Cultural resources and ethnic entrepreneurship: A chase study of the Portuguese real estate industry in Toronto

The Portuguese community in Toronto is to a large degree a self-sufficient one. Over the last four decades, they have constructed a thriving, complex community, setting up organizations, businesses and communication-information services in their own language.;The purpose of this paper is to examine the Portuguese real estate industry in Toronto. The study will be focused on community resources such as networks of kinship/friendship and community ties, and how these resources contribute to the formation, maintenance, and success of Portuguese-owned real estate businesses. Data were obtained primarily from a questionnaire survey that was administered to Portuguese brokers (owners of real estate agencies) who were members of the Toronto Real Estate Board. Data collected from the questionnaire survey indicate that Portuguese real estate brokers rely to a large degree on their own community ('ethnic') resources - Portuguese friends, the media, and relatives - in starting and/or operating their current businesses. Within this context, Portuguese friends occupy a central role as an important source in providing business contacts. Real estate agencies owned by Portuguese brokers are community oriented. Portuguese customers, business location within/near to the community, and a good reputation with Portuguese clients and the community were noted by Portuguese brokers as the major factors contributing to the economic success of their businesses. Although relatively little research has been conducted in Canada on ethnic entrepreneurship, we can speculate that the main characteristic of the Portuguese real estate business - a heavy reliance on 'community resources' in serving a geographically segregated co-ethnic market is common among Southern Mediterranean immigrant groups in Canada. Further comparative studies in this area would enhance our understanding of the complexities of ethnic entrepreneurship.