The Value of Investing in Canadian Downtowns - International ...

These data sets also help us see how successful downtowns have been at attracting residential growth. Winnipeg,
Ottawa, Saskatoon and Victoria have seen a recent residential influx, yet residential land uses still only occupies a
smaller area of the core (under 10% of land area). Edmonton and London have similar proportion at 15% and 16%
respectively. While some of the downtowns only have a significant portion of residential development, such as
downtown Vancouver with 29%. Downtown Fredericton also has a high level of residential land uses (24%), yet this
largely reflects the lower density, historic dwellings that circle the downtown’s financial core. In most cases,
municipalities receive a measure of compensation for this type of land use through receipt of ‘tax in lieu’ payments
from federal or provincial governments.
Land Uses* ** Winnipeg Vancouver Fredericton Ottawa London Saskatoon Halifax Edmonton Victoria
Commercial 37% 49% 38% 28% 54% 82% 50% 45% 63%
Industrial 8% 0% 1% 1% 0% 1% 0% 1% 0%
Institutional 16% 10% 30% 19% 11% 1% 18% 12% 4%
Residential 8% 29% 24% 7% 16% 3% 23% 15% 9%
Open Space 4% 6% 3% 32% 1% 11% 9% 12% 1%
Transportation 13% 6% 5% 3% 18% 1% 13% 19%
Vacant 14% 0% 0% 9% 0% 0% 3% 3%
*This data is based on land parcels only – not streets and roads.
** Every municipality collects land use data in different categories. To overcome this challenge, we have generally aimed to present data to show the predominant use at the parcel
level. For example, in this study a residential building with retail at grade is classified as residential. While this presents some limitations, this data provides a good starting point for
understanding the different components that make up each of the downtown case studies.
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