Montreal's Chinatown officially becomes a historic site

Jacques Nadeau Le Devoir Montreal's Chinatown is the only French-speaking one in America.

The Canadian Press

January 17, 2024

• Montreal

The City of Montreal announced Wednesday the identification of Chinatown as a historic site.

Municipal authorities explained the advantages linked to this identification. By using the Cultural Heritage Act to define this historic site, the City ensures the registration of these elements in the Cultural Heritage Register and their dissemination in the Directory of Cultural Heritage of Quebec.

In a press release, the City of Montreal reports that Chinatown, an area steeped in history, bears witness to Faubourg Saint-Laurent, the first neighborhood to have welcomed diverse communities and Chinese immigration in Canada and Montreal, as well as the settlement of Asian communities in this area of ​​the city center.

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This is the only French-speaking Chinatown in America.

In spring 2021, a committee was formed to measure the impact of real estate pressure on the heritage character of the sector. The committee subsequently made five recommendations, including that of adopting a regulation to recognize Chinatown as a historic site.