The anti-Greek riot of August 1918 was a several-day attack by veterans and civilians on Greek restaurants and shops in downtown Toronto, set off on August 1, 1918, when a drunk veteran was ejected from the White City Café at 433 Yonge Street. The Canadian Encyclopedia dates the violence to August 2 to 5 and reports a crowd of up to 50,000, damage of more than $100,000 to Greek businesses, and 25 arrests. Sources differ on dates, injuries, and the role of the military, and those differences are set out below.
York University historian Thomas Gallant has called it one of the largest, if not the largest, riots in Toronto’s history, yet it faded from public memory for decades. The Greek community’s later move to the Danforth is covered in the article on the Danforth and Greektown. This article stays with the events of 1918.
Greek Toronto in 1918
Heritage Toronto says about 3,000 Greeks lived in Toronto in 1914, under 1 percent of a city of 500,000, and that they owned roughly 35 percent of its restaurants. York University’s Greek heritage project places the first Greek settlers downtown in the late nineteenth century, mainly between Yonge and Church Streets and between Dundas Street and Carlton Street. The Canadian Encyclopedia adds that many veterans lived in the area bounded by Jarvis, Yonge, Carlton, and Dundas Streets, which was also home to most of the city’s Greek population and their businesses. That overlap made the shops highly visible targets.
Why Greeks were singled out
Greece was neutral early in the war and joined the Allies in 1916, according to the Toronto Public Library’s local history blog. Canada did not let Greek immigrants enlist during the neutral period. The Canadian Encyclopedia says Canada did not recruit Greek-Canadians because it feared they would side with Germany. Heritage Toronto describes the result as a legal gray zone: Greeks were not classed as enemy aliens but could not enlist, and many faced accusations of cowardice. Some returned and disabled veterans already resented men they called “slackers,” and a Great War Veterans Association congress due in Toronto on August 2 brought more angry veterans into the city.
The spark and the days that followed
On August 1, 1918, Private Claude Cludernay, a veteran crippled in the war, was drunk and belligerent at the White City Café. He struck a waiter, who ejected him and called the police. The Toronto Public Library blog gives his name also as Albert Cludray. Heritage Toronto says retellings soon exaggerated the incident into a claim that a veteran had been beaten by a Greek.
On Friday, August 2, crowds attacked Greek restaurants and stores along Yonge Street from Bloor to Queen, and on Queen Street to McCaul Street, the library blog reports, citing the Globe of August 3, 1918. The Globe put the crowd at about 200 men and roughly 1,000 sympathizers. In the east end a Greek restaurant at Broadview and Gerrard was sacked and burned. Heritage Toronto lists named businesses on Yonge Street, among them the Marathon Café at 822 Yonge, the Star Lunch Café at 441, the Vendome Café at 305, and the Palace Café at 271, and says the mob also reached Queen Street West and Bloor Street West. A butcher shop at 504 Yonge, the only affected business that was not Greek-owned, was also damaged.
On Saturday night there were pitched battles between police, soldiers, and civilians, from about 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. The Toronto Daily Star of August 6 reported about 500 people injured, 34 of them seriously, and 10 arrests, and alleged that police beat women and children indiscriminately. On August 7, Mayor Thomas Church banned gatherings of three or more people in outdoor public spaces, according to Heritage Toronto.
Where the sources disagree
| Question | Canadian Encyclopedia | Toronto Public Library blog | Heritage Toronto |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dates of the violence | August 2 to 5 | August 2 to 5 | August 1 to 7 |
| Crowd | Up to 50,000 | About 200 men and 1,000 sympathizers (Friday) | About 200 veterans and up to 1,000 civilians (August 2) |
| Injuries | More than 150 rioters; 16 police, 10 seriously | About 500, 34 seriously (Saturday night, per the Star) | About 500, 34 seriously, when police attacked the crowd |
| Arrests | 25 | 10 (Saturday night, per the Star) | Six men and three boys punished, on charges of assaulting police |
| Damage | More than $100,000 | Not given | About 20 businesses, losses near $100,000 |
The figures are not necessarily in conflict, since they cover different periods and count different groups, but none of the three sources reconciles them. A York University article of 2004 quotes historian Thomas Gallant as saying troops were brought in and the city was put under martial law. The Canadian Encyclopedia, which reports only arrests and police injuries, and the other two sources do not mention martial law, so that point rests on one summary and is not confirmed here.
Aftermath and memory
Greek community leaders issued a statement supporting the Allied war effort. They noted that more than 2,000 Greek-Canadians served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, with five killed and 10 incapacitated, the library blog reports. Heritage Toronto says owners sought $45,000 from the city, that Mayor Church denied liability, and that appeals to the federal and British governments also failed. It adds that the charges that followed related to assaults on police, not to the attacks on restaurants.
The riot was overshadowed by the Spanish flu, which reached Toronto in late September (see the 1918 flu article), and by the end of the war on November 11, 1918. It then faded from public memory. Sandra Gionas of the Hellenic Heritage Foundation told Heritage Toronto that “That memory didn’t pass on, because the first generation wanted to forget.” Thomas Gallant, George Treheles, and Michael Vitopoulos published a book, The 1918 Anti-Greek Riot in Toronto, in 2005, and John Burry’s documentary Violent August followed in 2009. For the 100th anniversary in 2018, the Hellenic Heritage Foundation held a ceremony at Nathan Phillips Square with the mayor.
Whether the riot drove the community from its downtown home is itself a matter of source wording. The library blog, quoting Maclean’s, says it drove the Greek community out of its neighbourhood near Yonge Street, while York University’s project says Greeks settled on the Danforth after the riot and especially after the second wave of the 1950s and 1960s.
Frequently asked questions
What caused the 1918 anti-Greek riot in Toronto?
A drunk veteran was ejected from a Greek-owned café on August 1, 1918, and a rumor spread that he had been mistreated. Resentment of men labeled “slackers” and a veterans’ congress in the city turned the incident into days of attacks.
How long did the riot last?
The Canadian Encyclopedia and the Toronto Public Library give August 2 to 5. Heritage Toronto gives August 1 to 7.
How many people were hurt?
Sources give different figures: more than 150 rioters and 16 police (Canadian Encyclopedia), or about 500 people with 34 seriously injured (Toronto Daily Star, as reported by the library and Heritage Toronto).
Why is it not widely known?
Heritage Toronto says historians point to shame, pride, reluctance to highlight immigrant status, and the wish to shield younger generations. The flu and the end of the war also took attention.
Related reading
- The Danforth and Greektown
- Toronto in the First World War
- The Spanish flu of 1918 in Toronto
- Yonge Street
- An overview of Toronto’s history
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- The Canadian Encyclopedia, Anti-Greek Riots, Toronto (feature article)
- Toronto Public Library, Local History and Genealogy blog, Remembering the 1918 Anti-Greek Riot: August 2-5, 2018 (cites the Globe, August 3, 1918, and the Toronto Daily Star, August 6, 1918)
- Heritage Toronto, Toronto’s 1918 Anti-Greek Riots
- York University, YFile, Greeks among Toronto’s most successful ethnic groups, August 16, 2004
- York University, Hellenic Heritage Foundation Greek Canadian Archives, Making of Greektown
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 25). The Anti-Greek Riot of August 1918 in Toronto. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/anti-greek-riot-1918-toronto
MLA: “The Anti-Greek Riot of August 1918 in Toronto.” History of Toronto, 25 Oct. 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/anti-greek-riot-1918-toronto. Accessed .
Chicago: History of Toronto. “The Anti-Greek Riot of August 1918 in Toronto.” Last modified October 25, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/anti-greek-riot-1918-toronto.
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