Filipino Town: Remaking of Culture in Cosmopolis Toronto (Part of a series)

Filipino Town: Remaking of Culture in Cosmopolis Toronto (Part of a series)

By Ysh Cabana

A sweetish smell of caramelized sugar and scorched vinegar on grilled pork barbecue welcome commuters getting off at the Wilson Avenue stop of the biarticulated bus 7. In a few short blocks, one will find a new crop of contrapuntal cuisine revealing a site dedicated to a sense of community for the Toronto Filipinos. And if it isn’t for that distinct taste of food, it’s the people who are very loquacious of their mother tongue that makes it worth taking a second look.

The neighbourhood has been transformed by the successive waves of immigrants in the last decade to become what it is billed now: Filipino Town, with its nickname Filtown or “Little Manila” to some folks. Its centre is located between the stretch of Allen Road and Highway 401, and along the north-south axis of Bathurst Street. Increasingly it has been a place that attracts entrepreneurs to set up shops and to sell other services.

Often, employment opportunities determine the areas in which people settle, as in the case of Wilson Heights, once the largest congregation of middle-class Toronto Jews. They centred their families in a large parcel of land that formerly belonged to the Downsview airport. Housing then was developed into ranch-style brick bungalows and low-rise condominiums, as well as split-level and semi-detached houses, most of which were built in the late 50s and 60s.

Simultaneously, some Filipinos left their downtown Toronto apartments in exchange of suburban houses. By the new millennium due to significant changes in the flow of immigrants, the suburbs became attractive landing spot as they play in assisting newcomers in their arrival to the city. Wilson Heights, also referred to as Clanton Park or Dublin Heights, was populated with a unique mix of ethnic origins, particularly Jewish, Russian, Italian and Filipino, as declared by local residents and inscribed by business owners on their storefronts.

Like many global cities, Toronto’s social geography is structured by a diverse international migrant profiles and urban segmentation due to the large scale and wide scope of the global circulation of goods, information and people.

The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) welcomes an average of 9,500 immigrants per annum. Of those immigrants who arrived in Canada and resided in Toronto, according to the 2011 census, about 15% were born in the Philippines. It has one of the highest population density of Filipinos, predominantly young families, first generation immigrants. The increasing diversity of immigrants have prompted heated debates in immigrant-receiving countries.

For a long time, the question is still mulled over: “why is there no distinct Filipino town in Toronto?” There are ethnic enclaves, such as Little Italy, Greektown, Koreatown, Jewish Quarter, Chinatown, Schnitzel Row, Little India, Little Jamaica, etc. established in the traditional immigrant concentration areas.

However, not all immigrants have settled in a concentrated way. For instance, the distribution patterns for Filipinos are more dispersed geographically causing them to have little visibility, at least along socioeconomic measures. It is verifiable that the aforementioned are to be seen in different lens. The more established destination venues are influenced both by labour-market selection and government policies. The former depends on the concentration of amenities (housing, shopping and social clubs) regardless of their accessibility to transit, while the latter is a result of the globalization process through more deliberate and direct intervention of the state at the local level.

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This is an ongoing series on the topic of Filipino Town in Toronto. The author would speak on this research in the 10th International Conference on Philippine Studies in Silliman University, Dumaguete City, Philippine on July 6-8, 29016. You can email him at ysh.cabana@gmail.com

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Also, the author would like to invite you to a walking tour on a Saturday May 21 “Migration, Food and Identity in North York’s Little Manila”. Learn about the migration experiences and the thriving entrepreneurship of Toronto’s Filipino community, one of the city’s fastest-growing and most diverse cultural groups. Taste some samples of Filipino delicacies on the way.

The walking tour is part of the celebration of Asian Heritage Month in May and organised through the support of Heritage Toronto, the City of Toronto, and in partnership with Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
Limited spaces, pre-registration is required. Visit www. heritagetoronto.org.