By David Ros

While the Dufferin-Finch Business Improvement Area (BIA) is one of the newest in the city, it has already become a strong advocate for creating better infrastructure and a better environment for local businesses.Formally incorporated in May, 2014, the Dufferin-Finch BIA represents 2,500 businesses which collectively have more than 30,000 employees, making it the 2^nd largest neighbourhood business association in the country.“This is a district that often gets forgotten when the pie is being shared,” said Matias de Dovitiis, the Dufferin-Finch BIA's coordinator. “We don't have the same quality utilities, we don't have the same quality roads and we don't have the same quality infrastructure as other parts of the city.”The City of Toronto defines a BIA as an association of “local community property owners and tenants” working together “to enhance the safety, look and feel of the neighbourhoods, to attract more visitors to shop and dine as well as to draw new businesses to their area.Currently, there are 81 such BIAs in the city of Toronto, and de Dovitiis said that while most residents may know them from the events they organize such as Taste of the Danforth, put on by the Danforth BIA, or Taste of Little Italy, put on by the Little Italy BIA, they play an important role in helping to shape the neighbourhoods they operate in.“Change is coming to the neighbourhood whether there's a delay here or not, the point of having a BIA and the reason why all the different business owners got together is that we want to be able to shape that change to help to create a better neighbourhood,” he said.With the soon to be completed Yonge-University Spadina subway extension, and the new GO train station being built at Sheppard Ave. W., and Chesswood Ave., the neighbourhood will have access to a much improved transportation infrastructure, and de Dovitiis said the Dufferin-Finch BIA is working at the ground level to prepare for this change.“There's just so much potential in the neighbourhood precisely because the neighbourhood and the businesses over the years have been neglected for so long,” he said. “There's a massive opportunity.Two of the services the BIA offers to local business owners are free security services, and free employment services.