The Ottawa-headquartered firm “recently made the decision not to move forward” with the project, said spokesperson Alex Lyons. But it will retain its space at Toronto’s King Portland Centre, and has plans to “further develop it to accommodate our needs.” The Toronto Star first reported the moves. (The Logic, Toronto Star)

Talking point: In September 2018, the commerce firm announced it would take 254,000 square feet in the mixed-use downtown Toronto development this year, making it the anchor tenant, as part of a $500-million plan to expand its presence in the city. But in May 2020, Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke declared the firm digital by default, announcing “office centricity is over.” That September, it set about subletting its former Ottawa headquarters and legacy Toronto location. At the time, a Shopify spokesperson said the firm was “committed to retaining a physical presence in each major city that we currently have spaces in,” including Montreal, Vancouver, and Waterloo, Ont., as well as New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Berlin, Stockholm and Vilnius. On Thursday, the firm did not respond to questions about whether it’s keeping its offices in each of those cities.