These meeting notes are part of Documenters Canada, which is partly funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Learn more about our program here. The Green Line maintains full editorial independence to ensure journalistic integrity.

The Toronto Chinatown Land Trust (TCLT) announced its first building acquisition campaign during its annual general meeting, marking a new phase for the nonprofit. 

The annual general meeting took place on Sept. 27 at Sky Dragon Restaurant at 280 Spadina Ave., on the fifth floor of Dragon City Mall. The event brought together Toronto Chinatown Land Trust (TCLT) members, as well as representatives from other land trusts and University-Rosedale city councillor candidate Diana Yoon. 

Our six new documenters had fun grabbing all the details, so that we can share them with you. Here’s what Lydia Tsai, Joel Sawmadal, Mashiyat Ahmed, Yonatan Gershod, Gayathri Chandrarajah and Natalie Fylak got for you.

The TCLT made a special announcement about its acquisitions efforts for 81 Huron St., marking a milestone in the organization’s efforts to preserve Chinatown’s housing and community spaces. 

The acquisition costs approximately $2 million. The TCLT said that Coun. Dianne Saxe moved a City Council motion that allocated  $700,000 for the acquisition. This funding comes from the Ward 11 Section 37 community benefit funds and was approved earlier this year. On Oct. 5, the TCLT posted the campaign announcement on its Instagram page to raise $600,000 to cover remaining costs. As of Oct. 15, they’ve raised $518,396 and still have until Nov. 15 to meet this goal and bring the property into permanent community ownership. 

The building includes residential homes and a popular cafe, Lait Nite.

Attendees asked how rents within the property will be determined. The TCLT said they hope rents will be comparable to cooperative housing within the downtown core. They added that additional fundraising could reduce the mortgage and help keep rents lower.

During the meeting, a drag queen announced the three elected board members: Sara Constant, Lanxi Dong and Nicholas Wong. 

Artist Anson Ng spent some time during the meeting painting the people and shops on Spadina Avenue, right outside on the balcony. 

Both the painting and drag performance were intentional parts of the evening — a custom to many of the TCLT’s practices to weave art, identity and community activism. 

You can learn more about how artists in Chinatown use different forms of creative expression as tools to preserve Chinatown’s history in this feature. 

The TCLT and they encourage people to join their community efforts.