INTEGRATING COMMUNITY DIVERSITY IN TORONTO: ON WHOSE TERMS?

Unexpectedly considering its past Toronto emerged in the last half of the 20 th century as one of the world's great multicultural cities. This paper explores how well Toronto has succeeded in integrating diverse communities into the fabric of civic life. Various approaches are adopted to assess the terms of newcomers belonging in Toronto. An historical introduction compares the successive integration experiences of four newcomer communities that by their numbers have stood out as among the most distinctive additions to Toronto's diversity over the past 100 years. Next, a contemporary scan of the present configuration of diversity in Toronto identifies challenges facing newcomers to Toronto. This leads to a consideration of immigrant community mobilization in Toronto to effect social change. Lastly, the paper assesses the City of Toronto's municipal response to newcomer diversity. We conclude that the terms of newcomer integration in Toronto have always been contested, and are resolved through the complex inter-play of newcomers and their new urban society.