The New Ethnic Enclaves

New immigrants are increasingly settling in suburbia while traditionally ethnic neighbourhoods are becoming gentrified.

Toronto has always been defined by immigration. And as the demographics of this incoming population has changed, so has the city.

Where once immigrants came mostly from European countries, they now come from Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. As a result, the city has seen a dramatic rise in its visible minority population.

In 2006, the population of the Toronto Metropolitan Area (TMA) was 5.07 million, an increase of 424,115 since 2001. During this five-year period, 447,925 immigrants came to the TMA. This means that all of the net growth in the city was a result of immigration. There was, of course, some natural growth over this period as well, but it is highly probable that the out-migration of the metropolitan population to exurbia and other parts of Canada cancelled this out.

Whatever the breakdown, the fact that the number of recent immigrants to the TMA was larger than the net growth of the population underlines the significance of immigration in the demographic changes occurring in the area.

There has also been a major change in where immigrants are choosing to live. Many are now settling directly in the suburbs as opposed to earlier arrivals who settled in the core of the city. Suburbs are now the locus of ethnic enclaves, overshadowing the historic ethnic neighbourhoods in the city.

Working with my colleague at Ryerson University, Professor Qadeer, we have identified six large ethnic enclaves in the city. Three are populated by white Canadians, namely Jewish, Italian, and Portuguese. The other three are of visible minorities: two South Asian enclaves and one large cluster of Chinese immigrants. There is no sizable black concentration. There are also smaller ethnic clusters closer to the centre of Toronto, including the West and East Chinatowns, the Greek Village, and the India Bazaar. All are anchored in respective ethnic institutions, services, and community spirit.

The Italian ethnic cluster is located mostly in Woodbridge and Vaughan. The Chinese are based in Agincourt and radiate northwards to Markham and Richmond Hill with secondary concentrations in the two small but historic Chinatowns on Spadina and Broadview. The Jewish ethnic enclave is the third largest in the city, with its core around Steeles and Bathurst. In the past five years, the new Jewish Lebovic campus has expanded the Jewish enclave northward past Steeles Avenue. The Portuguese are concentrated largely along the Dufferin/Keele Street corridor. South Asian neighbourhoods are found in Eastern Scarborough, the Thorncliff/Flemingdon Park area, Rexdale and Malton, Northern Brampton and Northwestern Mississauga. The map above details these ethnic clusters.

Notably, the demographic composition of these areas is quite dynamic. For instance, Jewish neighbourhoods along Bathurst near Wilson are becoming a haven for Filipino immigrants, while large numbers of Afghans are making Thorncliffe Park their home. Many Italian neighbourhoods in Vaughan are becoming populated by South Asian immigrants and Little Portugal is witnessing the influx of a mostly white, affluent population who are gentrifying the neighbourhood.

A number of scholars have studied the phenomenon of gentrification in Toronto, particularly in Little Portugal, to understand its effect on ethnic neighbourhoods. Some argue that the business improvement associations of inner city ethnic areas like Little Italy and the Danforth BIA are inadvertently promoting the displacement of the neighbourhoods’ traditional residents by courting gentrification.

Gentrification presents many challenges for ethnic neighbourhoods. For example, it could be blamed for Little Portugal’s continuous loss of its Portuguese character. As a wealthier population moves in, the cost of housing rises, resulting in higher property taxes. While increased property values can benefit many owners when they sell their homes, this, in turn, can accelerate their exodus from the community. There are similar problems for the ethnic economy in these areas. Commercial gentrification and high business property taxes have the potential to displace ethnic entrepreneurs.

At its worst, gentrification leads to the displacement of the traditional residents of a community. Conversely, its most positive impact arguably could be an increased social mix of people in an ethnic area that otherwise might have been closed and introverted.

Map created for "Evolution of ethnic enclaves in the Toronto Metropolitan Area 2001-2006" by Sandeep Agrawal, M. Qadeer, and Alex Lovell, to appear in the Journal of International Migration and Integration 11(3) this summer.