Visits to the ByWard Market exceeded pre-pandemic benchmarks in seven of 12 months last year, according to new data from the ByWard Market District Authority. In its 2025 annual report released last week, the BMDA said the area recorded 25,571,844 visits in 2025, 3.5 million or 16 per cent more visits than in 2024. Last […]
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Visits to the ByWard Market exceeded pre-pandemic benchmarks in seven of 12 months last year, according to new data from the ByWard Market District Authority.
In its 2025 annual report released last week, the BMDA said the area recorded 25,571,844 visits in 2025, 3.5 million or 16 per cent more visits than in 2024. Last year proved to be “the strongest single-year recovery the district has recorded,” the report said.
In July 2025, the BMDA was already showing that attendance to the Market was strong. The area saw an estimated 49,358 visitors during the 12-hour Canada Day programming window and over the full 24-hour period on July 1, 2025, the area recorded 116,422 visits and 70,965 unique visitors.
At the time, July 1, 2019 remained the benchmark at 138,401 visits, but the 2025 numbers reflected an area steadily regaining its stride. June 2025 visitations surpassed 2019 levels and the second quarter finished nearly one million visits higher than the same quarter in 2019, before the COVID-19 crisis upended the tourism industry.
Collected through Environics, the data differentiates between “visits” and “visitors.” “Visits” refer to the total number of times individuals entered the area, meaning a single person could be counted more than once. “Visitors” are only counted once, showing the number of unique individuals in the area.
The increase in attendance could be attributed to the increase in events in the Market. In 2025, the Market recorded 271 events, festivals and markets, up 36 per cent from 200 in 2024, over 181 days of programming.
“An ‘event’ spans a wide range, from a small pop-up market or a single busker activation to a multiday festival drawing tens of thousands. Across 2025, that activity ranged from 231 community events and 68 community markets to 56 entertainment activations, keeping the district busy throughout the year,” the BMDA said in the report.
With more people coming to the area, the BMDA, in partnership with the City of Ottawa’s Nightlife Office, debuted the night ambassador program to improve safety in the Market on Friday and Saturday nights from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. The program ran from June 27 until Oct. 31.
Over the course of its first year, the program resulted in 735 interactions, supporting 1,519 individuals through wayfinding, hospitality and connections to services. The report said one in 10 interactions were directed to harm reduction as the ambassadors de-escalated 40 aggression or conflict situations with the support of Ottawa Police Services.
In early June 2025, the city announced $35,000 in funding for the program, which was delivered for $32,833.
“Building on the pilot’s success, the BMDA has secured a year two funding agreement — the final year of the city’s dedicated program funding — and the program will be expanded in 2026, supported by additional city investment in a larger district safety program,” the BMDA said in the report.
At the halfway point of the program last September, Nasr Nasr, owner of Juice Dudez, which has a location on Clarence Street, said he had seen an increase in foot traffic during the summer of 2025.
“We’ve had a great summer and I’m sure (the ambassadors) had a big impact on that,” Nasr told OBJ then. “We didn’t see as much trouble as we used to see in the Market. It’s making a difference.”
Nasr added that by making the Market safer, it’s making the area a more attractive destination for visitors.
“The less trouble in the Market, the better it is for business. People feel safer and are more likely to come back to the Market,” he said.
With foot traffic levels reaching pre-pandemic levels, Alex Sirois, managing partner of Ottawa Venues, the company that operates ByWard Markets spots such as Lowertown Brewery and Sky Lounge, told OBJ last September that a change in the makeup of businesses had also impacted the Market’s “vibe” after dark.
“The businesses down there have changed a lot. There are fewer nightclubs than there used to be and there’s more restaurants,” he said. “It’s great to see that the Market is alive again and that there’s so many different pieces coming together to make the Market as great as it always was.”
Mathieu Grondin, Ottawa’s nightlife commissioner, told OBJ last September that he had walked around the ByWard Market with the night ambassador team and local police and received positive feedback.
“Young people were happy to see people like them bringing a positive energy to the street … I would also like to see that type of project implemented elsewhere in nightlife hubs around town,” Grondin said at the time.
In 2025, the BMDA said its economic mandate was to “protect the operators already in the district, lower the barrier for the next ones and channel every dollar earned in the district back into it.”
With the BMDA’s public markets being “a low-cost, low-risk entry point to test an idea in front of real customers without the overhead of a permanent lease,” the BMDA supported 260 vendors in 2025, up 82 per cent from 2024, with two vendors opening permanent storefronts in the district.
The BMDA also presented the data from its first business census, carried out by Acacia Consulting & Research.
Of the 535 businesses in the area, 52 per cent have operated in the district for 10 or more years, with about a third opening in the last five years.
According to the census, 60 per cent of businesses in the Market believe the area is on the path to revitalization. Nightlife and entertainment businesses were even more optimistic, with 86 per cent saying they thought the Market was on the path to revitalization.
When looking ahead at 2026, the BMDA said it will focus on shifting to an operator-focused model, creating strategic investments and continuing the work it put in motion in 2025.
The BMDA said it operated in a “dual posture” by delivering district operations directly and funding third-party organizers last year. In 2026, major events in the Market will receive reduced direct financial support as resources are concentrated on the BMDA’s operations.
“Third-party organizers remain vital partners, but the BMDA’s role returns to what space brokers do best: coordination, logistics and district-level enabling rather than direct funding,” the BMDA said in the report. “This is not a retreat from animation; it is a rebalancing of how animation happens. Events draw visitors for a day; placemaking, safety and a well-kept public realm draw them every day. Resources redirected from event funding will be reinvested in the elements that animate the district year-round.”
With its 2026 budget set at $3.684 million, leaner than 2025’s $4.54 million, the BMDA said it reflects fewer dollars going to event underwriting and more resources concentrated on its operational core.
“Beyond the operating budget, the BMDA has secured an additional $800,000 from the City of Ottawa dedicated to placemaking in 2026, funding not reflected in the operating budget above. This dedicated investment directly advances the year’s placemaking priorities,” the authority said in the report.
The authority has already launched its vendor village, a restructured public market footprint, the ACE district and the ByWard Market Square beautification project in 2026. The rest of the year will focus on continuing these projects, getting ready for Ottawa’s bicentennial this fall and preparing for the Market’s bicentennial in 2027.
