Chinatown Business Improvement Area

Located in the midst of the Chinese business community, in the heart of bustling downtown Toronto, the Chinatown Business Improvement Area (CBIA) is a new and vital organization representing the areas interests. Chinatown is a vibrant neighborhood, a mixture of harmonious multi-culturism, it is home to ethnic Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, as well as, South East Asian merchants such as Pakistani and Indian. West of Beverley Street, east of Augusta Avenue, south of College Street and north of Queen Street, the area attracts many tourists to Toronto: its colors, scents, bargains and warm natured people are a pull for both visitors and residents, alike.
The aim of CBIA is to enhance the vitality of the Chinatown area through business promotion, interacting with the City of Toronto and other statutory and voluntary organizations, and ensuring that the area continues to be an integral part of the local economy of Toronto.
Come to Chinatown and join the local residents in experiencing this wonderful piece of Hong Kong, China and South Asia.

The History and Development of Chinatown, Downtown Toronto

Metro Toronto has the largest Chinese community in Canada. There are three “Chinatowns” - two in the City of Toronto and one in suburbia, a group of Chinese shopping malls and strip plazas in various locations across the Greater Toronto Area.

Between 1980 and 2000, nearly 800,000 Chinese immigrants admitted to Canada between 1980 and 2000, an overwhelming majority (90%) came from four origins: Hong Kong (45.6%), Mainland China (27.7%), Taiwan (11.8%), and Vietnam (5.2%). The remaining 10% were from the rest of the world. Chinese immigrants to Canada favored large urban centres for settlement, with 95% choosing one of 14 large Metropolitan Areas as their intended destination. 40% of the Chinese immigrants chose Toronto, and 31% chose Vancouver as their intended destinations. Other favored other Metropolitan Areas such as Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa . International travel and the consumerism of post-industrial gave rise in tastes for a variety of cuisines, clothes, music and furnishings. Chinese foods and dress have become part of daily provisions for the mainstream public. These changes increased the demand for Chinese goods and services and gave a new reputation to Chinese business.

Chinatowns evolved to be places that promote Toronto’s economic development. According to Lucia Lo , an ethnic spatial enclave is an embodiment of immigrant and minority entrepreneurship and an expression of the new social economy of Western cities.