Toronto will see several hundred fewer outdoor patios this year as city boosts fees and regulations

Revamped CafeTO program sees 501 applications, down from 837 permits in 2022, but bar and restaurant owners ‘grateful’ for the program that saved many businesses during COVID.

Thestar.com
April 11, 2023
Ben Spurr

Toronto’s popular outdoor dining program will return next month, but fewer establishments will take part this year as new city fees and regulations kick in.

The city announced Thursday that about 500 businesses have submitted applications for curbside patios under CafeTO. Approved patios will be installed as starting in mid-May, and will remain operational until October.

“I look forward to seeing hundreds of restaurants and bars taking part in the improved CafeTO program this year. With warmer weather on the way, we are committed to being ready for patio season, including providing accessible and equitable outdoor dining spaces that continue to animate and revitalize our main streets,” said Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie in a statement.

The city launched CafeTO in 2020 as a quick-start program to keep bars and restaurants afloat through the pandemic. For its first three years, the city waived fees for participating businesses, and last year issued 837 curbside patio permits. This year the city has instituted application fees and a requirement for accessible platforms as they make the program permanent.

Johnny Rafferty, owner of the Rose and Crown pub on Yonge St. north Eglinton Ave., is happy to pay up. He said his business wouldn’t have survived the early stages of COVID-19 without CafeTO.

“The neighbourhood loves it, and I’m so grateful for it,” he said. “How could you not want more seats for your restaurant, especially on beautiful summer days?”

Rafferty said he hopes to recoup the fees for setting up one curbside and one sidewalk patio within a week, thanks to the extra business the additional seating will bring in. He also said he plans to apply to a federally funded program that will reimburse owners for half the costs of patio space improvements, up to $7,500.

But while the new fees aren’t a deterrent, Rafferty said the requirement to submit patio designs to the city is “a nuisance.”

“I’ve sent in four different drawings,” he said “and every time they come back with some nitpicky (revision).”

Staff originally estimated permit fees for the average-sized patio would cost about $3,075. Owners would also be required to pay a one-time application fee of $865, and construct an accessible platform for an estimated $14,000.

After industry groups warned the new rules would deter businesses from signing up, council voted in February to phase-in the full cost of the fees over three years, and give businesses until August to install the accessible platforms.

The decision to soften the blow appears to have worked. Staff initially projected curbside patio applications would fall to 400 this year. Instead, the city received 501. The drop in active participants may not even be as steep as those stats suggest -- the city says it investigated about 20 per cent of last year’s permit holders for not consistently using their patios.

Tracy Macgregor, Ontario vice president for Restaurants Canada, said the group expected a dip in CafeTO participation as a result of the new rules, but more than 500 applications still represents a “strong program.”

Macgregor stressed that many restaurants, particularly those downtown whose customers have vanished as more people work from home, still haven’t recovered from COVID-19. They’re also coping with rising food costs, higher liquor taxes, and a labour shortage, and any additional fees or red tape the city imposes can make it harder to keep the doors open.

Macgregor said that before the city increases fees next year, she hopes it will consult with owners, business improvement areas, and industry groups about how CafeTO worked this year, and explore ways to “remove some of these complications, just to make sure it’s as smooth as possible for the operators.”