A Business Improvement Area (BIA) is an association of commercial or industrial property owners and tenants within a defined area who work in partnership with the City to create thriving, competitive, and safe business areas that attract shoppers, diners, tourists, and new businesses. By working collectively as a BIA, local businesses have the organizational and funding capacity to be catalysts for civic improvement, enhancing the quality of life in their local neighbourhood and the City as a whole.
Business Improvement Area (BIA) Office:
To find out if there is a BIA covering your area see the map on the City website.
Toronto has a total of 82 BIAs across this City, representing over 20,000 businesses - the largest number of BIAs in North America. They generate over $10,000,000 in funding towards street and sidewalk beautification, marketing and promotional campaigns, street festivals, clean street campaigns, and crime prevention strategies. BIAs also acts as a unified voice to address issues on behalf of their membership.
BIAs can contain less than 50 businesses or over 2000 businesses. In the beginning, a typical BIA consisted primarily of small retail businesses. Today's BIA membership is far more diverse. BIAs now represent a wide variety of businesses - professional and creative services, high-tech, light industrial, restaurants, entertainment, etc. Typically, BIAs consists of a strip along a single main street although some cover several blocks. Some identify with the ethnic makeup of their surrounding neighbourhoods. Others are located in historical sections of the City. And still, others are made up of related businesses. The only common denominator is a desire to enhance their business area and improve their community.
Commercial and industrial districts are not automatically designated as BIAs. It is up to the businesses and property owners in an area to establish a BIA.
Starting a BIA
The decision to start a BIA can only be made by the local business people and property owners. Steps to start a BIA are as follows:
The City of Toronto provides assistance to BIAs in:
The City also delivers such programs to BIAs as:
Once the budget is approved by the BIA members and ratified by City Council, funds are raised through a levy on all commercial and industrial properties within the BIA's boundary. Calculation of this levy is based on the proportionate value of each property's commercial and/or industrial assessment. Once the levy is collected by the City, the funds are returned to the BIA to manage.
Every business property owner is charged a share of the annual budget, based on that member's share of the BIA's total commercial realty assessment. For example: If a business's commercial realty assessment is $6,000, the total commercial realty assessment of all businesses in the BIA is $2,000,000, and the BIA's annual budget is $100,000, then that business's BIA levy is: $6,000 X $100,000 / $2,000,000 = $300
A BIA is run by a volunteer Board of Management elected from its members. The Board is nominated at an Annual General Meeting and, once approved and appointed by City Council, serves a four-year term concurrent with the term of Council. The Board works on behalf of its BIA and meets regularly to develop budgets, set priorities, implement capital improvements, plan festivals, and promote its business area.
BIA Operating Handbooks: available on the City's website.
Complaints about a BIA
The City works in partnership with the BIA and does not intervene in the management of the BIA. If you are not satisfied with the actions of the BIA Board members, please first communicate with the BIA Board of Management to attempt to resolve the issue, and then if not satisfied with the response, contact the City's BIA office. The City will not intervene on BIA Board of Management decisions; however, if there are BIA Board members acting in an inappropriate manner, the City's Community Councils can change the BIA Board of Management members.
BIA events
Refer to the TABIA events calendar for a listing of BIA events. The calendar is available on the TABIA website.
Bloordale Village Business Improvement Area (BIA) has recently had an expansion. City Council approved expansion.