Toronto gets first all-Chinese sign for proposed development

Thestar.com
Dec. 12, 2019
Donovan Vincent

An all-Chinese sign for a proposed residential building in Toronto’s Chinatown has stirred some controversy online, but the local councillor says the notice will significantly improve communication with a “large portion” of people living in the area.

The street sign for the zoning bylaw application pertaining to a property on Spadina Ave. south of College St. shows a drawing of the proposed 13-storey mixed-use development, describes the number of units in the rental building -- 239 -- and other details, including the fact there will be retail at grade.

The Chinese sign will be posted at the site next week. There are already two English signs in the area.

On Tuesday, Councillor Mike Layton, who represents the area, tweeted: “I'm told this is a first for Toronto -- a development application sign in a language other than English. This is going up on Spadina. Thanks @chinatownFOCT for challenging city to do better.”

He was referring to the community and advocacy group Friends of Chinatown, which pushed for the all-Chinese sign.

“I thank the Friends of Chinatown for bringing this (issue) to our attention because we weren’t as careful in our outreach as we should have been and they were the ones who pointed that out,” Layton said in an interview Wednesday.

“In this particular neighbourhood, there’s a large proportion of Chinese-speaking Canadians and we want to ensure they’re included in the decision-making process.”

But some people on Twitter voiced concerns that there are no French signs for the proposal, given French and English are Canada’s official languages.

“Nothing to brag about. We're supposed to be in a country where BOTH official languages are English and French. This is just proving that something isn't right in Canada,” tweeted Alex Rupert.

Layton replied on Twitter that the proposed development is in the middle of a century-old Chinatown and “still home to many seniors whose first language isn’t English -- like a lot of Toronto and Canada. So we strive to be inclusive.”

But others supported the sign.

“Thanks Mike, for taking this on,” Morris Lum tweeted Layton.

Chinatown BIA chair Tony Louie praised the sign, saying it shows the city wants to hear as many opinions as possible on the zoning application.

The proposal for 315-325 Spadina Ave. would include 54 studio apartments, 118 double studios, 11 one-bedrooms, 31 two-bedrooms and 25 three-bedrooms.