The City of Toronto is developing a new Cultural Districts Program that would offer a set of tools and resources to recognize and celebrate distinct cultural areas across the city, while also responding to displacement and subsequent loss of cultural identity that some areas are facing.
City Council requested staff to develop the program in response to community advocacy and efforts to protect and promote local culture across several neighbourhoods. To support this work, the City retained Jay Pitter Placemaking to develop two key documents:
Planning studies are currently underway in Little Jamaica/Oakwood Vaughan and West Chinatown as part of the Cultural Districts Program. These studies aim to preserve cultural heritage, support affordable retail, and guide future development in collaboration with local communities.
Cultural Districts are culturally distinct mixed-use areas that feature a significant concentration of cultural spaces and institutions, culturally significant businesses, and community spaces developed and stewarded by cultural communities. Cultural Districts are widely recognized as areas of shared history and identity that offer a sense of belonging. They not only serve the local area but also draw people from across the city and beyond.
The Cultural Districts Program would offer formal Cultural District recognition and access to a Local Capacity-Building Program for community groups.
The program may be expanded in future years to provide targeted incentives to respond to commercial displacement in Cultural Districts.
City Council has requested that five neighbourhoods be recognized as the City’s inaugural Cultural Districts. These proposed districts are:
The creation of a city-wide Cultural Districts Program follows multiple 2020 – 2024 City Council motions, including:
2020: MM14.8: Protecting LGBTQ2S+ Small Businesses and Cultural Space
2020.MM24.17: Eglinton Avenue West – Little Jamaica
2020.MM24.36: Supporting Black-Owned and Operated Businesses and Preserving the Cultural Heritage of Eglinton Avenue West’s “Little Jamaica”
2021.MM30.24: Feasibility Study – Repurpose Toronto Parking Authority Green P Lot at 20 Shortt Street for a Community Service Hub and Affordable Housing Development
2021.MM31.11: Preserving the Past, and Protecting the Future of Little Jamaica
2021.MM35.38: Supporting Black-Owned and Operated Businesses in Little Jamaica
2021.CR2.1: Little Jamaica Initiative Community Engagement
2021.EC 25.3: Developing a Cultural Districts Program
2021.PH28.1: Inclusionary Zoning Official Plan Amendment, Zoning By-law Amendment and Draft Implementation Guidelines
2022.EC.29.8: Supporting Small Business Operators in Little Jamaica
2022.TE34.234: Oakwood-Vaughan Planning Strategy
2024.EC12.14: Supporting Small Business Operators in Little Jamaica
2022.MM47.74: Request to Expand the Toronto Cultural Districts Program in Recognition of the Important Jewish Cultural Heritage in the Bathurst Street Corridor
2023.MM5.29: Exploring an Iranian Cultural District in Willowdale
2023.MM8.15: Making it Official: Establishing Danforth Avenue, between Main Street and Pharmacy Avenue, as Banglatown
November 9, 2021 outlines why Toronto needs to develop a cultural districts program, and the potential benefits it may bring for diverse communities, the city’s culture sector, and for Toronto as a whole.
In 2022, the City engaged Jay Pitter Placemaking to undertake a broad community consultation to support the development of a Cultural Districts Program proposal and a Little Jamacia Cultural Districts Plan proposal.
In fall 2025, the City held a stakeholder workshop and virtual public meeting to gather feedback on the approach to developing a Cultural Districts Program. The meeting provided an opportunity for community members to share their perspectives and help shape the future of cultural districts in Toronto.