Toronto City Council Has Agreed To Rename Dundas Street & Here’s What Happens Next

On Wednesday, Toronto City Council voted to rename Dundas Street and all other civic assets with the same name, including Yonge-Dundas Square.

Just over a year after the Let's Rename Dundas Street in Toronto petition called on city officials to change the street's name, the decision has been met with approval "in an effort to promote inclusion and reconciliation with marginalized communities," according to a City of Toronto news release.

The , a Scottish politician involved in delaying the abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade that caused more than half a million Black people to be enslaved by the British Empire, and who had "had virtually no connection to Toronto," Mayor John Tory said recently.

A Community Advisory Committee of Black and Indigenous leaders and representatives from all the diverse communities who live and work on Dundas Street will lead the renaming process, as well as Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) and resident associations. The same committee will also create and provide a transition plan to help out all of the residents and businesses throughout the renaming process.

Staff will touch base with the Executive Committee in 2022 with a list of potential new names for Dundas Street and other City-owned properties with the Dundas name. A confirmatory bylaw must be enacted for City Council's decision to take effect.