Montreal's Chinatown: a historic neighbourhood of the future

I think about the meaning of home a lot.  Where is home?  What makes a home?  How many homes can one have?  Is home about the sense of belonging, or is home about setting roots?  How can one set a new root?  What happens to the old root you had? How does one stop feeling at home or start feeling at home? Am I feeling at home now?   

As an immigrant from Taiwan, uprooting and rerooting many times in my life, and a city planner working in different cities for years with marginalized and racialized communities, I am always interested in how people set roots and form their sense of connection and belonging in places.  Similarly, I am concerned about displacement and the sense of erasure as a result of policy decisions.  

In the past six years, I find myself deeply involved in Montreal’s Chinatown, alongside with a group of committed people to fight for appropriate recognition of its historical significance, protection of its rich cultural heritage, and prevention of its active erasure through careless policies and gentrification. In July 2022, I cheered with the community when both the City of Montreal and the Government of Quebec jointly announced policies and measures to recognize and protect this unique place as a heritage district.  Following this emotional moment, we set up the JIA Foundation to continue the work and to make sure Chinatown that has witnessed our collective past can help weave together our often untold and disjointed histories, and provides an opportunity to demonstrate what an inclusive, equitable and sustainable community can be.    

- Jessica Chen, Co-founder and Executive Director of the JIA Foundation

JIĀ (家) means both family and home in Mandarin. The words jiā rén (家人) mean “family members” while huí jiā（回家) means “to return home”. Rooted in neighbourhood-based activism, JIA Foundation has been working across the fields of heritage conservation, urban planning, and cultural programming to forward an equitable and community-led vision of Chinatown. 

Combating Real Estate Speculation Through Community Action 

Past cycles of displacement and resistance shape many Montreal neighbourhoods today, including Chinatown. As displacement continues into the present, we see community-led collective actions in different parts of Montreal intervene to support new development models rooted in equity, collective ownership, and the right to remain. 

JIA Foundation formed out of organizing led by the Chinatown Working Group (CWG) (2019-2022) which mobilized community members around the issues of gentrification and loss of community spaces. After residents sounded the alarm in 2021 regarding speculative real estate development of  the most historic block of Chinatown, mass mobilization of concerned citizens initiated a city-wide consultation by the Office de consultation publique de Montréal. Following this, Chinatown achieved provincial heritage status for a section of the neighbourhood, as well as an expanded area being recognized as a neighbourhood of historical significance with new zoning and land use policies introduced by the City of Montreal. Beyond advocating for heritage policies as a strategy to combat real estate speculation, CWG also worked with the City of Montreal to develop the first Chinatown Action Plan (2021-2026) which reflects  the scope, diversity, and complexity of the issues affecting the neighbourhood, and provides a clearer vision for its future.  

To sustain this collective action and continue tackling distinct issues, members of the CWG dissolved the collective and formed two non-profit organizations in 2022 to address different needs in the Chinatown ecosystem. The first new nonprofit, Chinatown Roundtable, was established to be a multi-sectoral platform for community stakeholders to mobilize and exchange on neighbourhood issues. JIA Foundation, the second non-profit, took form as a community-led organisation that aims to protect and promote the neighbourhood’s cultural heritage through education, cultural programming, and community-driven approaches to real estate. 

Chinatown House: A Space of Culture and Community 

Since 2023, JIA Foundation has been a growing presence in Chinatown, fostering capacity-building, advocacy, and intergenerational connection. Before JIA was in its current location, the Chinatown House project offered spaces for coworking, recreation, and arts events by activating underutilized spaces in the neighbourhood. JIA Foundation also hosted the Chinatown Reimagined Forum in 2023, where community organizers and policy makers from ten Chinatowns across North America were able to come together to discuss shared struggles and solutions. In 2024, JIA Foundation exhibited the Made in Chinatown project, which showcased different lived experiences of community members through portraits and written testimonies.

At the end of 2024, JIA Foundation was able to secure its current space at 116 De La Gauchetière St W.  This building, Maison Yep-Riopel, nods to the building’s rich history: currently owned by long-time Chinatown resident and historical tour guide Jean-Philippe Riopel, the building was previously home to the Yep family, of whom Sandy Yep is a current member of JIA. The current exhibit, Maison Yep-Riopel: A Layered History of Resistance & Belonging, has been on since early 2025. 

Clark Street Reimagined: A Catalyst Project for Change

A Holistic Vision with Concrete Plans

To ensure Chinatown is a livable neighbourhood with rich cultural heritage that is more than a tourist destination, we need to have a holistic vision with concrete plans for Chinatown’s future development.  The 2021-2026 Chinatown Action Plan made key commitments to improving quality of life and built environment, improving commercial vitality, neighbourhood heritage, and enhancing community connections. 

With 2026 fast approaching, JIA Foundation and the Chinatown Roundtable engaged Rayside Labossière Architecture and Table de concertation du faubourg Saint-Laurent to work with Chinatown stakeholders on creating a document that highlights what the community wants in the next action plan.

The document is anchored by three concrete community projects that have emerged with strong community mobilisation efforts and engagement of the City and other funding partners: Chinatown House project at the historic Wing’s Block; Clark Street Reimagined mixed-use social housing project; and Kahéhtaien Jardin Lumb, the first Indigenous Asian community collective garden. These projects anchor the western, central and eastern sections of Chinatown, forming a foundation from which the multiple partners can focus collective attention and resources on bringing positive change to Chinatown.

In 2050, Chinatown is no longer an abstract idea: it is anchored in concrete projects carried by and for the community, throughout the territory. The spirit of the neighborhood is alive and felt, both in the quality of life offered, the vitality of its businesses, the wealth of its identity and the inclusive way in which decisions are made there.”  (Rayside Labossière Architecture Report)