From Struggle to Survival

Although the Dragon Centre was an incredibly successful mall, the resistance from racist local community members who displayed racism and discrimination didn’t stop. These local residents and business owners continued to protest against new plans proposed to develop the mall further and expand Chinese businesses. This tension led the then City of Scarborough to create groups to deal with race relations and multicultural issues, such as the mayor’s task force on race relations, the Multicultural and Race Relations Committee, and the Federation of Chinese Canadians in Scarborough.

News clipping of a Chinese family discussing how they dealt with the hate literature spread by non-Asian community members at the time.

Despite these tensions, Dragon Centre became a hub for Chinese goods, attracting many customers and families looking for Asian products and a sense of home. This place wasn’t just a mall—it became a big success and a meeting spot for the Chinese community. People would gather there to chat, shop and eat while their kids would play. These informal activities not only helped strengthen the Chinese community, but their economies as well.

From Agincourt, a lot of the old generation has moved up north to places like Stouffville, Markham, Richmond Hill. There’s a lot of food like this up there too. So they’re comfortable there. But sometimes they come back.

– Anna from Great Fountain Fast Food

As time passed, bigger malls like Pacific Mall in Markham and Times Square Mall in Richmond Hill drew more people away from Dragon Centre in the 1990s. Despite racial  tensions, these new malls thrived and expanded the Chinese community beyond Agincourt.