Item - 2025.TE19.14

The Toronto and East York Community Council recommends that:

1. City Council, in accordance with Section 41 of the Ontario Heritage Act, designate by By-law the area shown on Attachment 1 to the report (December 13, 2024) from the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning as the Kensington Market Heritage Conservation District.

2. City Council adopt by By-law the Kensington Market Heritage Conservation District Plan as the District Plan for the Kensington Market Heritage Conservation District included as Attachments 5 and 6 to the report (December 13, 2024) from the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning.

3. City Council authorize the City Solicitor to make such stylistic and technical changes to the Kensington Market Heritage Conservation District Plan, included as Attachments 5 and 6 to the report (December 13, 2024) from the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning, as deemed necessary by and at the sole discretion of the City Solicitor, in consultation with the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning, and to ensure that such stylistic and technical changes are reflected within the Kensington Market's Heritage Conservation District Plan’s policies, guidelines, schedules, appendices and maps.

4. If there are any appeals to the By-law under Section 41 of the Ontario Heritage Act, City Council direct the City Solicitor, together with the City's outside counsel and any other appropriate City staff and/or outside consultants to appear before the Ontario Land Tribunal to defend the By-law.  

This report recommends that City Council designate the area referred to as Kensington Market as a Heritage Conservation District ("HCD"), identified on the map in Attachment 1 to this report, and adopt the Kensington Market HCD Plan by by-law under Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act.

The designation of Kensington Market (the "District") as an HCD and adoption of the HCD Plan will manage change within the District to conserve the area's cultural heritage value through the implementation of contextual, place-based policies and guidelines.

In March 2015, City Council authorized and prioritized the Kensington Market HCD Study. In March 2016, City staff, with a consultant team led by Taylor Hazell Architects, began a study of the potential for this area to be designated as an HCD under Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act. Upon the Toronto Preservation Board's endorsement of the HCD Study (2017) recommendations, City staff prepared the HCD Plan and focused efforts on its finalization and community consultation including urban Indigenous communities over the past two years. The Kensington Market HCD Study process and the HCD Plan have been prepared in accordance with provincial legislation and Heritage Conservation Districts in Toronto: Procedures, Policies and Terms of Reference.

Kensington Market, a National Historic Site, is a unique and important historic neighbourhood with a distinctive identity and sense of place. The neighbourhood is a microcosm of Canada's diverse immigrant population, where many different ethnocultural communities have each added to the area's layers of built form variety and contributed to a vibrant street life. The public realm and built environment of the area are a staging ground for the activities and uses that also contribute to the neighbourhood’s character and intangible heritage, including its sense of anarchy, inclusivity, and a history of experimentation.

The District encompasses 704 properties. For all HCDs adopted following January 1, 2023, as per Regulation 569/22 of the OHA, at least 25 percent of the properties within the defined area must meet two or more of the nine criteria for determining cultural heritage value or interest. In the proposed Kensington Market HCD, more than 50 percent of the properties satisfy two or more of the criteria.

December 12, 2024, marks the 50th anniversary of the introduction of Bill 176 - An Act to provide for the Conservation, Protection and Preservation of the Heritage of Ontario (now known as the Ontario Heritage Act), to the Ontario Legislature, which established the concept of heritage conservation districts as a regulatory tool for municipalities. The Act received assent on February 6, 1975. To date, there are 27 districts across Toronto that are designated under Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act. Kensington Market is one of three HCD plans that will be recently under consideration by Council for adoption.

During the last half century, concepts of identifying and evaluating heritage resources have evolved. While early preservation work focused on the retention of landmarks and monuments, conservation efforts have expanded to include sites associated with social value and intangible heritage. This shift has also reflected Indigenous understandings of heritage, which emphasize landscape and ritual while de-emphasizing physical structures. More recent conservation practices prioritize the relationships between people, buildings, and landscapes that ground communities with a sense of place. The Kensington Market HCD Plan embraces social value as an integral component of the District's significance, informing the framework of policies and guidelines to manage the area's ongoing evolution while sustaining its distinct identity.

At its meeting on January 8, 2025 the Toronto Preservation Board considered Item PB26.8 and made recommendations to City Council.

Summary from the report (December 13, 2025) from the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning:

 
This report recommends that City Council designate the area referred to as Kensington Market as a Heritage Conservation District ("HCD"), identified on the map in Attachment 1 to this report, and adopt the Kensington Market Heritage Conservation District Plan by by-law under Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act.

The designation of Kensington Market (the "District") as an Heritage Conservation District and adoption of the Heritage Conservation District Plan will manage change within the District to conserve the area's cultural heritage value through the implementation of contextual, place-based policies and guidelines.

In March 2015, City Council authorized and prioritized the Kensington Market Heritage Conservation District Study. In March 2016, City staff, with a consultant team led by Taylor Hazell Architects, began a study of the potential for this area to be designated as an Heritage Conservation District under Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act. Upon the Toronto Preservation Board's endorsement of the Heritage Conservation District Study (2017) recommendations, City staff prepared the Heritage Conservation District Plan and focused efforts on its finalization and community consultation including urban Indigenous communities over the past two years. The Kensington Market Heritage Conservation District Study process and the Heritage Conservation District Plan have been prepared in accordance with provincial legislation and Heritage Conservation Districts in Toronto: Procedures, Policies and Terms of Reference.

Kensington Market, a National Historic Site, is a unique and important historic neighbourhood with a distinctive identity and sense of place. The neighbourhood is a microcosm of Canada's diverse immigrant population, where many different ethnocultural communities have each added to the area's layers of built form variety and contributed to a vibrant street life. The public realm and built environment of the area are a staging ground for the activities and uses that also contribute to the neighbourhood’s character and intangible heritage, including its sense of anarchy, inclusivity, and a history of experimentation.

The District encompasses 704 properties. For all Heritage Conservation District s adopted following January 1, 2023, as per Regulation 569/22 of the Ontario Heritage Act, at least 25 percent of the properties within the defined area must meet two or more of the nine criteria for determining cultural heritage value or interest. In the proposed Kensington Market Heritage Conservation District, more than 50 percent of the properties satisfy two or more of the criteria.

December 12, 2024, marks the 50th anniversary of the introduction of Bill 176 - An Act to provide for the Conservation, Protection and Preservation of the Heritage of Ontario (now known as the Ontario Heritage Act), to the Ontario Legislature, which established the concept of heritage conservation districts as a regulatory tool for municipalities. The Act received assent on February 6, 1975. To date, there are 27 districts across Toronto that are designated under Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act. Kensington Market is one of three Heritage Conservation District plans that will be recently under consideration by Council for adoption.

During the last half century, concepts of identifying and evaluating heritage resources have evolved. While early preservation work focused on the retention of landmarks and monuments, conservation efforts have expanded to include sites associated with social value and intangible heritage. This shift has also reflected Indigenous understandings of heritage, which emphasize landscape and ritual while de-emphasizing physical structures. More recent conservation practices prioritize the relationships between people, buildings, and landscapes that ground communities with a sense of place. The Kensington Market Heritage Conservation District Plan embraces social value as an integral component of the District's significance, informing the framework of policies and guidelines to manage the area's ongoing evolution while sustaining its distinct identity.