Toronto’s waterfront is entering a period of growth that could change how people experience the area, as new transit, parks, attractions, development and commercial activity gradually connect destinations that were once largely separate.
That evolution is prompting the Waterfront Business Improvement Area (BIA) to rethink how events and programming fit into the district. Its newly released Waterfront Events and Activations Review looks at opportunities through 2035, including major destination events, recurring programming and more activity in the spaces between established attractions. The strategy also considers how increased visitation can reach businesses across the waterfront rather than remaining concentrated around individual event sites.
“Toronto’s conversations about the waterfront have historically been about one thing or another because the major destinations really have been separate, whether it’s the Toronto Islands, Harbourfront Centre or Ontario Place,” said Tim Kocur, Executive Director of the Waterfront BIA. “But the waterfront has filled in and grown so much with new parks, more residents and businesses. It’s important now to zoom out around those major attractions and look at the whole system of locations and the connections between them.”
The BIA describes an emerging “waterfront city” extending from Ontario Place and Exhibition Place through the central waterfront and east toward the Port Lands. Parks, Harbourfront Centre, Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, the ferry terminal, cultural institutions, businesses and future development sites are increasingly part of the same waterfront corridor.
The Events and Activations Review was developed following consultation with more than 60 businesses, stakeholders and event programmers. The BIA wanted to understand how continued growth could support programming and where the organization could have the greatest impact.
“Our main takeaway as we went through this exercise was just how exciting the future will be, given the enthusiasm and clever ideas that so many programmers and local stakeholders have,” Kocur said.
He expects the BIA will need to revisit its role every few years as the waterfront develops, particularly as opportunities emerge for larger events, new concepts and off-season programming. There is also room for smaller recurring events that can bring activity to locations between the waterfront’s major attractions.
A More Coordinated Approach to Waterfront Events
The review recommends a more selective approach to direct event sponsorship, with greater emphasis on major draws, community programming and events involving multiple waterfront partners. The BIA also sees a larger role for itself in bringing stakeholders together, helping organizers understand locations and approvals, and supporting efforts to attract programming to the waterfront.
HTO Park and the Sugar Beach/Water’s Edge Promenade area are among the locations identified for more regular markets and events. The review recommends pursuing appropriate events drawing more than 10,000 people in these “gap areas,” alongside larger destination events capable of attracting more than 50,000 attendees.
Getting people to move between those destinations has direct implications for businesses along Queens Quay. Kocur said a survey conducted toward the end of the FIFA World Cup period found that about half of streetfront businesses along Queens Quay reported direct benefits from the additional visitors and activity. Businesses farther from the major events and fan zones were less likely to report the same impact.
“That’s why we’re always emphasizing the need to find ways to ‘fill the gaps’ with additional programming and improve things like wayfinding between major attractions,” he said. “We typically see east-west exploration on Queens Quay as our highest measurement of success, so new visitation drawn here has the potential to benefit as many businesses as possible.”
The Events Review acknowledges that large crowds do not necessarily translate into stronger sales for surrounding businesses. Weekend events may have limited impact on businesses serving office workers, for example, while food vendors at an event can compete with nearby restaurants. The BIA is looking at pedestrian movement, visitor spending, business feedback and other measures as it evaluates the economic impact of programming.
There are also practical ways to make stronger connections between events and businesses, including incorporating nearby restaurants into event promotions and making local business information more visible to visitors. Kocur said businesses in the eastern waterfront have shown particular interest in working together on local programming, and the BIA plans to bring potential partners in that area together more regularly.
New Data Provides a Closer Look at Waterfront Visitors
The BIA has also released an updated Area Data Package covering pedestrian counts, visitation, visitor profiles, employment, transportation, tourism and resident demographics.
Environics MobileScapes data included in the package recorded approximately 74.3 million visit events to the waterfront during 2025. These are visits rather than unique individuals, so the same person may account for multiple visits during the year. The dataset covers visitors from Canada.
The BIA’s pedestrian counters provide another measure of activity. On June 20, 2026, the combined York, Rees and Lower Spadina counters recorded 68,077 east-west pedestrian and cyclist movements, the busiest measured day during the first half of the year. The date coincided with the start of Summer Music in the Garden and a FIFA match in Toronto. Other high-traffic days coincided with the FIFA period, Victoria Day weekend and Festival of Flavours, and the Dragon Boat Festival.
Dorsa Alizadeh-Shabani, Manager of Operations at the Waterfront BIA, said the data is intended to help businesses understand what is happening around them and who their customers are.
“The purpose of the data package is mainly to help our member businesses understand trends in foot traffic and the spending habits of visitors and residents,” she said. “We hope it gives business owners more insight into their customers and clients so they can better cater to them.”
The information also gives prospective operators another tool when assessing the area.
“It helps a future business owner decide whether the waterfront is the best place for the type of business they’re planning to operate,” Alizadeh-Shabani said. “It also gives prospective businesses a chance to see the type of data the BIA provides to its members as a complimentary service.”
Eastern Waterfront Expected to Evolve With Transit and Quayside
The relationship between development, commercial activity and programming is particularly visible in the eastern waterfront, where large areas are still being built out.
The BIA’s July 2026 Broker Package reports a commercial vacancy rate of 13.3 per cent across the waterfront. Vacancy was approximately eight per cent in the western waterfront and seven per cent centrally, compared with 27 per cent in the east. The report also notes that redevelopment has affected commercial inventory, including the removal of occupied and vacant units at major redevelopment sites.
Alizadeh-Shabani said the eastern waterfront remains a relatively new neighbourhood compared with more established parts of Toronto, and its commercial market is still developing.
“With the new Waterfront East Rapid Transit Line being funded, we are one step closer to creating a more complete neighbourhood,” she said.
The transit project will extend higher-order transit through the eastern waterfront to Ookwemin Minising, with a dedicated surface right-of-way along Queens Quay East and onward through Cherry and Commissioners streets. The project is jointly funded by the municipal, provincial and federal governments.
Quayside will add another major piece to the area as development progresses. A new Toronto Public Library branch has been approved for the development and is expected to become an important community use at street level. Waterfront Toronto says it will be the first TPL branch on Toronto’s waterfront.
“This is particularly exciting because a community-use establishment like the Toronto Public Library can generate year-round visitation,” Alizadeh-Shabani said. “We’re optimistic that nearby businesses will feel the effects as well once the library has moved into the community.”
The Events Review identifies Queens Quay East as an area where activation will become increasingly important as development continues. Sugar Beach and Water’s Edge Promenade are identified as priority event areas, while the BIA expects to work more closely with businesses, residents, George Brown Polytechnic and other eastern waterfront stakeholders on recurring programming.
Looking Toward a Seven-Kilometre Waterfront
By 2035, Kocur sees the potential for a much more connected waterfront, with streetcar service linking destinations from the western waterfront through Queens Quay and into Ookwemin Minising. His broader vision is for events that can sometimes operate across much larger sections of the waterfront.
“Along the way, we think there will be at least a few times per year when there are waterfront-wide and multi-week signature events, the kind of events that are large and exciting enough to attract international visitors,” Kocur said.
One model frequently discussed by the BIA is Vivid Sydney, the annual light, music and cultural festival that extends for kilometres along Sydney Harbour during the Australian city’s shoulder season.
“We always talk about Vivid Sydney, where they have seven kilometres of programming for three straight weekends in their fall, as a model,” Kocur said. “That scale is certainly possible here if all the partners and attractions keep working together and thinking bigger each year.”
The Events Review notes that programming at that scale requires significant government investment and corporate sponsorship. Vivid Sydney is cited alongside Montreal’s Quartier des Spectacles as an example of sustained investment being used to build major event destinations and increase shoulder-season visitation.
Smaller and more frequent programming would continue alongside those larger events. Kocur sees opportunities for recurring weekend markets at HTO Park and Sugar Beach, weekday events for office workers, and neighbourhood programming for residents, families and children.
“A major goal for us is to get better at doing smaller events in an appropriate and consistent way,” he said, adding that some programming could be as specific as events for children or dog owners in smaller parks at the right times of year.
The Events Review recognizes that the waterfront is also home to a growing residential population, requiring programming to be balanced with the everyday use of parks and public spaces.
Alizadeh-Shabani said the BIA welcomes ideas from retailers, restaurants, property owners, event organizers and other members of the waterfront business community. It also holds dedicated discussions with some of the area’s more specialized operators, including boat operators and businesses on the Toronto Islands.
“We’re always open to new ideas and a chance to get to know our business members on a more personal level and offer our support where we can,” she said. “We also appreciate opportunities to talk about what our team is already doing and where we can improve, as long as it’s within our mandate of supporting businesses, engaging the community and unifying the waterfront.”
As development continues, the Events and Activations Review puts increasing attention on the spaces and connections between Toronto’s established waterfront destinations. New transit, parks, housing, workplaces and commercial spaces will bring more people into those areas, while events and recurring programming can give them additional reasons to move between them and return throughout the year.
For the Waterfront BIA, the coming decade will be about finding the right programming for those places, from neighbourhood markets and weekday events to waterfront-wide attractions capable of drawing international visitors.
See more: Waterfront Events and Activations Review
