A Video Interview with Katrina Ramdath from Core Sales Inc

Katrina Ramdath from Core Sales Inc. discusses what makes Scarborough and Agincourt such attractive neighbourhoods for visitors from all over Toronto, making them sites worth considering cultural heritage.

Katrina was interviewed by Jean-François Obregón, student researcher from Toronto Metropolitan University for the Masters of Planning and Development program studio project for their client, Brannavy Jeyasundaram, the Co-Lead and Researcher for Toronto Ward Museum. The research team was supervised by Dr. Zhixi Cecilia Zhuang, the owner of DiverCity Lab YouTube channel that hosts the video.

Full Transcript

KR: In the early 2000s, it was more family-run, locals. So if they were in an area that was mostly, let’s say, Sri Lankans, you’d have a lot of like different dosa places. So they [the businesses] were very very regional to what was surrounding it. No one back in the early 2000s or early 90s came to check out these local mom and pop shops. From 2003 and let’s say 2005, from then until pre-COVID, people from Mississauga were going to Agincourt and Scarborough to check out that mom and pop shop. I think the uniqueness in their cooking their traditional foods and peoples’ open mindedness now to go out to specific areas like Agincourt has started to take off, right before COVID. Right now, people are still hesitating a bit, so I don’t know if this trend will continue.