Inside the movement keeping Toronto rent cheap for locals

From Kensington to Little Jamaica, Toronto has become ‘hot spot’ for Canada’s community land trust movement

In Little Jamaica, some locals are hopeful a newly-formed community land trust can help curb the displacement of Black-owned small business owners and renters.

Beginning in the 1950s, many Caribbean immigrants settled in Toronto along Eglinton Avenue between Keele Street and what is now Allen Road, and established shops offering a taste of home — jerk dishes, reggae music and fashion catering to residents’ tastes. 

But the neighbourhood has experienced gentrification over recent decades and the long-delayed Eglinton LRT transit project has forced many small businesses to shutter. 

To fight back, residents formed the Little Jamaica Community Land Trust in 2022, inspired by the work of Black farmers in Georgia in the 1960s who created the first-ever land trust. 

Anyika Mark, the organization’s community engagement manager, said the aim is to begin acquiring properties with both residential and small business units along the neighbourhood’s main streets. 

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