Number of CafeTO patios could fall by up to 60 per cent following changes to program

Changes to Toronto’s popular CafeTO outdoor dining program have put a dent in this year’s patio season.

In their move to make CafeTO a permanent initiative, rather than a temporary reaction to the restrictions imposed by COVID-19, the city has imposed stricter requirements for businesses hoping to build their patios on a sidewalk or curbside. That means some restaurants – even a few which have been approved for CafeTO in previous years – might have to sit this year out, and potentially lose thousands of dollars in revenue in the process.

Bar Volo, located near the intersection of Yonge and Wellesley streets, is one such restaurant. Despite being approved for CafeTO “with no issues” in previous years, co-owner Tomas Morana says the business is poised to lose a significant amount of income due to this year’s sudden refusal.

“I was taken aback by that news,” Morana told CP24.com, adding that this year’s rejection was attributed to a discrepancy over whether or not Bar Volo’s surrounding street is a proper road or laneway. “Not just because we were approved in previous years, but the timing too.”

Morana added that the restaurant is licensed to seat 100 people, and the outdoor patio can seat 50, meaning its elimination could signify “between 20 and 30 per cent” of potential revenue for the year due to losses on expenses like outdoor equipment and staff.

“This is a program that needs to be taken seriously,” said Morana, who added that several of his colleagues have bowed out of CafeTO due to the added bureaucracy of this year’s approval process. “CafeTO helps define our city.”

In a statement to CP24, a representative for the City of Toronto said the city received more than 500 applications for CafeTO this year, and of those, 328 have been installed. Last year, city crews installed safety equipment for approximately 800 curb lane cafes, according to the city, which means that if no more applications are approved this year, the city will see nearly a 60 per cent decrease in the number of patios lining the streets of Toronto.

“The rollout of CafeTO has never been more rocky,” mayoral candidate Brad Bradford, who recently took to social media to raise concerns about Bar Volo’s situation, told CP24. “So businesses are suffering right now. I’m committed to making sure this program can run effectively so that we can support our small business community.”

Bradford has spoken positively about implementing new restrictions for CafeTO in council. But the implementation of those changes must improve, he says.  

“We want a more robust program, so we need to make an investment in infrastructure,” he said. “There were examples last year of just pylons in the middle of a street or parking lot, and that’s not a good use of space…there’s a cost of administering a program, and there need to be cost recovery elements, which we worked on extensively.

“The aim is to reduce the fees further. And the problem many businesses seem to have isn’t the fees – it’s the lack of certainty. The delayed timelines, and the fact that in the 11th hour, they’re getting a phone call from the city in June, saying their patio hasn’t been approved. This has been the slowest rollout of the program ever.”

City Hall met earlier this month to address challenges in this year's CafeTO rollout, councillor Paula Fletcher said on Twitter. The city has reinstated a $865 application fee for CafeTO permits, as well as annual permit fees that will run at around $1,449 for the average sidewalk cafe and about $3,077 for the average curbside cafe.

But it has opted to phase those fees in over two years amid criticism from some business.  

If elected mayor, Bradford says he will demand all CafeTO applications be processed by the first Thursday in May every year.

“The city’s execution and rollout has been abysmal,” he said. “Small businesses are suffering – they’re just left waiting. When I’m mayor, they’ll have the predictability and certainty they need to plan.”

Fellow mayoral candidate Anthony Furey, meanwhile, has promised to cut fees for participating restaurants entirely in an effort to make the program more accessible.

“I’ll also be implementing auto-approval timelines,” he told CP24. “City Hall has to make a decision on a project within a certain amount of time. And if they don’t, it’s automatically approved.”