By Dr. Tony Hernandez, Tansel Erguden and Magnus Svindal

The evolution of power retailing has been the focus of numerous CSCA reports over the last decade.  The development and clustering of large format or 'big box' retailers into a variety of functional forms continues to account for a significant proportion of retail change in Canada. This "Americanization' of the retail landscape has provided Canadian consumers with an increased selection of retail venues at which to shop and spend their valuable leisure time. The purpose of this research letter is to provide an update on the growth of big boxes, power centres and power nodes in Canada, with particular focus on the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).  It should be noted that due to the rapid development of the big box format across Canada the definition and classification of power retail developments are subject to periodic updating to reflect their role and function in the retail economy.  This research letter provides a snap-shot of power retailing across Canada at the end of 2006 based on in-house data collected by the CSCA on an annual basis.