Non-Chinese businesses flourish in Ottawa’s Chinatown, indicating a reflection of Canada’s multiculturalism, according to Somerset Chinatown BIA executive director Grace Xin.
The city designated the area as Chinatown in 1989 and it remains Ottawa’s only Asian village. Approximately 100 ethnic stores and restaurants including Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese and French line the section of Somerset Street West.
She believes that having non-Chinese businesses in Chinatown enhances the area.
Kate Thai owns Times Houseware and Gifts:
“Culture is good. It boosts business. The more businesses, the better the Chinatown,” said Thai, whose Chinese family opened the store almost eight years ago. “If you’ve got the money to open up a business, go ahead.”
Kyunglim White, owner of the Korean restaurant Bulgogi Garden, joined the neighbourhood under a year ago and thinks of Chinatown as nothing more than a name for the area. She is the former owner of Arum Korean Market on Bank Street and said she purchased the building on Somerset for its location.
“If it bothers a business owner about being located in [a community], they should not be there,” she said. “This is Chinatown. People think and know this is Chinatown with Chinese stores and Chinese restaurants. But they come and visit and discover other ethnic businesses too.”
White said only five per cent of her customers are Korean. People often try Korean food for the first time at her restaurant.
Thai said Chinatown is a universal term and she isn’t sure if people would catch onto something more generic like Asian Village.
But if demands to rename the district a more inclusive term arise, Xin said, “If it’s the will of the people, then why not? But [the name] is historical. You don’t change the name of a bridge after someone new passes away.”
Thai joked that Koreans are slowly taking over the district due to the growing number of Korean businesses that are near her store, such as Morning Glory, SooRa, and Gecom.
Asian communities along with the City of Ottawa plan to erect a gateway by next summer at Somerset Street West and Cambridge Street North to make Ottawa’s Chinatown more distinguishable.