Brief History
Conversations about a community land trust in Kensington Market began in 2014, led by Friends of Kensington Market and supported by The Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust. These explorations culminated in the formation of a CLT Working Group that appointed an interim board. The KMCLT was launched in December 2016, and the interim board went on to incorporate the organization in 2017.
In April 2018, KMCLT hosted a Community Visioning session that brought together a wide range of neighbourhood residents and business people to develop a vision and guiding principles for redeveloping the City-owned parking lot on Bellevue Avenue.
In 2021, after years of neighbourhood organizing to resist the renoviction and displacement of existing residents, KMCLT acquired its first building at 54-56 Kensington Avenue.
In 2024, KMCLT, in partnership with St Clare’s Multifaith Housing Society, was selected by the City of Toronto to operate a new not-for-profit housing development at 35 Bellevue Avenue (the Bellevue ‘Green P’ lot). Construction for the new housing development is now underway.
With three full-time staff, KMCLT continues to protect Kensington Market’s unique character and pursue new opportunities to 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.
Click here for our draft Nov 2024 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
Kensington-Bellwoods Legal Clinic
https://www.kbcls.org/
Toronto Chinatown Land Trust
https://chinatownlandtrust.ca/
Friends of Chinatown Toronto
www.instagram.com/friendsofchinatownto
Our Contact
Mailing Address:
103 Bellevue Avenue,
Toronto, ON, Canada
Email:
info@kmclt.ca
Mailing Address:
103 Bellevue Avenue,
Toronto, ON, Canada
Email:
info@kmclt.ca