In case you missed it, earlier this month the City of Toronto celebrated BIA Week from January 29th to February 2nd. This special celebration was held in honor of the city’s 82 BIA’s, with Toronto being the first city to initiate its own in 1970. Now more than 40 years later, this innovative business model has been replicated in urban areas all around the world. But what is a BIA and why are they so important in our community? Well luckily, we’re here to tell you all about it!
BIA stands for Business Improvement Area. Each district within the city has a BIA; an association of business individuals and property owners who join forces to share a common purpose – to improve the community’s economic and cultural dynamic. They are all about stimulating local business and promoting development within their district to reflect the needs and demands of its members.
courtesy: churchwellesleyvillage
On February 1st, the Kennedy Road BIA joined 57 of the 83 City of Toronto BIA’s at BIA Week at City Hall. Largely organized by the Toronto Association of BIA’s (TABIA), the event was met with support from Mayor John Tory who provided a warm welcome to all BIA representatives in attendance. Not only did this event help generate awareness of the importance of BIA’s within our community, but it also triggered some online social discussion on Twitter with trending hashtag #BIAWeek.
This truly was a great opportunity for all the city’s BIA’s to come together, display their work, stimulate positive discussion and showcase what makes each BIA so different. Thanks to the ongoing efforts of TABIA and the City of Toronto, BIA Week was a huge success and we look forward to seeing what this year has in store! We can assure you that the Kennedy Road BIA is more than honoured to be a recognized staple of our wonderful community.
