City staff recommend that CafeTO be made a permanent, year-round program
Toronto’s popular CafeTO program could soon be made permanent through the creation of a new “streamlined” registration process that will allow participating businesses to operate expanded sidewalk patios year-round.
The program was first established in the summer of 2020 as a way to give bars and restaurants that were prohibited from serving customers indoors a leg up during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was then brought back this past spring and more than 1,200 restaurants ultimately participated, representing a 51 per cent increase from 2020.
In a report that will go before the city’s executive committee next week, staff recommend that the program be brought back for 2022 and that all permit fees be waived once again as a way of supporting a hospitality industry that has struggled.
But the report also recommends that staff get to work on establishing a new registration process for “future, permanent CaféTO sidewalk cafés” so that those businesses applying in 2022 need not apply again.
As part of that process staff would also draft a fee structure that would help the city recoup some of the costs associated with operating the program. Those costs are pegged at $5 million in 2022.
“CafeTO has been one of our most successful pandemic relief programs. It has positively impacted our city and it has positively impacted hospitality business that call Toronto home and that is because we made the decision, as simple as it may be, to turn parking spaces into patios,” Mayor John Tory said during a press conference on Wednesday morning.
“We know that people want this program to return, I want this program to return but that is not just because it is good for business. It changed the look and the feel of our city for the better.”
There were approximately 940 curb lane closures to accommodate expanded CafeTO patios this year, resulting in about 12 linear kilometres of public space being turned over to bars and restaurants.
In the report, staff say that “more work is required to monitor the impact of long-term curb lane closures on the travel network” particularly as the city returns to “pre-pandemic traffic volumes.”
For that reason, they say that 2022 is proposed as a “a final transition year before permanent program criteria are adopted to determine the permanent regulations of curb lane/parklet cafés.”
Speaking with reporters, Tory said that he would like to see the permanent CafeTO program include “some street located structures in suitable locations” that would help “change the look and the feel” of a program which has largely used temporary infrastructure, such as pylons.
“This city is poised to have strong recovery, all the right stuff is here and these measures are going to make sure that happens,” he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING King Charles' cancer treatment progressing well, says Buckingham Palace
King Charles III’s doctors are 'sufficiently pleased' with his cancer treatment and he is expected to return to public-facing duties, Buckingham Palace announced on Friday.
BREAKING Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
'Unacceptable': Trudeau reacts after AFN chief says headdress taken from plane cabin
After the Assembly of First Nations' national chief said her headdress was taken from an airplane cabin this week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the incident 'unacceptable' and a 'mistake' on the part of Air Canada.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
From faulty kids' cribs to flammable kids' bathrobes, here are the recalls of the week
Health Canada issued recalls for various items this week, including kids’ bathrobes, cribs and henna cones.
Taylor Swift dons Montreal designer's dress in 'Fortnight' video
A pair of Montreal designers' work has now been viewed over 41 million times. Taylor Swift dons a Victorian throwback black gown in her latest music video, 'Fortnight', designed by UNTTLD due Simon Belanger and Jose Manuel Saint-Jacques.
'Too young to have breast cancer': Rates among young Canadian women rising
Breast cancer rates are rising in Canada among women in their 20s, 30s and 40s, according to research by the University of Ottawa (uOttawa).
'Violation': CSIS had officer investigated after she reported a superior raped her
A CSIS officer's allegations that she was raped repeatedly by a superior in agency vehicles set off a harassment inquiry, but also triggered an investigation into her that concluded the alleged attacks were a “misuse” of agency vehicles by the woman.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.