Hi friend,
This week's story comes from the heart of Little Italy, and it is about someone whose life shaped the Toronto we know today.
You may have walked past his statue on College Street without realizing that he quietly transformed Canadian media, community life, and how newcomers find their voice here.
His name was Johnny Lombardi, and his journey holds a powerful life lesson for all of us: start by serving your neighbours and your legacy will grow from there.
Johnny never set out to become a national figure. He simply kept asking one question:
“What does my community need?”
That question, asked consistently over a lifetime, changed Toronto.
Johnny Lombardi was born in 1915 in Toronto, the son of Italian immigrants who had settled around College Street.
Like many second-generation Canadians, he learned early what it meant to help your neighbours because neighbours were your safety net.
Lombardi served overseas in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands during the Second World War.
Those years deepened his sense of civic duty and strengthened his belief in communities supporting one another.
Returning home, he opened a grocery store in Toronto's Little Italy neighbourhood. It became one of the few local shops where families of Italian background could find the specialty foods they missed from home.
Customers did not just come for groceries. They came to connect, ask questions, and find a sense of belonging.
To promote his shop, Johnny bought short weekend segments on local stations such as CHUM and CKFH.
There he played Italian music, made announcements, and spoke directly to Toronto’s growing immigrant population.
The response was overwhelming. He had tapped into something powerful: people wanted to hear their language and their lives reflected back to them.
In 1966, broadcasting out of a studio above his supermarket at 637 College Street, he launched CHIN Radio, Canada’s first multicultural and multilingual radio station.
A year later he launched CHIN-FM.
By the early 1970s, CHIN was broadcasting in more than 30 languages, giving a platform to cultural communities that had been largely ignored by mainstream media.
This was more than radio.
It was representation and belonging.
It was the beginning of multicultural broadcasting in Canada, long before the idea became national policy.
Johnny used CHIN to promote concerts, festivals, cultural events, and community causes. He became known affectionately as the “mayor of Little Italy.”
After his passing in 2002, he was memorialized in Little Italy with:
- Piazza Johnny Lombardi, a public square and bronze statue at College and Grace; and
- Johnny Lombardi Way, a designated section of College Street.
His legacy continues through the annual CHIN Picnic and through CHIN’s ongoing multicultural programming.
Johnny’s life reminds us that big change begins with small and consistent acts of service.
Three Practical Things You Can Do:
- Join the Little Italy Historical Tour
Come see Piazza Johnny Lombardi with us in person and hear deeper stories about the neighbourhood. Reserve your spot.
- Visit Piazza Johnny Lombardi
Take a moment at the South West corner of College St. and Grace St. to read the plaque and statue inscription. Reflect on what it means to turn a small family business into a city-shaping legacy.
- Support a Local Shop in Your Neighbourhood
Choose one independent business in your neighbourhood this month and support it. Your purchase keeps the area vibrant and community-focused, which reflects exactly the kind of local ecosystem Johnny helped cultivate in his community.
Thank you for being part of this community of people who learn, reflect, and grow together every week.
Until next time,
Alex Rășcanu
P.S. If you'd like to read the past life lessons-focused e-newsletters, you can find them here.
P.P.S. On top of the monthly #ExperienceTO historical tours, we can now stay in touch via the virtual #LeadershipBookClub as well.
