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If your business is located within the boundaries of the Waterfront BIA, you are already a member, and our team is working hard on your behalf. You will find more of what falls under your membership benefits in the section below.
Our website’s business directory is another opportunity for your business. Contact our team if your business is within our BIA boundaries and you wish to be added.
AREA MARKET RESEARCH & DATA
We prepare area market research and data to help businesses learn more about the neighbourhood, how it functions and where they can thrive in the future. See our most recent pedestrian counts, area data research and waterfront commuter survey.
BUSINESS E-NEWSLETTERS
Our e-mail list for member businesses including importance updates for businesses, our most recent pedestrian counts, recent research we have available, and other updates about programs that may benefit your business. Contact our team to be added to our business member email list.
GRANT PROGRAMS
We can assist with services like Digital Main Street and other grant programs through our relationships with the City of Toronto Economic and Development Department and Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA).
NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES
Providing businesses with opportunities to connect and collaborate with one another with member breakfasts and consultations directly with key stakeholders.
PUBLIC ART, EVENTS AND 'HAPPENINGS'
Each year we bring public art, events and ‘happenings’ to the waterfront in partnership with a number of area stakeholders – Harbourfront Centre, Waterfront Toronto, Water’s Edge Festivals and Events, Winter Stations, Ireland Park Foundation, The Bentway and PortsToronto..
WATERFRONT FESTIVAL
The BIA helped to start the Waterfront Festival 10 years ago and you’ll remember the Canada Day festivities, the Rubber Duck and ‘Tall Ship’ like the Blue Nose II visiting in recent years.
OPEN REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
See our open request for proposals for activations and public art as we’re always ready to work with creative, innovative and even quirky artists and public space pioneers. Contact our team if you have exciting ideas about what we can bring to the waterfront soon.
WATERFRONT ARTIST-IN RESIDENCY PROGRAM
2021 is the first year of our Artist-In-Residence program in partnership with Waterfront Toronto and the City of Toronto. Our first artists, Black Speculative Arts Movement (BSAM) Toronto, have brought unique, diverse and creative black lived experiences to the waterfront through multiple activations.
CLEAN STREETS TEAM
WEEKLY REPORTING
Providing a memorable visitor experience means providing a clean experience, too. We’re proactive about identifying and finding solutions to on-street cleanliness issues because we care about this area. We have weekly reporting of damaged or deficient public realm assets, street poles, garbage overflows and other cleanliness issues. We report to 311, direct to City of Toronto departments and other agencies responsible. Contact our team if you’re noticing an issue in the area you’d like to see cleaned or fixed faster.
PARK INVESTMENTS
We add elements to parks where our investment can make a big difference. In future years we’ll have moveable furniture and animal sculptures added to Love Park, and the legacy project inspired by Terry Fox will add a new destination monument at Music Garden Park.
MALTING SILOS LIGHTING VISION
The BIA is developing a malting silos lighting vision with world-renowned projection mapping firm moment factory along with the City of Toronto and Ireland Park Foundation. The silos will be an opportunity in the near-future for another destination attraction along the water.
PLACEMAKING SIGNAGE
We’re responsive to the changes in the area and always looking for a way to help our businesses. You may still see our physical distancing stickers and we are open signage from COVID lockdowns.
STREET BANNERS
BIAs brand their neighbourhood with
Banners, including ours that you’ll see along Queens Quay.
A unified and collaborative business voice to multiple levels of government, including letters and submissions, research and reports. We are active in public consultations and directly with public leaders on issues such as the Waterfront East LRT, development planning, construction mitigation, parking management and others. Our goal is to support your businesses as part of a waterfront that continues to develop as a premier destination that is well-connected with the rest of the City.
To Improve north-south connections where people get to the water by going under the Gardiner, we developed the ‘Waterfront ReConnect’ Vision with Ken Greenberg and PUBLIC WORK. The vision is now a part of a Bentway-led plan to work with the City and area stakeholders to improve the under-Gardiner experience along the entire downtown corridor.
