“The Ward: The Life and Loss of Toronto’s First Immigrant Neighbourhood” is a book that documents the area within Toronto known as St. John’s Ward or simply “The Ward,” which became a home to thousands of impoverished immigrants between the mid-1800s and the mid-1900s. The City considered it a slum and bulldozed the area in the late 1950’d to make way for a new civic square.

The Ward features archival photographs and essays that share the under- documented history of Jewish, Chinese, Irish, Italian, and African American immigrants who occupied the streets and laneways between College Street to the north, Queen Street to the south, University Avenue to the west and Yonge Street to the east. The Ward traces the past conditions of immigration in Toronto, promoting dialogue and understanding of our neglected heritage landscapes and helps to reclaim a historic account that accurately reflects the diversity of immigrant experiences in building the City of Toronto.

Michael McClelland (B.Arch., OAA, MRAIC)