New Westminster is a small city with an outsized economic footprint. Five SkyTrain stations connect it directly into a Metro Vancouver labour market of roughly one million people, and the city's business core is split across distinct districts — the shops and services of Uptown along Sixth Street and Sixth Avenue, the historic storefronts of Downtown and Columbia Street, the hospital-anchored district of Sapperton, the big-box retail of Queensborough Landing, and the waterfront businesses of Westminster Quay. Anchor institutions like Royal Columbian Hospital, Douglas College, the Justice Institute of British Columbia, and the City of New Westminster itself employ thousands of people who work, shop, and eat within a few square kilometres of each other.
That density is also where the pressure shows up. Downtown retailers have told local media that weekend sales have fallen by roughly 20%, with at least one business owner going a year and a half without breaking even, as organized theft and shoplifting cut directly into already-thin margins. Ongoing construction in the downtown core has made some storefronts harder to find and reach, and some shoppers are avoiding the area altogether over safety perceptions tied to nearby shelters and a supervised injection site — forcing business owners to rebuild trust and find customers through channels other than the sidewalk in front of their shop.
Parking doesn't make it easier. Most downtown zones cap street parking at two hours, with 2024 hourly rates running $3.25 to $3.75 and a $1 minimum charge on card payments — enough friction that many businesses are leaning harder on delivery, online ordering, and off-street options to keep customers coming back. At the same time, Douglas College brings roughly 8,449 full-time equivalent students to the city each year, including about 4,000 international students from 92 countries, and Royal Columbian Hospital operates as the only hospital in BC with trauma, cardiac care, neurosurgery, high-risk obstetrics, neonatal intensive care, and acute mental health care all on one site — both drawing a steady flow of people who expect a modern, digital-first way to book, order, and pay.
EduWeb Consulting is an AI-first software, web, and automation studio. We build the websites, custom software, and automated workflows that let New Westminster business owners — from a Sapperton clinic to a Columbia Street pub — spend less time on the friction above and more time serving the customers who are already trying to reach them.