Towards thriving and resilient public markets across Toronto

Combining historical research on municipal and private food provisioning with an exploration of how traditional public markets contribute to sustainability, social vibrancy, economic prosperity, and political support.

Learn more about this research project

Read below for a description of the different components of this public market research project. The links below will be populated and change over time, please revisit from time to time.

Market form & function

Examine literature on public markets from academic, community, industry, media, and policy sources

Toronto market history

An inventory of market infrastructure, organization, and governance in Toronto

Focus groups & interviews

We will be conducting interviews with market managers, city staff, city councillors. We will also be conducting focus groups with market vendors and market users. If you are a market vendor or market user, sign up here.

Online survey

Our survey related to market use, benefits, challenges, and future aspirations for public market infrastructure is available here.

Market outreach

We will be visiting markets across different neighbourhoods in Toronto throughout the fall. Look out for our banner and stop in to say hello and learn more about our project.

Research Team

This research project is led by Dr. Ken MacDonald with additional research support provided by Mike Lawler

Ken MacDonald

Professor MacDonald teaches in the Dept. of Geography and Program in Planning at the University of Toronto. He is also core faculty in two interdisciplinary programs: the Centre for Critical Development Studies and the Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies.

Mike Lawler

Mike Lawler has managed multiple farmers’ markets throughout Toronto, led international experiential education programs, cooked professionally, led historical food tours, and been involved with a range of NGOs and community organizations. He is currently completing a PhD in Geography at the University of Toronto.

Take our survey now

Contribute to building strong and diverse public markets in Toronto