Toronto’s Chinese Cultural Centre is the latest community institution to receive renovation funding from the federal and provincial governments.

The centre will receive more than $5 million in combined funding from both governments, and provide $1.8 million of its own money to fund construction of several upgrades. The project scope of work calls for increasing the existing service space and expanding accessibility to the Centre’s outdoor and indoor program and activity areas.

Additional work includes expanding and remodeling the open yard into a new outdoor garden and an indoor multipurpose space, upgrading the audio-visual, sound, and lighting systems in the front foyer, remodelling the current library space into a multipurpose resource centre, and improving the 626-seat theatre and multipurpose hall with new audio-visual and lighting systems.

"The Chinese Cultural Centre (CCC) of Greater Toronto continues to appreciate the unwavering support from the federal and provincial governments with this generous funding,” said CCC board chair Alan Lam. “Not only will the CCC be able to do some much needed technological and accessibility improvements to its existing facilities that have served so many, now we will be able to finally realize the dream of an Asian Garden. This garden will be as functional as symbolic, highlighting plant biodiversity, creating pathways for meditation, and serve as an educational opportunity in a natural setting. Most notably, it can serve as a representation of the continued symbiosis of Chinese Canadians in this country for generations to come."

Over the next 10 years, the federal and provincial governments plan to invest approximately $727 million under the Community, Culture and Recreation Infrastructure Stream of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.

The stream supports the construction of new facilities and upgrades to existing facilities that improve community infrastructure (community centres, libraries), recreational venues (arenas, recreational spaces) and cultural spaces (theatres, museums).