Brief History



The Kensington Market Community Land Trust (KMCLT) was incorporated as a community-based non-profit corporation in December, 2017, after several years of discussion and organizing led by Friends of Kensington Market.

In April, 2018, KMCLT sponsored a Community Visioning session, bringing together a wide range of neighbourhood residents and business people to develop a vision and principles to guide the redevelopment of the City-owned parking lot on Bellevue Avenue.

In 2021, KMCLT bought its first building - 54/56 Kensington Avenue, after a year of neighbourhood organizing to resist the renoviction and displacement of the existing residents.

Since that time, KMCLT’s staff and neighbourhood residents been working with the City of Toronto and a team of community organizations to make the Bellevue site available for redevelopment, as well as pursuing other opportunities to maintain Kensington’s character and preserve and expand affordability.

Our Mission


The Kensington Market Community Land Trust is incorporated to acquire and provide for the management of land, in perpetuity, in or near the area bounded by the west side of Spadina Avenue, the south side of College Street, the east side of Bathurst Street, and the north side of Dundas Street, (Toronto’s Kensington Market).

It removes property from the pressure of the commercial real estate market, with the overarching goal of land use for local community benefit, including but not limited to:
  • the provision of affordable housing
  • maintenance of the historical built form and eclectic mixed-use nature that characterizes the neighbourhood
  • the continued presence of different cultures and socio-economic backgrounds in the residents and businesses populating the area

Click here to read our organizational bylaws.

Click here for our 2019 AGM Minutes.

Click here for our 2021 AGM Minutes.

Click here for our 2022 AGM Minutes.

Click here for our Jan 2023 AGM Minutes.

Click here for our Nov 2023 AGM Minutes

Land AcknowledgementWe, as members of the Kensington Market Community Land Trust, are aware that we are a settler organization. Kensington Market sits in the traditional territory of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit (an Anishnaabe people), the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Wendat and Petun Nations, land which is now home to many First Nations, Inuit and Métis.

This land is covered by the Dish With One Spoon wampum belt covenant, an agreement by the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee to share resources equally and peaceably. It is also covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit. As a settler organization concerned with land ownership, we acknowledge that we have broken the treaties. Our work for the well-being of this land must include accountability to our relatives.


More Community Groups
Friends of Kensington Market
https://fokm.ca/
Kensington Market Historical Society
https://www.kmhs.ca/
Kensington Market BIA
https://kensingtonmarket.to/
Kensington Market Action Committee
https://www.kensingtonmarket.org/


Our Contact

Mailing Address:
103 Bellevue Avenue,
Toronto, ON, Canada

Email:
info@kmclt.ca