The St. Catharines Downtown Association is governed by a Board of Directors approved by St. Catharines City Council for a four-year term, concurrent with the City of St. Catharines Councillors’ term of office. The Board of Directors controls the Association’s activities and approves all policies.
Click here for the current Board of Directors
This year is an election year with the new 2026-2030 term for the Board of Directors being selected on Monday, December 7th, 2026
Click here to learn more and apply
Accountability & Transparency
Conflicts of Interest
A conflict of interest occurs when a member has any direct, indirect or deemed pecuniary interest involving an item to be discussed by the members of that Board, committee, board or task force. For information on conflicts of interest, please see the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.
Members must declare any conflict of interest for item(s) at a meeting before that item is discussed and submit a written conflict of interest declaration form the Executive Director. Information from the conflict-of-interest declaration form is included below as part of the Declaration of Interest Registry. After making a declaration, a member cannot participate in discussion or vote on the item and cannot seek to influence any decision or recommendation related to that item.
Members are responsible for making declarations of interest and adhering to the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. Failure to do so can result in an investigation by the Integrity Commissioner and/or an application being brought before the courts under the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.
| Date of Meeting | Member | Item # | Reason |
Integrity Commissioner Complaints and Reports
July 4, 2025:
Board of Management Meetings
2026 Meeting Schedule
Please note working group and committee meetings are currently hybrid. Our Board Meetings are a hybrid meeting in-person and via zoom. If you are interested in attending any meetings please reach out to kat@mydowntown.ca for more information.
| Board Meetings | Executive Meeting | Governance | Advocacy | Active Transportation | Moving | |
| Last Monday at 11AM | Monday – 2 weeks before Board Meeting at 3PM | Second Monday at 1:15PM | Second Wednesday at 12:00PM | First Monday at 10:00AM | ||
| JANUARY | January 26 | January 7 | January 6 | January 14 | January 5 | January 19 |
| FEBRUARY | February 23 | February 4 | February 3 | February 11 | February 2 | February 16 |
| MARCH | March 30 | March 4 | March 3 | March 11 | March 2 | March 16 |
| APRIL | April 27 | April 8 | April 7 | April 8 | April 6 | April 20 |
| MAY | May 25 | May 6 | May 5 | May 13 | May 4 | May 18 |
| JUNE | June 29 | June 3 | June 2 | June 10 | June 1 | June 15 |
| JULY | July 27 | July 8 | July 7 | July 8 | July 6 | July 20 |
| AUGUST | August 31 | August 5 | August 4 | August 12 | August 3 | August 17 |
| SEPTEMBER | September 21 | September 9 | September 8 | September 9 | September 7 | September 14 |
| OCTOBER | October 26 | October 7 | October 6 | October 14 | October 5 | October 19 |
| NOVEMBER | November 30 | November 4 | November 3 | November 11 | November 2 | November 16 |
| DECEMBER | December 28 | December 9 | December 8 | December 9 | December 7 | December 21 |
The Board of Management meets a minimum of 10 times per year on a regular basis (monthly). Members of the public are welcome to attend. Please RSVP in advance to Executive Director, Kat Dodge, by email at kat@mydowntown.ca
NEXT BOARD MEETING: September 21, 2026 @ 11:00 a.m.
Location: St. Catharines City Hall – Burgoyne Woods Room, 3rd Floor
Online option available, please email kat@mydowntown.ca for Microsoft Teams link.
2026 Meetings
July 27, 2026
The Board of Directors will take a break in July
May 25, 2026
No meeting was held for May
April 27, 2026
March 30, 2026
2025 Meeting Minutes
November 24, 2025
July 7, 2025
2024 Meeting Minutes
2023 Meeting Minutes
Please request meeting minutes prior to 2023 by emailing kat@mydowntown.ca
Watch Past Meetings
A recording of our recent meetings can be found on YouTube.
Annual General Meeting
The St. Catharines Downtown Association conducts an Annual General Meeting (AGM) each year. The financial statements of the previous year along with the current fiscal budget are reviewed and voted on by the Association members present at the AGM.
The members of the St. Catharines Downtown Association, the designated Business Improvement Area (BIA), consist of persons who are assessed on the last returned assessment roll with respect to rateable property in the area that is in a prescribed business property class and tenants of such property.
The next Annual General Meeting will be held on tbd.
Committees/Working Groups
Events Working Group
Events bring people into our Downtown core and help us showcase our diverse community and businesses. The role of the Events Working Group is to plan events and activations throughout the year. Responsibilities of the Events Working Group members include:
- Regular attendance to bi-weekly meetings
- Represent whole BIA in consideration of all businesses & areas
Marketing & Communications Working Group
Promotions & Marketing of the Downtown core help to tell the story of our businesses while building awareness, support and engagement from our community. The role of the Promotions & Marketing Committee is to develop promotions and an overall strategy to communicate these messages. Responsibilities of the Promotions & Marketing Committee members include:
- Regular attendance to monthly meetings
- Represent whole BIA in consideration of all businesses & areas
- Ensure diverse representation for all groups
- Create an annual calendar of proposed marketing & promotional strategies along with budget
- Ensure opportunities for membership is included in planning
- Make sure funding is fair – RFP for funding and sponsorships that do not interfere with other businesses
Governance Committee
The governance committee is a Standing Committee of the Board. Its main purpose is to maximise Board effectiveness through the development and maintenance of appropriate governance principles and practices; and to advise the Board of Directors in fulfilling its governance oversight responsibilities;
Streetscape & Sustainability Working Group
The Committee assists the Board in fulfilling the below mentioned Strategic Plan Priorities:
- Create seasonal horticultural plan
- Create partnership/sponsorship offer to support seasonal horticultural plan
- Create maintenance and cleanliness standards
- Work with culture committee, public arts committee, NAC… to create ‘art’ bike racks
- Expand public Art installations
- Add signage and plaques to recognize built heritage, indigenous, LGBTQ+ and black community
- Create and promote bike routes
- Stronger implementation of property standards
Other initiatives:
- Streetscape Improvements
- Improving Accessibility
- Beautification (planters, banners, lights, infrastructure maintenance)
- Increasing art downtown
- Sustainability Improvements
- Increasing the number of trees downtown
- Improving bike infrastructure and walkability
- Work with local organizations to improve storm water management, air quality and more
- Tactical Urbanism through initiatives like
- 100 in 1 day: https://www.100in1day.ca
- Better Block Program: https://www.betterblock.org
- Cigarette litter
- Look at these initiatives: https://www.agreenerfuture.ca/the-butt-blitz
- Create inventory of receptacles
- Request City to install and maintain
- Remove current broken infrastructure
- Garbage
- Containers are unsightly and move around to easily
- Create inventory of receptacles
- Look at other options/ideas used in other cities
- Request City to update and maintain infrastructure
If you would like to join any of our committees, please email Kat to find out more information.
More About Member Resources
Member ResourcesAugust Parking Pilot Toolkit
Thanks to the City of St. Catharines, customers visiting downtown throughout August can enjoy 2 hours of free parking! Parking […]
More About August Parking Pilot ToolkitMember ResourcesAbout SCDA
Created in 1973, the St. Catharines Downtown Association is a provincially legislated, not-for-profit Business Improvement Area (BIA).
More About SCDA & New Member WelcomeMember ResourcesOur Team Staff and Board of Management
The SCDA team is made up of our staff and board members.
More About Our Team, Committees, MeetingsMember ResourcesPromotional Opportunities
Take a look at ongoing and upcoming opportunities to get involved!
More About Promotional OpportunitiesMember ResourcesAdvocacy & Leadership
Our commitment to fostering a vibrant, thriving downtown is at the heart of what we do.
More About Advocacy & LeadershipMember ResourcesGarbage and Recycling
Collection boundaries, schedules and important waste collection information.
More About Garbage and RecyclingMember ResourcesGraffiti
Any criminal activity should be reported to the police and to the Downtown Association.
More About GraffitiMember ResourcesCity and Government Resources
Useful links for members.
More About City and Government ResourcesMember ResourcesMember Info Sessions
Resources for members to download.
More About Member Info SessionsMember ResourcesMember Communications
Email communications for members
More About Member Communications