Chow meets with CEOs about more office days

Mayor says she's concerned about downtown becoming 'a ghost town'

- ANA PEREIRA

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow has faced calls from business leaders to set a good example and get all municipal workers back in the office.

Olivia Chow is on a mission to keep Toronto's financial district alive.

Since the fall, the mayor has been meeting with the CEOs of some of Canada's largest banks - CIBC, TD, RBC and BMO to discuss, among other issues, how to get Torontonians back in the office at least four days a week, if not five-and they're calling on her to set the example.

"Well, it's important to make sure our financial district is vibrant," Chow told the Star in an interview. She said she is concerned about Toronto becoming "a ghost town" like other cities in the U.S. grappling with so-called "doom loops" that have seen an uptick in local crime and homelessness. "That's not healthy."

Toronto's downtown activity has taken a hit since the pandemic sparked the remote-work phenomenon. Many of the big financial towers are still partially empty, while more office space is under construction. And local shops have been struggling to survive with fewer workers around each day.

"You had dry cleaners, restaurants - places that were ready for a breakfast rush, a lunch rush and a post-work rush that just isn't there anymore," said Ryan Mallough, vice-president of communications with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). "There's certainly been not just a financial hit, but an entire change in expectations based on a change in customer behaviour."