Bars in the city could be keeping their doors open for longer after a push from the Toronto Music Industry Advisory Council.
A debate was scheduled at city hall on Monday to discuss extending last call, which is currently 2 a.m.
The advisory council is urging the Economic Development and Culture Committee to discuss Toronto’s “nighttime economy” and said the extended hours is at the top of their requests.
Bars are permitted to stay open until 4 a.m. for special occasions, like Canadian Music Week, TIFF or Nuit Blanche, however the council said this is not enough.
There was a similar push to extend bar hours two years ago by a group called Last Call Toronto.
“To be a world class city, Toronto needs world class nightlife,” according to the group’s website. Extending last call would “extend nightlife venues’ selling hours. This could lead to greater investment and new jobs. It would also attract tourists,” the group says online. They also said that it would “lessen the demand for, and therefore reduce the number of, illegal afterhours venues, which are often dangerous and a hotbed for drug use and other illicit activities.”
Some argue extended hours would result in more drinking and driving or create the need to have more police officers patrolling the streets, but Counc. Michael Thompson said there may also be benefits.
“There's an opposite side to that as well. Because perhaps there is more time that people would have in bar facilities, that there would be less binge drinking. Because people told me that that does occur because people are trying to get in the last calls and things like that,” Thompson said.
The committee will debate the issue this afternoon to see if it should be studied further. It will then have to go back to the committee before it is considered by city council.
