page_title: Chinatowns in Toronto
section_title: Markham and Richmond Hill
hierarchical_section_title: Chinatowns in Toronto / Chinese communities in Greater Toronto / Markham and Richmond Hill
caption_attribution_description: English: New Century Plaza
context_page_description: Toronto Chinatowns are ethnic enclaves in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with a high concentration of ethnic Chinese residents and businesses. These neighbourhoods are major cultural, social and economic hubs for the Chinese-Canadian communities of the region. In addition to Toronto, several areas in the Greater Toronto Area also hold a high concentration of Chinese residents and businesses.
  When used directly, in Toronto the term "Chinatown" typically refers to the neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, which extends along Dundas Street West and Spadina Avenue. The Chinese community in this downtown Chinatown previously originated from First Chinatown, which was located in what used to be known as The Ward. With changes in the city and subsequent waves of immigration from the mid-20th century onwards, East Chinatown developed at the intersection of Broadview Avenue and Gerrard Street, as well as suburban Chinatowns in Scarborough and North York. In the Greater Toronto Area, Markham, Mississauga, and Richmond Hill, have all developed sizable Chinatowns. In fact, the large Chinese communities of northern Scarborough, Markham, and Richmond Hill actually form a continuous L-shaped belt.
context_section_description: The Chinese communities in the adjacent cities of Markham and Richmond Hill emerged in the 1990s, when wealthy Chinese immigrants, primarily from Hong Kong, moved into both cities, and contain the largest concentration of Chinese people in Greater Toronto.
  Both Markham and Richmond Hill's experience as a suburban Chinatown are similar, though the developments are less intensively developed and more spread out through the former municipality. Markham itself has the largest proportion of Chinese among all the GTA municipalities. In the 1980s and early 1990s, then-Mayor Tony Roman was leading trade delegations to Asia in which he promoted Markham as a great place to live and invest.
  Numerous Chinese businesses are located along Highway 7, which forms the municipal boundary between Yonge Street and Highway 404. The combination of Markham's Commerce Valley Drive and Richmond Hill's Beaver Creek Road form a loop around the intersection of Leslie Street and Highway 7, and contains numerous establishments including Commerce Gate mall on the Markham (south) side of the street, which is directly across the street from complexes on the Richmond Hill (north) side such as Times Square. Consequently, some colloquially use the term "Highway 7" to refer to the intermunicipal Chinatown there and many families often visit both cities on the same day. Several kilometers east of Highway 404 (wholly within Markham), is an older plaza is at the southwest quadrant with the intersection with Kennedy Road. Between Woodbine Avenue and Rodick Road is First Markham Place, which contains numerous shops and restaurants; formerly anchored by Home Outfitters. Further east still along Highway 7 is an older plaza is at the southwest quadrant with the intersection with Kennedy Road.
  The most well-known Chinese mall in Markham is the Pacific Mall, at Kennedy Road and Steeles Avenue East, which, combined with neighbouring Market Village Mall (closed 2018 to be re-developed as Remington Centre) and Splendid China Mall, forms the largest Chinese shopping complex in North America, with over 700 stores between the three malls. In close proximity, at Steeles East and Warden Avenue, there is the New Century Plaza mall and a half-block away there is a plaza of Chinese shops anchored by a T & T Supermarket.
  While influx new immigrants brought many jobs and much wealth to the areas they settle, their presence and "Chineseness" became a target of racial intolerance from some. In 1995, Deputy Mayor of Markham Carole Bell argued that the concentration of ethnic groups were a cause of social conflict, saying "the weakness of it comes when there is a concentration, when you are getting only one group of people". She went on to say "everything's going Chinese" in Markham, stating that they were driving away the "back bone of Markham away...the people who run festivals, coach our kids, organize our business communities, Brownies, Guides, Scouts." In response, the twelve mayors of the Greater Toronto Area signed a letter dissociating themselves from Bell's comment.
  The Chinese community continues to grow due to high rating of schools in the area as well as the ethnically Chinese population, which in early 2019 grew to 46%.
  Chinese malls and plazas in Markham:
  First Markham Place
  Warden Centre
  Commerce Gate
  Metro Square
  New Century Plaza
  Peachtree Centre
  Newton Centre
  Pacific Mall
  Market Village Mall (being replaced with Remington Centre)
  Langham Square
  Denison Centre
  King Square Shopping Mall
  Alderland Centre
  Chinese malls and plazas in Richmond Hill:
  Times Square
  Wycliffe Village
  Shoppes of the Parkway
  Ho-View Place
  Lexus Bayview Square
  Goldenview Centre
  Jubilee Square
  Richlane
  Glen Cameron Place
caption: New Century Plaza and the adjoining Metro Square are architecturally typical of Chinese malls built during the 1990s.
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D5100", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Ver.1.01", "Image DateTime": "2014:04:12 11:29:05", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "228", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 3, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "36948", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "300", "Thumbnail YResolution": "300", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "37076", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9255", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/500", "EXIF FNumber": "9", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2014:04:12 11:29:05", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2014:04:12 11:29:05", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "24", "EXIF SubSecTime": "10", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "10", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4928", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3264", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "36916", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "36", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}