York: AMS Press, Inc.

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