Toronto city council could help save this former soy sauce factory with a heritage designation

Toronto city council is scheduled Wednesday to decide if a building with special significance to the Chinese community should be made a heritage property —  a designation that could prevent it from being torn down to make way for an apartment complex.

The two-storey structure at Queen Street East and Leslie Street was once home to Lee Food Products, which produced and distributed China Lily soy sauce — a staple in many Canadian pantries that even went on to become an essential part of Indigenous cuisine in B.C.

“It’s my family legacy,” said Christopher Wong, president of Lee Food Products.

“It’s really gratifying to know that we’re loved by so many people from coast to coast, that we’ve made it into their household and we’ve been loved by families through multiple generations.”

In 2020, the business moved to Scarborough after operating for more than seven decades at the Leslieville location. The abandoned building was purchased in November 2021.

The new owner wants to build an eight-storey rental complex with 126 units in its place. But the Toronto Preservation Board has recommended to city council that it be designated a heritage structure. If council green-lights the board’s proposal, it would give the city a greater say over maintenance, alterations or demolition on the property.

CBC Toronto reached out to the current owner of the property but was told he does not want to comment.

Chinatown historian Arlene Chan says the push to preserve the building under the Ontario Heritage Act is a significant one, not just for Toronto’s Chinese community but for the city as well.

“It’s very important to preserve our history and in this case, there’s actually a physical building,” Chan said.

“It just tears at me that so many important buildings across the city have been torn down, but I know that there’s more attempts to try to save buildings like this that tell so many stories in one site.”

Chan said Chinese residents faced many barriers at the time the company was established, including the Chinese Immigration Act, which was introduced in 1923 to severely limit the number of people who could immigrate here from China. The legislation wasn’t repealed until 1947.

“Known especially for their widely distributed China Lily brand of soy sauce, Lee’s company helped to popularize Chinese ingredients among Canadian households, beginning at a time when Chinese residents continued to face systemic barriers in many aspects of Canadian society,” the preservation board’s proposal reads.

More than 73 years in operation

In 1947, Yeat Lum Lee launched the Leslieville location, which at one point employed up to 50 people. Lee died in 1962 and handed over the operations to his family.

In 2013, Wong inherited the family business after his mother’s death. His father had died just five years earlier.

With a law degree and no siblings, he was determined to focus on family business and continue their legacy.

As a young child, Wong said he remembers the trips he would take with his parents to the factory in the 70s.

“My father would go into the office on a day-to-day basis. My mother would look after the books,” Wong said.

“I remember going to the factory as a young child and they were very good memories, it was very busy. I just remember going there and just feeling a sense of pride.”

Mary MacDonald, the senior manager with the city’s Heritage Preservation Services, said the former factory “embodies [an] important story in Chinese-Canadian history.

“While the role of historical architecture is generally understood, buildings of all designs and descriptions can help tell the story of our past,” MacDonald said in a statement to CBC Toronto.

“The historic preservation field has expanded in recent years to value ‘ordinary’ buildings that tell extraordinary stories, especially those that are of significance to racially and culturally diverse communities.”

The committee noted the redevelopment application submitted to the city does not include affordable housing units.

Coun. Paula Fletcher, who represents Toronto-Danforth, the ward where the building is located, says while the building carries cultural significance, it does not have architectural merit.

“The proposal is to designate the bricks and mortar of the building and recognize the cultural significance of the soy sauce factory, I think we all have had China Lily soy sauce,” Fletcher said.

“I don’t think there’s anything that is outstanding in the building that couldn’t be recognized through design features in the building [or] a plaque.”

Wong said the mere consideration of the former factory as a heritage site would have “humbled” his grandfather.

“I feel very gratified that the city is considering recognizing my grandfather’s contributions to the Chinese community, and Toronto in general as well,” Wong said.

“I always thought that we always flew under the radar.”