Fewer local residents visiting downtown Vancouver: report | Daily Hive

800 Robson Plaza in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan)

Fewer people living in Metro Vancouver’s outlying communities are traveling into downtown Vancouver, amounting to a decline in visits from the broader region.

According to the newly released annual State of Downtown report by Downtown Van (the local business improvement association for downtown Vancouver), there was a 7.8 per cent decrease in overall annual visits to downtown Vancouver in 2024 compared to 2023.

This follows three consecutive years of recovery from the pandemic shock; it is the first year-over-year decline since 2020.

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Moreover, visits to downtown Vancouver in 2024 originating from other areas of the city of Vancouver fell by 11.9 per cent year-over-year, with Vancouver’s share of total visits falling from 52.9 per cent to 50.4 per cent.

There were also year-over-year visitation drops of 1.3 per cent from Burnaby, 1.5 per cent from Surrey, 4.8 per cent from Richmond, 7.1 per cent from North Vancouver District, 9.6 per cent from West Vancouver, 7.7 per cent from North Vancouver City, and 0.6 per cent from Delta.

Some of this decreased local visitation is also reflected by the relatively flat growth in public transit ridership to downtown Vancouver — rising by just 2.1 per cent in 2024 compared to 2023, with the ridership gains of 8.7 per cent for SkyTrain, 4.9 per cent for SeaBus, and 20.4 per cent for the West Coast Express commuter rail offset by the 2.9 per cent decline in the large segment of bus ridership.

It should be noted that the business improvement association (BIA) jurisdiction of Downtown Van does not span the entire downtown Vancouver peninsula. Its definition of downtown Vancouver is limited to 200 city blocks in the core that cover the Central Business District and the Granville Entertainment District.

Other areas of the downtown peninsula are within the jurisdictions of the Robson Street Business Association, West End Business Improvement Association, Gastown Business Improvement Society, Yaletown Business Improvement Society, and Chinatown Business Improvement Association.

Downtown Van’s annual report also notes that visits to the Alberni Street luxury retail district and West Hastings Street retail corridor have fallen by 11.7 per cent and 3.3 per cent, respectively, year-over-year.

The decline on Alberni Street is due in part to the closure of major retail tenants such as the Michael’s craft store and Brooks Brothers, which will be replaced by Canada’s second luxury Ralph Lauren store later in 2025. As well, sometime this spring, Canada’s first Din Tai Fung restaurant will open on Alberni Street, adjacent to the Shangri-La Hotel tower.

But there were visitation increases of 11.6 per cent for Granville Street and 2.1 per cent for Robson Street (Robson Street east of Burrard Street). The prominent intersection of Robson and Burrard streets gained the flagship retailer of Adidas in late 2024, occupying a 35,000 sq. ft. space previously occupied by Victoria’s Secret. This summer, new Arc’teryx and Roots stores will also open in the vicinity.

As well, after more than five years of construction, Cineplex finally opened its 45,000 sq. ft. The Rec Room entertainment and dining centre in the Granville Entertainment District in December 2024, Winners relocated to the former Steve Nash Fitness World space next to SkyTrain’s Granville Station in October 2024, and Marshalls took up the former Winners space above Best Buy at 798 Granville Street in March 2025.

Overall, in 2024, Downtown Van’s jurisdiction saw a net loss of 13 retail businesses, but a net gain of seven food and beverage businesses, with the closure of 16 such businesses and the opening of 23 businesses.

Businesses in the area reported an average increase in operating costs of 25 per cent over the past five years, especially in payroll, cost of goods sold, insurance, property taxes, and lease expenses.

Some of the positive activity from the overall business gains will be offset by the upcoming permanent closure of the flagship Hudson’s Bay department store, anticipated by early Summer 2025. This will leave a major void in the city centre, compounding the ongoing vacancy of the nearby former Nordstrom space, which has stood empty since June 2023.

A mixed-use redevelopment of the Hudson’s Bay building — one that preserves its heritage facade — remains likely in the building’s future. Meanwhile, Cadillac Fairview has confirmed that the former Nordstrom space will be subdivided for new retailers, with a recently approved building permit allowing for the removal of Nordstrom’s interior furnishings.

As well, Cadillac Fairview will demolish the 1975-built, 30-storey former Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver tower. The Four Seasons property permanently closed in January 2020, and it was originally anticipated that the tower would be renovated for a new luxury hotel chain.

When it comes to the office market of downtown Vancouver, the continued adoption of semi-remote and hybrid work continues to have a major impact on visitation to the city centre. However, downtown Vancouver’s leased office vacancy rate — not to be confused for occupancy rate — continues to be the lowest city centre office vacancy rate in Canada and the U.S.

For the first quarter of 2025, commercial real estate firm CBRE has reported that downtown Vancouver’s leased office vacancy rate has contracted to 10.7 per cent — down from 11.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2024, and below the overall range of 11 per cent to 12 per cent in 2024.

The office market’s early 2025 performance marks the first time since the second quarter of 2021 that the vacancy rate in downtown Vancouver has been lower than in Metro Vancouver’s suburban markets. This indicates that demand is finally starting to catch up with the newly completed supply.

When it comes to the actual occupancy (use) of office space, some companies recently enforced a return-to-office mandate.

Most notably, in January 2025, Amazon began requiring its office employees worldwide to return to the office five days a week — an increase from the previous three-day-per-week mandate. This policy also applies to the 4,500 Amazon staff based at various downtown Vancouver corporate office locations, including The Post. While return-to-office mandates are shaped by internal corporate strategies, they are also expected to contribute to increased pedestrian activity and provide a boost to retail and restaurant businesses in downtown Vancouver.

Although there has been an overall decrease in the number of visitors to downtown Vancouver, there was a strong increase in visitors from other provinces, reflecting the exceptionally strong recovery in tourism through 2024 — including an all-time record of over 1.3 million cruise ship passengers at Canada Place, and the hosting of major events such as Taylor Swift’s final Eras Tour concert dates and the CFL Grey Cup.

However, with declining consumer spending, ongoing economic headwinds, and rising geopolitical tensions, the elevated tourism levels seen recently could face a reversal in 2025.

The potential growth for tourism has also been limited by Metro Vancouver’s increasing hotel room shortage, with overnight room rates now leading Canada’s major urban centres and the room occupancy rate in downtown Vancouver reaching 80 per cent in 2024, matching pre-pandemic levels.

As for the residential population, according to BIA, there was a 2.9 per cent population growth from 2023 to 2024 for the entirety of the downtown Vancouver peninsula area — rising to 140,938 residents. The median household income is $81,100, the average household size is 1.7 persons, the median age if 38 years old, and 70 per cent of the residents are renters.

Downtown Vancouver residents are generally younger than those in the rest of Metro Vancouver and are less likely to have children. However, among those who do, they are 61 percent more likely to have young children aged five and under.

Although downtown Vancouver residents benefit from the convenience and close proximity to a very high concentration of restaurants and other food and beverage establishments, they spent only six percent more on dining out compared to households in the rest of the region.

In recent years — especially since the onset of the pandemic — public safety, disorder, and crime have remained major concerns for visitors, residents, and businesses alike. Retail theft, in particular, has been increasingly reported as a growing issue.

Growing road congestion in downtown Vancouver has also drawn attention, particularly due to major construction projects such as the ongoing work on the Cambie Street Bridge and Granville Street Bridge. For alternatives to driving, there have been few, if any, improvements to SkyTrain, SeaBus, and bus capacity, all of which are now experiencing increasing levels of overcrowding.

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