By 
TORONTO, ON — A public alleyway in Toronto’s Parkdale neighborhood was officially named “Foon Hay Lum Lane” on September 23, 2026, honoring the life of a Chinese Canadian matriarch and marking a historic acknowledgment of the community’s struggle against past discriminatory immigration policies.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, Foon Hay Lum’s granddaughter Helen Lee, Yee Hong Centre founder Dr. Joseph Wong, agency founder Justin Poy, alongside members of the Lum family and local community leaders, attended the unveiling ceremony at Spencer Avenue and Foon Hay Lum Lane.
The designated alleyway runs south of King Street West between Cowan Avenue and Spencer Avenue, directly behind the neighborhood where Lum lived and worked. The naming proposal was unanimously approved by the Toronto and East York Community Council on April 30, 2026. It marks the first time the city has named a public street after a female Chinese immigrant to memorialize the community’s civil rights movements.
Born in 1908, Lum endured decades of forced separation from her husband, Nam “Jack” Lum, who had arrived in Canada as a teenager and was subjected to the mandatory $500 Chinese Head Tax. The enforcement of the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923, commonly known as the Chinese Exclusion Act, effectively blocked Lum from joining her husband.
While trapped in China, Lum raised her children through wars, famine, and political upheaval. It was not until 1958—32 years after marrying—that the 50-year-old Lum was granted entry into Canada to reunite with her husband in Toronto. The family subsequently established roots in Parkdale, where Lum worked at Bing’s Restaurant on King Street West and resided on Cowan Avenue.
In her later years, Lum became an active advocate in the Chinese Canadian redress movement, seeking official recognition for the harm caused by institutional discrimination. On June 22, 2006, at age 98, Lum joined four generations of her family in Ottawa to hear then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper issue an official apology in the House of Commons for the Head Tax and the Exclusion Act.
Lum lived independently in her Parkdale home until age 107 before moving to a long-term care facility. She passed away in 2020 at the age of 111.
The street naming initiative was led by her granddaughter, Helen Lee, who aimed to preserve the memory of her grandmother’s resilience and civil rights contributions. Lum’s life story was also featured in the documentary Exclusion: Beyond the Silence, which explores the human toll of the Exclusion Act and the ongoing efforts by descendants to seek historical justice.
