Toronto council advances planning to rename Yonge-Dundas Square as Sankofa Square

After a heated committee meeting earlier in June, Toronto city council has voted to proceed with a plan to rename and rebrand Yonge-Dundas Square as Sankofa Square.

In a 17-to-six decision on Thursday, several changes will be made following a governance and operational review of Sankofa Square. The directions approved included the following measures:

• Formally replace all City of Toronto references to Yonge-Dundas Square with Sankofa Square
• For the square’s board of management to come up with a new multi-year strategic and business plan
• For the new strategic and business plan to have plans to rebrand the square, “enhance revenue stream,” ways to increase programming and safety at the square

The name “Sankofa” was proposed after a committee involving Black and Indigenous leaders studied options to replace Dundas. Sankofa originates in Ghana and represents the act of reflecting on and reclaiming teachings from the past.

There was an initial call to rename Dundas Street, but the proposal was dropped due to the multi-million-dollar cost. Coun. Chris Moise, who represents the area where the square is located, brought forward a plan in December to rename Yonge-Dundas Square, Dundas subway station, and Dundas West station. It was approved by Toronto city council.

The initial process to rename the Square was sparked by a petition pointing out that Henry Dundas, who Yonge-Dundas Square was named for, was involved in delaying the abolition of the Transatlantic slave trade.

During a meeting earlier in June, critics called on city council to reverse course. A petition against renaming with approximately 30,000 signatures was submitted.

Coun. Amber Morley said on Thursday the City needs to move forward with the renaming.

“Black people are Canadians too, Black people pay taxpayer dollars too, so God forbid we put a couple of dollars towards a truth and reconciliation to hold space for community members who have long been disregarded and discarded in violent and traumatic ways,” she said.

Mayor Olivia Chow urged councillors to move on and not “distract ourselves.”

Multiple councillors voiced support for the name change, but criticized the overall renaming process.

However, Coun. Stephen Holyday tried to halt going ahead with the directions that would see the formal renaming and the development of the plan.

“This is about socialism as far as I’m concerned,” he said, prompting laughs from other members of council, while arguing the council interference with the board of management’s operations is part of a push for “bigger government.”

Holyday’s motion was defeated 18-to-five.

The cost of renaming Yonge-Dundas Square to Sankofa Square was pegged at around $335,000 by Mayor Olivia Chow and Coun. Chris Moise. They stated any costs beyond the budget will be covered by the square’s board of management through third-party financial partners and in-kind support. 

City of Toronto staff confirmed the costs would come from Section 37 funds (money developers pay for community benefits) dedicated to the square and not out of the City budget. They said the particular allocation of money came from two developments on Bay Street.

Holyday went on to say the Section 37 funds could be used for other initiatives at the square.

“The square isn’t going to be any fresher smelling, or look any better, or sound any better, or be a more attractive place for visitors,” Holyday said.

Another motion by Coun. Brad Bradford attempted to redirect signage funding toward accessibility and security features at the square, but it was similarly defeated 18-to-five.

With files from Erica Natividad and John Marchesan