Centre for the Study of Commercial Activity

This document is based on information from the Centre for Study Commercial Activity Web site

The Centre for the Study of Commercial Activity (CSCA) is a non-profit research unit based at Ryerson University. The Centre studies private-sector economic activities that deal directly with consumers. Among these activities are retailing, various services, financial institutions, and the developers who create the physical infrastructure of malls and offices.

Services are available to members.  Seminars and research reports can be purchased by the general public.

CSCA provides a research focus for members of the retail and development sectors and facilitates the discussion of issues of mutual concern, the exchange of ideas, and the development of a network of professional contacts. The Centre currently has the support of almost seventy private-sector members and associations.

Resources include methods for probing and tracking trends affecting markets and operations; data, research, and education/training services to help businesses solve immediate problems and plan strategically; prototype management systems.

Research
CSCA has committed considerable resources toward building and maintaining large, digital, geographically-referenced databases of commercial activity in the Greater Toronto Area. The Centre undertakes annual surveys to update over 45,000 retail and commercial service stores located on retail streetfronts, shopping centres, power centres and free standing. These databases are a resource for describing and analyzing changes in the retail system. They are provided to CSCA's Foundation Level members digitally for them to use within their organizations.

Access to these spatially referenced databases enables individual companies to examine their network of locations and markets more strategically. Analysis associated with these data enables members to assess changes in the retail/service economy, examine the impact of new forms of competition, and to develop performance benchmarks. These "small grained" databases are proprietary to the CSCA. The CSCA maintains, updates and verifies the information, but the contents are made available to upper-tier members as well as to approved students engaged in research. Other members can request special tabulations and receive summaries. All information that is of general economic value is disseminated to the public at large in aggregate form after a six month confidentiality period.

For further information:
visit the Web site:
CSCA Retail Database Collection
http://www.csca.ryerson.ca/Databases.html

Seminars
The CSCA organizes and presents periodic seminars on key issues that are central to the retail economy. In addition, CSCA staff actively participates in various professional and industry seminars on a regular basis.

For further information:
visit the Web site
CSCA News
http://www.csca.ryerson.ca/News.html

Publications
The CSCA produces ten to twelve of these reports annually, initiating and carrying out research on topics of interest to the industry, as suggested by member organizations. The Centre devotes significant resources to research reports on the retail industry. Over the last decade the CSCA has adopted a continuing series of research publications that relate to coherent set of fundamental research themes. These include publications that feature (i) a bi-annual overview of the Canadian and Greater Toronto Retail Economies; (ii) the development and impact of big box and power centre retailing (iii) detailed Canadian retail sector overviews; (iv) technological changes in retailer, (v) comparative international retail assessments.  A  full list of published reports is available on the web site.

For further information:
visit the Web site:
CSCA Publications
http://www.csca.ryerson.ca/Publications.htm