The evolution of Toronto’s retail landscape tells a story of remarkable resilience and strategic growth, with neighborhood-specific retail corridors emerging as powerful indicators of the city’s commercial future.
“The market is probably more balanced than it has been in recent memory,” said Casdin Parr, Executive Vice President of Retail Advisory Services at JLL, in an interview last week. “There’s been tremendous momentum over the past 24 months across retail asset classes—high street, enclosed malls, power centers—all showing strength even as other commercial sectors face headwinds.”
Despite Toronto’s overall real GDP growth slowing to just 1.0 percent in 2024, down from 3.1 percent the previous year, its retail sector has demonstrated remarkable stability, maintaining a 2.0 percent vacancy rate according to JLL’s latest Canadian Commercial Real Estate Outlook report.
This strength is particularly evident in how distinct retail corridors have developed unique identities to serve changing consumer preferences. The Bloor-Yorkville corridor maintains its position as the dominant luxury retail district, while Ossington Avenue has emerged as a vibrant secondary node with near-zero vacancy.
One of the most interesting developments in Toronto’s retail evolution has been the growing distinction between retail spaces in rental-focused residential developments versus traditional condominium projects—a difference that’s reshaping how developers approach ground-floor commercial spaces.
“We talk about driving value up the stack,” Parr explained, describing how quality retail attracts both residents and potential tenants or buyers. “The retail portion of any development, whether it’s condo or rental, is the front door to the guest experience. That’s what people interact with most day in, day out.”
This strategic approach has become particularly important in rental developments, where property owners need to impress tenants enough to resign their leases annually. “Whether that’s food and beverage, whether that’s entertainment, whether that’s more traditional retail, something that’s going to engage not only the resident, but the prospective buyer and or the prospective renter,” Parr noted.
The result has been a more thoughtful integration of retail into residential projects, creating vibrant mixed-use environments that serve both building residents and the broader community. Companies like Fitzrovia have pioneered this approach with developments like Elm Ledbury, where carefully curated ground-floor retail helps define the building’s identity.
For a city of more than 7 million people across its greater metropolitan area, Toronto’s premium retail footprint remains surprisingly concentrated, a situation that presents both challenges and opportunities.
“It’s unique that a city of this size doesn’t have other retail nodes,” Parr said. “Chicago would have two, three, four different nodes where great brands can open multiple street front locations. But here, for the last five-plus years, brands have said, ‘We have to be in Bloor Yorkville’ and the rest of the strategy is up for debate.”
This concentration has led to creative retail solutions in emerging neighborhoods, with mixed-use development The Well representing one of the most significant additions. Positioned alongside the historically important Queen Street West corridor, the development has attracted attention for its architectural design and strategic location.
“Queen Street and The Well combined collectively offer the opportunity to bring a unique aspect back to the marketplace,” Parr explained. “The Well is architecturally beautiful. Every group I’ve been through within the last two weeks comes away impressed with the design and function of it.”
Similarly, Union Station’s retail renovation has created what Parr describes as a “fantastic” shopping environment, comparable to European transit hubs, recently attracting popular brands like Shake Shack. “It’s reflective of when you’re traveling through Europe and major cities and those central transit hubs in many instances have excellent retail in them,” he noted.
Even downtown’s underground Path network, which struggled significantly during pandemic-related office closures, is showing renewed activity. “I walked the Path again with a client this past week who, three or four years ago, naturally for reasons we all know, wouldn’t have considered it,” Parr said. “You’re getting the energy back, even though it’s concentrated traffic.”
Tourism has played a critical role in Toronto’s retail recovery, with visitor spending reaching $8.8 billion in 2024, exceeding pre-pandemic levels by 7 percent. Domestic visitors, in particular, have played a crucial role in maintaining retail spending.
“Toronto had a lot of retail tourism, people from markets like Montreal, Ottawa, even US cities coming to Toronto not only for the Toronto experience but because there was great retail they couldn’t get in their home markets,” Parr explained, citing Restoration Hardware’s expansive Yorkdale concept as an example of a destination shopping experience unavailable in other Canadian cities.
This neighborhood-centric approach to retail development offers lessons for other North American cities grappling with changing consumer behaviors and the continued evolution of physical shopping spaces. Toronto’s success in maintaining vibrant retail corridors contrasts with challenges faced in many U.S. markets where downtown retail has struggled to recover post-pandemic.
For retailers considering entering or expanding in Toronto, Parr advises taking a strategic long-term approach. “Retail is the combination of art and science,” he said. “I’m a strong believer it will continue to require to be blended over time, and there’ll be applications that are going to be more science and analytically based and then there’s still a lot of applications that are still the art of it, but those two have to marry together to make the magic.”
Over the past decade, the city has established itself among the top five North American markets for many international retailers, a significant change from when leasing representatives had to “sell” the city to potential tenants.
“When I started leasing Yorkdale almost 10 years ago, many of my predecessors spent a lot of time talking about Toronto as a market,” Parr recalled. “When I first started engaging with these groups, they said, ‘We’ve got it. Toronto is a global market.’ Fast forward to today, Toronto has an important place in the global retail landscape.”
Several major developments continue to reshape this landscape. Former Nordstrom locations are being reimagined, with Cadillac Fairview bringing Nike, Eataly and Simons to fill vacancies at CF Toronto Eaton Centre and other properties. “We’re going to see the Nordstrom boxes come back to life,” Parr said. “Cadillac Fairview is going to be kind of first out of the gate.”
Infrastructure projects, particularly transit expansion including the Ontario Line subway project, are expected to create new retail corridors over the next decade. Development east of Yonge Street on Bloor has already seen “pioneers” like Nike and Mango expanding the traditional boundaries of the luxury corridor.
Despite economic challenges and recent trade tensions between Canada and the United States, the outlook remains optimistic. While these issues generate questions from international clients, most take a long-term perspective on the market’s fundamentals.
“I think it’s a really exciting time for the Toronto real estate retail portion of the city. You’ve got world class assets on the high streets, the enclosed shopping centres,” Parr concluded. “The one thing we know in retail is there’s going to continue to be change. That creates opportunity for somebody else down the road.”
Dustin Fuhs is the Editor-in-Chief of 6ix Retail. He is the former Editor-in-Chief of Retail Insider, Canada’s most-read retail trade publication. He has over 20 years of experience in the retail, marketing, entertainment and hospitality industries, including with The Walt Disney Company, The Hockey Hall of Fame, Starbucks and Blockbuster.
Dustin was named as a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert in 2024 and 2025.