Dundas Street is a long east-west road that runs from Toronto toward London, Ontario. It began as a military and settlement road ordered by Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe, which the Queen’s Rangers cut in 1793 and 1794, and it was named for Henry Dundas, the British Home Secretary and friend of Simcoe. In Toronto the name is attached to a string of older streets, which is why the road bends and changes character from block to block.
Simcoe’s road and the man it was named for
Simcoe planned the road as a military route and an aid to settlement in Upper Canada. A historical plaque in Hamilton records that it was built on his orders in 1793 and 1794, and that it linked Lake Ontario with the Thames River. It is also known as the Governor’s Road, a name still used in places west of Toronto. The road was extended toward York, the future Toronto, in 1796, according to secondary accounts. Toronto’s portion was assembled from several older streets, so Dundas Street in the city does not follow a single survey line.
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, lived from April 28, 1742, to May 28, 1811. He was Home Secretary from June 8, 1791, to July 11, 1794, and Secretary of State for War from July 1794 to March 1801. In 1792 he proposed adding the word “gradual” to William Wilberforce’s motion to end the British slave trade, and the amended motion passed the House of Commons by 230 votes to 85. Historians disagree over whether the amendment delayed abolition or secured a majority for it. Parliament abolished the trade in 1807, four years before his death. In 1806 he was impeached over the handling of naval funds and was acquitted by the House of Lords.
Dundas West and Little Portugal
West of downtown, Dundas Street West became a main street for immigrant communities. Secondary accounts, including a heritage walking tour by the Portuguese Canadian History Project, place the start of Portuguese settlement in Toronto in the early 1950s, with the first families around Kensington Market. The community then moved west along Dundas Street West and College Street into the area now called Little Portugal. Many families bought houses in the 1950s and 1960s, and the stretch of Dundas West around Ossington Avenue became a commercial center for Portuguese shops, churches, and clubs. The nearby Little Italy and Kensington Market have separate histories on this site.
Dundas near the center of the city
Two well-known places in the downtown section of the street carried the Dundas name. The Art Gallery of Ontario stands on Dundas Street West at McCaul Street. Yonge-Dundas Square, at the corner of Yonge and Dundas, was a public square and event space until its renaming in 2023. Chinatown’s main axis runs along Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street West.
The renaming debate
On June 10, 2020, a petition with more than 10,000 signatures asked the city to rename Dundas Street because of Henry Dundas’s role in the 1792 amendment. Mayor John Tory announced a city working group the same day. On July 14, 2021, Toronto City Council voted 17 to 7 to rename the street and other city assets bearing the name, with a new name to be chosen through public input.
On December 14, 2023, Council took a narrower step. It approved “Sankofa Square” as the new name of Yonge-Dundas Square, a name taken from a Ghanaian word that the City describes as reclaiming lessons from the past. The City release estimated the net cost at $700,000 CAD, with offsets identified. Council also agreed to drop the Dundas name from Dundas and Dundas West subway stations and from the Jane/Dundas branch of the Toronto Public Library, starting in 2024. Renaming Dundas Street itself, along with other remaining recommendations from 2021, was paused until Council gives new direction. The Toronto Transit Commission and Toronto Public Library publish the current status of the stations and library.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1792 | Henry Dundas proposes “gradual” abolition; the Commons passes the amended motion 230 to 85. |
| 1793 to 1794 | The Queen’s Rangers cut Dundas Street under Simcoe’s orders. |
| 1796 | The road is extended toward York (secondary source). |
| June 10, 2020 | A petition to rename the street is launched; the mayor announces a working group. |
| July 14, 2021 | Council votes 17 to 7 to rename. |
| December 14, 2023 | Yonge-Dundas Square becomes Sankofa Square; the street renaming is paused. |
Is Dundas Toronto’s trendiest area?
No official measure ranks Toronto districts by trendiness, so the question has no verifiable answer. What can be stated is limited to the record above: Dundas Street crosses several districts with distinct histories, including the downtown core, Chinatown, Little Portugal, and, farther west, Roncesvalles and the Junction. Which of them counts as fashionable is a matter of opinion, and any ranking comes from magazines or listings that use their own criteria.
Frequently asked questions
Who was Dundas Street named after?
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, a Scottish politician and friend of John Graves Simcoe, who ordered the road built.
Has Dundas Street been renamed?
Not according to the City of Toronto’s December 14, 2023 release. Council voted in 2021 to rename it, but the work was paused. Yonge-Dundas Square was renamed Sankofa Square.
Why was renaming proposed?
The 2020 petition cited Henry Dundas’s 1792 amendment, which added “gradual” to the motion on the slave trade. Historians disagree on its effect, as noted above.
What is Little Portugal?
It is an area along Dundas Street West and College Street where Portuguese immigrants settled from the 1950s onward.
Related reading
- How Toronto’s districts grew
- Little Italy and the Italian community
- Kensington Market’s history
- Immigration in Toronto’s history
- How Toronto’s street names evolved
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- City of Toronto news release, Toronto City Council approves Sankofa Square (December 14, 2023)
- Ontario’s Historical Plaques, Dundas Street plaque, Hamilton
- Wikipedia, “Dundas Street” and “Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville” (secondary; cite CBC, Globe and Mail, and the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography)
- Portuguese Canadian History Project, Janes Walk of Portuguese Toronto
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 23). Dundas Street: History, Name Origin and the Renaming Debate. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/exploring-the-fascinating-history-of-dundas-toronto-from-its-early-beginnings-to-its-modern-day-charm
MLA: “Dundas Street: History, Name Origin and the Renaming Debate.” History of Toronto, 23 Oct. 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/exploring-the-fascinating-history-of-dundas-toronto-from-its-early-beginnings-to-its-modern-day-charm. Accessed .
Chicago: History of Toronto. “Dundas Street: History, Name Origin and the Renaming Debate.” Last modified October 23, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/exploring-the-fascinating-history-of-dundas-toronto-from-its-early-beginnings-to-its-modern-day-charm.
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