Canada's economy lives on main streets.
85%
of Canadians live within
1km of a main street
280K
businesses
1.9M
jobs
$300B
in annual revenue
Why Main Streets
While national attention goes to major projects, most Canadians work, shop and connect on main streets. They’re where independent businesses start and grow, where local dollars circulate, and where communities take shape. Hundreds of thousands of individual small businesses aren't a weakness in Canada's economy. They are its strength.
Yet main streets rarely show up in the data. Most numbers stop at the city or the region. We're changing that, making main streets something you can count, map and compare.
The Main Street Economy Index (MSE 100)
Main streets talk. We listen through data.
Introducing the Main Street Economy Index.
Now main streets have their own number. Every quarter, the MSE 100 tracks 100 main streets across Canada to answer one question: how is Canada's Main Street Economy doing?
Three signals, one index
- Visitation: are people showing up?
- Spending: are they spending when they do?
- Business health: are businesses succeeding financially?
Free, every quarter, in your inbox.
Main Street Dashboards — See your street clearly
What communities do with it
From data to decisions
- Measure the street, not the city. City-wide averages hide what's happening on your street. Start with the street.
- Count everyone who's there. The people on your street aren't only the people who live nearby. Plan for the population that's actually there.
- Build homes where the services already are. Main streets already have transit, shops and civic assets. Assess main streets to determine where to build.
- Spot trouble before storefronts go dark. Monthly street-level signals help target small business support before vacancies show up.
- Treat shocks as signals. When wildfire smoke settled over Revelstoke, weekly visits fell by about half, and the data showed it. Put weather, events and visitor data together so you can respond in time.
“Our organization is laser-focused on two things: vitality, which we measure through visitation; and prosperity, which we measure through sales. The CUI data dashboard now gives those key measurements, at our fingertips.”
— Paul MacKinnon, CEO, Downtown Halifax Business Commission
Other ways we can support your main street
Beyond Dashboards, Main Street Canada offers focused reports for BIAs, municipalities and economic development organizations that need evidence for a decision, a funding ask or a council report.
- Event Impact Analysis. Find out what your event actually did for the street. We look at how many people came, where they came from and estimated spending, so you can report results to funders and council and plan the next one with confidence.
- Main Street Assessment. A clear read on the health of your commercial district: who's visiting, the business mix, local spending power and the surrounding neighbourhood, with the priorities that follow. A stand-alone report, no dashboard required.
- Investment Attraction Assessment. Make the case for your street. Using local spending power, visitor patterns and the current business mix, we identify which retail, dining and service categories have room to grow, and package the evidence for the businesses and investors you want to attract.
A strong Canada needs strong main streets
Tariffs and economic uncertainty are landing hardest on small and independent businesses, the ones on our main streets. The latest Index shows about a third of them are at risk of bankruptcy — that’s nearly 100,000 businesses. That doesn’t stop at one storefront. Jobs go, foot traffic drops, neighbouring shops close, and whole communities start to hollow out.
Main streets need investment at the right scale, and the evidence to attract it. One BIA can strengthen its own street. Together, with shared data, we can champion main streets across Canada.
Our data partners:
