York Region allows stores to open every day except Christmas

Council chose Dec. 25 as the region's common day of closure because it's the day stores seeking exemptions previously were least likely to ask for.

Thestar.com
Nov. 17, 2017
By Lisa Queen

Get out your wallets.

Except for Christmas Day, you will be able to shop every day of the year in York Region if store keepers want to open their doors

Beginning on New Year's Day, stores will be able to open on all statutory holidays other than Dec. 25, thanks to a new holiday shopping bylaw passed by council Nov. 16.

Under provincial legislation, stores must close at least one day of the year.

Council chose Dec. 25 as the region's common day of closure because Christmas is the day stores seeking exemptions to the Retail Business Holidays Act were least likely to ask to open in the past.

Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti urged councillors not to throw the doors open to virtually wide-open shopping without holding public meetings to gauge opinions from residents, retail workers who will have to work instead of being home with their families and shop keepers.

"I was trying to remember a decision that we would make that would impact the lives of thousands of people across the region that we didn't undertake any consultation of the public at all and I couldn't remember one," he said.

"On this issue, there's a reluctance for some reason to go out and actually speak to people about it."

Even shoppers who hit the stores on statutory holidays feel "in their heart of hearts" stores should be closed on certain days, Scarpitti said.

The majority of councillors argued the holiday shopping issue has been debated publicly for many years and it's now time to bring in one consistent policy across the region.

There are many retail workers, such as gas station attendants, pharmacy employees, restaurant workers, garden centre staff and employees of stores and malls in tourist areas that work statutory holidays and nobody has issued an outcry on their behalf, Newmarket Regional Councillor John Taylor said.

"This is a wildly uneven playing field that has been created by the province and this council and by other jurisdictions around Ontario," he said.

"We are, as a government, creating winners and losers."

Councillors also rejected a suggestion by Scarpitti that would have forced all stores to close on Canada Day, in addition to Christmas Day.