Nearly three years after the pandemic hit, activity in London, Ont.,’s downtown core is at about 79 per cent of its pre-pandemic levels, making it the leader among all Canadian cities and 13th overall in North America, according to a new update to a study called “Death of Downtown?”
The research was co-produced by the University of Toronto and the University of California, Berkley. Researchers used cell phone data to infer the position of users when they stopped at places such as retail stores, public parks, workplaces and restaurants in 62 cities from June to November 2022 and compared it to the same time frame in 2019.
The new data suggests activity in London’s core has returned to 79 per cent of its pre-pandemic levels — the highest in Canada and 13th overall across the continent, ahead of such cities as Las Vegas, New York, Ottawa, Toronto and San Francisco.
London’s strong showing was a “surprise,” according to Karen Chapple, a professor emerita in geography and the director of the University of Toronto’s School of Cities, who visited the city’s core to see for herself what was behind the robust turnaround.
London’s economy ‘is not very sexy at all’
“London, oddly, was very lucky that it didn’t rely on professional services and tech employment. So London has an economy that is not very sexy at all, and that has made it very resilient. It’s very ironic.”
A large number of single-family homes close to the downtown and 500 units in new residential towers that have recently come online have helped propel activity in the core to levels higher than most cities in the country, according to the study. (Colin Butler/CBC News)
Instead, Chapple said, London has construction work in the form of three or four residential highrises taking shape on the city’s downtown skyline, a vibrant retail sector and healthcare workers downtown.
Those sectors, in combination with a large number of single-family homes close to the downtown and 500 units in new residential towers, have helped propel activity in the core to levels higher than most cities in the country, she said.
“This has been decades in the making and likely not pandemic-induced,” she said.
Unlike commercial real estate reports, Chapple said, the study is far broader in scope, measuring where and when cell phone users stop in the downtown, whether at work or play.
“We’re measuring activity overall, not just office space, so all workers of all types, and we’re measuring visitors walking around and residents,” she said. “I think our study is a bigger picture view of activity downtown, and it gives me a little more hope.”
Study doesn’t measure homelessness, crime
Homelessness, addiction and crime are also issues in downtown London, but not something the study looked at specifically, Chapple said, adding the presence of social problems in a central business district seems to have little effect on whether a city successfully revives its downtown or not.
Homelessness, addiction and crime are also issues in downtown London, but not something the study looked at specifically, Chapple said. (Colin Butler/CBC News)
“If we did get that data, I don’t think we would see a strong correlation.”
“If you look at homelessness and crime, you see they can be high in cities that came back, and they can be high in cities that didn’t come back,” noting Baltimore, San Francisco, and New York are but a few examples.
Barbara Maly, the executive director of the London Downtown BIA, said part of what makes downtown so resilient is the number of “anchors” downtown, such as the Grand Theatre, Budweiser Gardens, the Covent Garden Market and the eclectic shops and restaurants along Dundas Place or Richmond Row that make downtown a destination.
“We’ve definitely seen a strong return,” she said. “I think because of that diversity, because of those anchors and community spots, I think that’s where we’ve benefited.”
OTTAWA – The parliamentary budget officer says the federal government likely failed to keep its deficit below its promised $40 billion cap in the last fiscal year.
However the PBO also projects in its latest economic and fiscal outlook today that weak economic growth this year will begin to rebound in 2025.
The budget watchdog estimates in its report that the federal government posted a $46.8 billion deficit for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland pledged a year ago to keep the deficit capped at $40 billion and in her spring budget said the deficit for 2023-24 stayed in line with that promise.
The final tally of the last year’s deficit will be confirmed when the government publishes its annual public accounts report this fall.
The PBO says economic growth will remain tepid this year but will rebound in 2025 as the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts stimulate spending and business investment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says the level of food insecurity increased in 2022 as inflation hit peak levels.
In a report using data from the Canadian community health survey, the agency says 15.6 per cent of households experienced some level of food insecurity in 2022 after being relatively stable from 2017 to 2021.
The reading was up from 9.6 per cent in 2017 and 11.6 per cent in 2018.
Statistics Canada says the prevalence of household food insecurity was slightly lower and stable during the pandemic years as it fell to 8.5 per cent in the fall of 2020 and 9.1 per cent in 2021.
In addition to an increase in the prevalence of food insecurity in 2022, the agency says there was an increase in the severity as more households reported moderate or severe food insecurity.
It also noted an increase in the number of Canadians living in moderately or severely food insecure households was also seen in the Canadian income survey data collected in the first half of 2023.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct 16, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales in August fell to their lowest level since January 2022 as sales in the primary metal and petroleum and coal product subsectors fell.
The agency says manufacturing sales fell 1.3 per cent to $69.4 billion in August, after rising 1.1 per cent in July.
The drop came as sales in the primary metal subsector dropped 6.4 per cent to $5.3 billion in August, on lower prices and lower volumes.
Sales in the petroleum and coal product subsector fell 3.7 per cent to $7.8 billion in August on lower prices.
Meanwhile, sales of aerospace products and parts rose 7.3 per cent to $2.7 billion in August and wood product sales increased 3.8 per cent to $3.1 billion.
Overall manufacturing sales in constant dollars fell 0.8 per cent in August.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.
