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
DEVELOPING Live updates as Stormy Daniels testifies at Trump hush money trial
Adult film star Stormy Daniels will take the stand a second time Thursday as former U.S. president Donald Trump’s hush money case continues in Manhattan. Follow live updates here.
BREAKING Sheldon Keefe out as head coach of Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs have fired head coach Sheldon Keefe. The team made the announcement Thursday after the Original Six franchise lost to the Boston Bruins in seven games in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Bank of Canada says financial system is stable, but risks remain
The Bank of Canada says the Canadian financial system is stable, but risks remain due to debt servicing costs among households and businesses and stretched valuations of financial assets.
Why these immigrants to Canada say they're thinking about leaving, or have already moved on
For some immigrants, their dreams of permanently settling in Canada have taken an unexpected twist.
Here are the ultraprocessed foods you most need to avoid, according to a 30-year study
Studies have shown that ultraprocessed foods can have a detrimental impact on health. But 30 years of research show they don’t all have the same impact.
Ontario man frustrated after $3,500 paving job leaves driveway in shambles
An Ontario man considering having his driveway paved received a quote from a company for $7,000, but then, another paver in the neighbourhood knocked on his door and offered half that rate.
RateMDs violates privacy of health professionals, class-action lawsuit claims
A lawsuit against RateMDs has been given the go-ahead by a B.C. Supreme Court judge who found the claim that the website violates the privacy rights of medical professionals is not 'bound to fail.'
Capital gains tax change 'shortsighted' and 'sows division' business groups tell Freeland
Forging ahead with increasing Canada's capital gains inclusion rate 'sows division,' and is a 'shortsighted' way to improve the deficit, business groups are warning Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Court to hear about search for remains as Winnipeg murder trial enters second day
A courtroom in Winnipeg is expected to hear testimony today about the search for the remains of the four victims of Jeremy Skibicki.