Quick Facts
Number of immigrants in the City of Toronto (2021): 1,286,140. That’s 46.6% of Toronto’s population.
Number of immigrants in the City of Toronto from the Philippines (2021): 132,980.
Filipino population of Clanton Park (Little Manila): 2,580. That’s 15.6% of the neighbourhood’s population, representing the largest ethnic group.
In a city where almost half of residents were born abroad, Toronto’s neighbourhoods reflect generations of immigration.
Since the early 2000s, Little Manila — the area around the intersection of Bathurst Street and Wilson Avenue — has become home to many newcomers within Toronto’s growing Filipino population.
Toronto is home to many First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples, as well as descendants of people brought to Canada involuntarily through enslavement. Otherwise, this is a city of immigrants. From the earliest immigrant enclaves such as St. John’s Ward, to more recent immigrant–receiving areas including Thorncliffe Park, newcomer neighbourhoods reflect the complexity and vitality of Toronto’s identity.
Another relatively recent example is Little Manila. The neighbourhood around Bathurst Street and Wilson Avenue has, since the early 2000s, been the centre of the city’s Filipino community. Little Manila boasts a concentration of the 250,000 people of Filipino origin who now live in Toronto.
When the first immigrants from the Philippines came to Toronto in the 1960s and 1970s many settled in St. James Town and were mainly well-educated professionals. A second wave in the 1980s coincided with a movement to hire domestic workers and live-in caregivers from abroad.
The healthcare industry remains a popular source of employment for the Filipino community. In later years, many Filipino women found work along Bathurst Street as live-in caregivers for seniors. Today, Little Manila is a hub for Filipino cultural events, businesses and restaurants, epitomized by the annual Taste of Manila street festival.