Montreal Chinatown Street Scene (1967) by Patricia LingOriginal Source: Archives de la Ville de Montréal, 132-2-d022-030
A sanctuary for the community
Like many across the world, Montreal's Chinatown was formed of necessity: to provide a sanctuary for early Chinese migrants faced with systemic racism and a climate hostile to Asian presence. It is one of the few in Canada to have stayed it its original geographic footprint.
Aerial view of Guy-Favreau Complex construction site after land expropriation (1981-04) by Philippe DumaisOriginal Source: Archives de la Ville de Montréal, VM94-B259-025
Beginning in the 1960s, so-called urban renewal projects disproportionally impacted racialized communities. Montreal's Chinatown saw its surface area amputated by a third after the construction of the Ville-Marie expressway, the Guy-Favreau Complex, and the Palais des Congrès.
Montreal Star headline, the day after the Guy-Favreau construction project was announced. (1972-03-30) by Montreal Star and Joseph HanafinJIA Foundation
These projects were foisted on the community with little or no consultation. In the case of the Guy-Favreau complex, several churches, schools, parks, daycares, businesses and community centres saw their land expropriated. The population declined as a result; many families left.
A perfect storm
Fast-forward to 2020. Montreal's Chinatown, hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and increasingly vitriolic anti-Asian racism, is facing active erasure. Having just lost the local YMCA and Cultural Centre, new giant condo developments started to break ground.
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In early 2021, Hillpark Capital acquired several key buildings in the oldest part of Chinatown, including the building housing Wing's Noodles, the longest-running legacy business in the neighbourhood.
As pressure from gentrification and real estate speculation intensifies, so too does community mobilisation. The Chinatown Working Group, an ad-hoc group formed of concerned citizens, residents and volunteers, many with ancestral ties to Montreal's Chinatown, begin to push for heritage protection. J.P. Riopel, the last remaining tenant in the block that was sold, initiates a petition for the National Assembly to ask for heritage status for the neighbourhood
Montreal Gazette: Can Chinatown Survive? (2021-05-22) by Marian Scott and Montreal GazetteOriginal Source: Montreal Gazette
"Our building is not for sale."
For the first time in decades, different sectors of the community rally with a unified front.
Montreal Chinatown Development: City Action Plan (2020-03) by Ville de MontrealOriginal Source: Making MTL
In May 2021, provincial and municipal governments announced the formation of a “working committee on the heritage protection of Montreal’s Chinatown." In June, the city presented a 5-year Action Plan for the Development of Chinatown.
At the end of January 2022, the Ministry announced its intent to grant heritage status to the institutional core of the area, including two emblematic buildings, the former British and Canadian School (now Wing's Noodles) and the former S. Davis and Sons factory.
Small Victories
Community efforts also pushed the city to redefine the boundary of Chinatown and implement new height and zoning restrictions. These recommendations were brought to a public consultation process in spring 2022 and ratified by the commissioners after deliberation in October 2022.
What strategies were used?
1. Fought for heritage designation & land use regulation changes to cool real estate speculation and buy time
2. Pushed city for Chinatown Action Plan on broader community issues to leverage municipal investment
3. Advocated with evidence through community research and university partnerships.
4. Helped the community tell their own stories
5. Foster community governance & capacity building through new organizations: Chinatown Roundtable and JIA Foundation
The fight continues to keep Chinatown a liveable place, preserve and uphold its tangible and intangible cultural heritage, and empower its community. Now more than ever, propelled by the efforts of the Chinatown Roundtable and the JIA Foundation, as well as community activists, Montreal's Chinatown is daring to imagine more equitable, more progressive avenues for its future development.
Buddhist temple in Montreal Chinatown (2020) by Big Fight in Little ChinatownOriginal Source: Big Fight in Little Chinatown
