Vision
Founded as the Queens Quay Harbourfront Business Improvement Area (BIA) in 2006, the organization now operating as the Waterfront BIA is an agency of the City of Toronto. The vision for the waterfront is to support the development of its fast-developing area as a premier destination that it hopes will be known around the world. We do this by supporting the local business, engaging the community and unifying the Waterfront for all. It is a neighbourhood that is vibrant, diverse and offers something for everyone.
Brand
At right, logo evolution has reflected the growth of its neighbourhood. Founded by primarily tourism-focused businesses around a central hub at the Harbourfront Centre, a new logo in 2009 reflecting a growth in thinking about the area as a broader vision of a de-industrialized and mixed-use neighbourhood was emerging. The BIA had started thinking about its place in a much larger neighbourhood under development that has now added 20,000 new residents and 20,000 new office workers since 2009.
The two most recent logos were created by member businesses. In 2009, McCann Canada was a tenant in the area and worked with the BIA on a brand strategy highlighting that the business community should expand its representation to the broader neighbourhood and its business community beyond the original tourism community that had formed it. In 2020, following a boundary expansion to include the area east of Yonge Street for the first time, an exciting new tenant HxOUSE and Influencers PR located in the Daniels Waterfront City of the Arts building worked with the BIA on a re-brand incorporating the famous umbrellas from HTO Park and Sugar Beach. Slits in the umbrellas reference sails from the 2006 logo.
Functionality
One of the key aspects of our work is to improve the functionality of this very long, but narrow strip by creating zones for different activities and fostering the connection with the downtown core to the north. The BIA uses design and creative interventions to tackle core challenges facing its business community, including the difficulty of encouraging east-west connectivity and north-south connectivity with the rest of the city. With kilometres of new parks and water’s edge experiences added outside the core of the ferry terminal Harbourfront Centre to extend the full length of the 4km long Queens Quay. And the challenge of encouraging visitors to leave downtown and go south, which includes going under the not-so-welcoming Gardiner Expressway.
A challenge on east-west connectivity had been that entities on the waterfront emerged without working together and had a legacy of limited wayfinding signage encouraging cross-visitation. The BIA takes every opportunity to expand, support or supplement existing wayfinding. This includes maximizing the number of TO360 (Steer’s Design for Movement Team) wayfinding posts by cost-sharing with the City of Toronto, partnering with Waterfront Toronto and the City to design and utilize additional wayfinding elements. In 2024, the BIA added a Queens Quay-specific wayfinding pilot it calls ‘Oliver180,’ named because it was developed by the BIA’s Operations Director Oliver Hierlihy and only points east-west. The BIA measures use of the signage posts by tracking QR code usage, including for ‘Washrooms.’
To address the ‘north-south connection problem,’ the challenge of attracting visitors to its increasingly beautiful waterfront requiring a walk under a highway, ‘Waterfront ReConnect’ underpass enhancements were developed.
Following the creation of The Bentway Conservancy and its park under the highway, the Waterfront BIA engaged the same designers of that concept, Ken Greenberg and PUBLIC WORK, to design pilot underpass intersection enhancements. A first project was completed in 2019, with three additional intersections completed in 2023, including the design at right: ‘Boom Town,’ by 5468796 Architecture Inc. and Office In Search Of. These projects are now closely partnered with The Bentway and the City of Toronto, and the BIA continues to advocate for permanent enhancements at these north-south intersections as the Under Gardiner Public Realm Plan is built out following the Gardiner Expressway’s rehabilitation currently underway.
As a small organization in an exciting neighbourhood with significant opportunities emerging, a measurement of success for the BIA has been where it can add ‘follow on’ improvements by using its small budgets to encourage and promote others to invest in key projects that will make the largest impact. Below, an opportunity to represent the Queer history of the Hanlan’s Point beach on the Toronto Islands emerged from an artist, Travis Myers, and the ‘world’s longest rainbow walk’ was painted with a contribution by the Waterfront BIA that was then matched and exceeded by other supporters.
Below, another opportunity during the pandemic emerged to create a monument recognizing Terry Fox in a waterfront park. With a contribution to the philanthropic group who had designed the project, and some key introductions to area partners who could expedite the construction, 'We Are Shaped by the Obstacles We Face,' an installation designed by Jon Sasaki and DTAH was located in the BIA’s area. Made up of three granite blocks, viewed from a specific point, the negative space shows a silhouette of Terry Fox overcoming his obstacles. A statue at the beginning of the trail through the granite shows Terry Fox at the beginning of his journey, with his legs both intact.
Environment
The BIA is actively involved in advocating for the East LRT along Queens Quay East, which will be soon occupied by thousands of new residents and businesses. This new transit connection would reduce CO2 emissions, traffic congestion and facilitates a fast, convenient and reliable mode of transportation. Through our Clean Streets Team we keep the walkways and buildings clean from rubbish, spray paint or overflowing garbage bins. The Waterfront BIA coordinates with other downtown BIAs to advocate for acceleration of stormwater management initiatives that would alleviate risk of flooding during high water-level years. We have also sponsored the installation of SeaBins that remove plastic and other litter from the lake, almost like a vacuum cleaner.
Well-being
A desire to improve and inspire through design elements extends to its policy and advocacy work as well to improve the health and well-being of the neighbourhood, the businesses, the residents and visitors for the future. A considerable amount of our budget is used for art interventions big and small, from sidewalk paintings to artist residencies and annual events like the Redpath Waterfront Festival. Therefore, beautifying goes way beyond flowerpots and clean streets, but everything has to be considered at the same time. To get past immediate and near-term concerns in a fast-growing neighbourhood – construction, traffic, not-in-my-backyard concerns about exciting projects – the Waterfront BIA is always looking for interesting ways to represent the growth and number of ambitious projects that will be possible in the future. Recent work includes a ‘Waterfront Symposium’ and report on the long-term potential of Toronto’s waterfront once fully built-out (at right) with the Toronto Region Board of Trade, another new tenant that recently moved into the waterfront’s business community.
