Even as office hours ramp up, downtown foot traffic is slow to rebound
Fact Sheet & Media
Author(s): Subramaniam, V.
Date: 2025
Resource: The Globe and Mail.
Recovery of activity in urban cities has flatlined despite stricter return-to-work mandates
Foot traffic in the downtown cores of major cities across Canada is still approximately half of what it was before the pandemic, despite a growing push from employers for more in-office work days.
New data from the Toronto-based analytics company Environics Analytics – provided exclusively to The Globe and Mail – show that since much of the country ended pandemic lockdown restrictions in the spring of 2022, there was a gradual increase in the number of working people populating the central business districts of urban centres. But that growth tapered off in early 2024, and has held steady into the spring of 2025. […]
While foot traffic has been slow to rebound, major employers are now pushing to bring their white-collar work force into the office more frequently.
“If employees wanted to leave their jobs during the pandemic, they simply had more choice,” said Catherine Connelly, professor of human resources and management at McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business.
“Part of this recent pushback to this office has been driven by the job market. The balance of power has shifted back in favour of the employer because unemployment rates in cities have been trending upwards. Companies can demand that employees come back into the office, and employees will comply,” she added.
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