Bloor West Village in Toronto, Ontario — Central Canada (North America)

Bloor West Village BIA

Photographed by Caroline Record, November 20, 2025

1. BLOOR WEST VILLAGE BIA Marker

Inscription.
In the late 1960s the Bloor-Jane-Runnymede Businessmen's Association concluded that the chief problem it faced was in the raising of funds to carry on its services to the local business community. It developed a scheme whereby the business taxpayers in the area would invite the municipality to collect on their behalf an incremental part of their business taxes and hand it over to the Association to be used by it to improve the local streetscape and to promote the area as a good place to shop. The Ontario Municipal Act was amended and the Association proposed to the City of Toronto that certain lands in its area become Bloor West Village Business Improvement Area. On the 16th of September 1970 the City of Toronto, with the approval of the Ontario Municipal Board, accepted the application. Thus was created the first Business Improvement Area anywhere in the world. By its 40th anniversary in 2010 there were more than 70 BIAs in Toronto, 240 in Ontario and 400 throughout Canada as well as in some 10 other countries.

Business Improvement Areas have become Toronto's gift to the world.

Erected 2011 by Bloor West Village

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BIA, Ontario Heritage Trust.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Industry & Commerce. In addition, it is included in the Canada, Ontario Heritage Trust series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1960.

Location. 43° 39.092′ N, 79° 28.593′ W. Marker is in Toronto, Ontario. It is in Bloor West Village. It is on Runnymede Road near Bloor Street West, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2218 Bloor Street W, Toronto ON M6S 1N4, Canada. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Greater Toronto

and on the Golden Horseshoe.

It is also in Central Canada.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Great Lakes,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once a British colony,

the Viceroyalty of New France,

the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

and Rupert’s Land.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 kilometers of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Kabechenong / The Humber River / La rivière Humber (approx.

Photographed by Caroline Record, November 20, 2025

2. BLOOR WEST VILLAGE BIA Marker

1.2 kilometers away); The Lost Village of Milton Mills (approx. 1.3 kilometers away); “The Old Mill” (approx. 1.3 kilometers away); Humbercrest Public School (approx. 1.5 kilometers away); The Maltese Community of Toronto (approx. 1.6 kilometers away); South Humber Park Pavilion (approx. 1.7 kilometers away); Corporal Frederick George Topham, V.C. (approx. 1.8 kilometers away); The Humber River Valley (approx. 1.8 kilometers away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Toronto.

Credits. This page was last revised on November 23, 2025. It was originally submitted on November 21, 2025, by Caroline Record of Montréal, Québec. This page has been viewed 43 times since then and 20 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on November 21, 2025, by Caroline Record of Montréal, Québec. 2. submitted on November 22, 2025, by Caroline Record of Montréal, Québec. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.