As part of its revitalization plan, the Centretown BIA could see its boundaries expand to include 300 businesses by the new year.
SabriNa Lemay, executive director of the Centretown BIA, told OBJ that the BIA started discussing expansion plans in 2020, when a greater need for its services became apparent.
“When the pandemic (and) the (Freedom Convoy) occupation took place, we recognized there were a lot of members that didn’t get the services that they needed,” she said. “We saw a missing link. We were supporting non-members in our area (because) they are a part of the Centretown (community.) They didn’t get all the perks and benefits that members normally would get but we were still supporting them in terms of visibility to get them back on their feet.”
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With its new boundaries, the BIA would continue to help businesses in the community, helping them to better benefit from things such as street beautification and marketing.
The proposed boundaries, effective Jan. 1, would expand west up to Bronson Avenue and east stopping at Elgin Street. The north and south boundaries would remain unchanged, spanning from Queen Street to Catherine Street and Hwy. 417.
According to a press release from the BIA, the proposed expansion “reflects a shared vision for a more vibrant, inclusive, and prosperous Centretown, and positions the BIA to better advocate for and support local economic growth and neighbourhood revitalization.”
“As chair of the Centretown BIA and a proud business owner in our community, I’m thrilled about the opportunity this boundary expansion brings,” Michael Wallack, board chair of the Centretown BIA, said in the release. “This growth will unite more of our neighbourhood’s diverse businesses under one collective voice, strengthening our ability to advocate, promote, and beautify our entire area.”
Lemay said she hopes the inclusion of more businesses will help drive more traffic to the area.
“As soon as you expand, you have more opportunities for businesses to join your board. The vision of the BIA, its creativity and tourism, only gets better for the area as a whole,” Lemay said, adding that she hopes that, with the expansion, the area will become more of a destination.
“These other businesses, residents (and) property owners are already so much a part of the vibrancy of this area. We’re better together,” she said.
The expansion is one step in the BIA’s revitalization plan, which also includes street beautification, promotion and advocacy.
The BIA recently created Uncommon, an events space at Snider Plaza, and Street Seats, event spaces on Florence, McLaren and Frank streets, which Lemay said will be key to the revitalization plans of Centretown and the downtown core in general.
“I think it means evolution and bringing life back into Centretown. It’s change. It’s evolution. It’s instilling hope, which I think is something that our businesses need more than anything,” she told OBJ in June.
The Ottawa Board of Trade launched a downtown revitalization plan in May 2024, with a 60-step plan including creating more jobs, adding more residents and establishing a business incubator district.
Lemay said the Centretown BIA is working in tandem with OBOT’s plan for the greater downtown area.
“It is all about revitalizing our downtown and bringing tourism down here. If nobody’s marketing the area, it’s kind of a ghost zone and there’s no beautification or public realm. Now we have the ability to work with our community associations and service those areas better,” she said.
This won’t be the first time that the BIA has undergone a major change. In 2023, it changed its name from Bank Street BIA to Centretown BIA and expanded to include businesses on Somerset Street, Gladstone Avenue, Flora Street, Laurier Avenue, Albert Street, Arlington Avenue, Catherine Street, Kent Street and O’Connor Street.
Earlier this year, nearby Sparks Street BIA underwent a similar rebranding, changing its name to Downtown BIA and expanding its footprint west to Bay Street, south to Laurier Avenue West, east to Metcalfe Street, and along the west side of Elgin Street north of Slater Street.
