1. What is a BIA?
A Business Improvement Area is a provincially legislated association of business people who have joined together to promote, beautify and generally improve the physical area known as the downtown.

2. Who manages the BIA?
The organization is managed by the Downtown Kingston! Board of Management – a board elected by the membership and appointed by the City of Kingston to oversee the BIA's activities.

3. Who funds the organization?
BIA’s are self-funded – all activities undertaken by the BIA are funded through a special levy applied to the members of the BIA.

4. How do I become a member?
Membership is based on geography – if you operate a business or own a piece of commercial property within the BIA boundary, you are automatically a member. Map of the BIA boundary

5. How many businesses and employees are in the BIA?
We have approximately 750 businesses and nearly 10,000 full and part-time employees. The combined BIA membership is the largest employer in the City, ahead of organizations like CFB Kingston, Queen’s, and KGH

6. How large is the BIA?
We have 5 million square feet of physical space (and growing!) – approximately 4 million is commercial in nature and 1 million is residential. Commercially, Downtown Kingston! is more than two times larger than the Cataraqui Town Centre, the Riocan Centre, the Kingston Centre and the Frontenac Mall combined.

7. Where do I park?
There are nearly 3,800 parking spaces in the downtown core in a combination of on street spaces, surface lots and parking garages, so there are plenty of spots to choose from. Parking information

8. Where are the washrooms?
Public washrooms can be found in the Visitor Information Centre on Ontario St. in front of City Hall and inside City Hall itself.

9. You run a number of events in the city – are you looking for volunteers?
Absolutely! Please see Volunteering under the About Us section of the site for details.