BIA governance

A Business Improvement Area (BIA) is a municipally designated area in which all of the businesses located within the BIA are automatically deemed to be members. The very first BIA was created in the City of Toronto, which now has 65 BIAs within its boundaries and the model has been seen as an example of how small businesses and municipal governments can work together for each others benefit.

The function of a BIA is simply to promote the BIA and beautify the BIA.

The geographical area of a BIA is determined by the Municipality, in our case the City of Markham, and is governed by the Province of Ontario’s Municipal Act. In the case of the Markham Village BIA, the BIA starts at Highway 7 north to just above 144 Main St. N and includes the side streets (Centre St., Robinson St. and the west side of Washington St.). Every building owner within this designated area pays a special tax levy based on their property assessment that is used to fund all of the activities of the BIA. The BIA is managed by a volunteer Board of Management comprised of BIA members (owners and/or renters).

The Markham Village BIA currently has approximately 165 members. These include all the retail stores, as well as all the businesses on Main Street Markham and side streets.