In Owen Sound, there has been recent interest in exploring a by-law under the Retail Business Holidays Act to permit certain businesses to be open on Statutory Holidays. Please read all of the information provided below to obtain additional background information.
A public meeting was held on Friday, April 12, 2019 to allow those interested to obtain additional information. The public meeting was held at City Hall - 808 2nd Avenue East, Owen Sound.
Staff Reports |
Background Information & Survey |
The following information is intended to help provide background and facilitate input and dialogue on this opportunity. Please ensure that you read all of the staff reports and background information prior to completing the survey. The Retail Business Holidays Act is provincial legislation that prohibits the opening of retail businesses on statutory holidays. The legislation is administered by the Ministry of Consumer Services. Local municipalities or regions are given the authority under the legislation to pass by-laws that would exempt businesses from the requirement to be closed on statutory holidays. There are currently nine statutory holidays:
(The Act does apply to other holidays declared by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor to be a holiday under the Act). Currently, the Act allows certain businesses to stay open on holidays including the following:
There are a few options to move this initiative forward: Option A – Application Based Process A municipality normally develops a guideline for applications. For all other businesses that are not subject to an exemption, they must meet certain criteria to be eligible. The Act provides that despite the prohibition to be open on a statutory holiday, a municipality may pass a by-law to allow businesses to be open if they choose. Council’s consideration of a by-law is generated by a request of an individual business or group of businesses. The criteria set out under the Act to qualify include the following:
An attraction is limited to:
The onus is on the applicant to provide information that:
Council must give notice and hold a public meeting for each application. Council is not required to approve the by-law even where the criteria are met. After the public meeting, Council considers a by-law. The by-law can apply to an individual business or a group of businesses within an area such as the DIA. The by-law can be appealed to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal. Option B – Blanket Amendment Recent amendments to the Retail Business Holidays Act would allow the opportunity to exempt an entire municipality from the Act. York Region has adopted this approach. The blanket by-law has advantages including:
Staff who work in retail may be negatively impacted by this type of by-law should their place of employment make a decision to be open. Next Steps Through the City’s Economic Development & Tourism Advisory Committee on Friday, April 12th, Council will seek public input on this initiative. Following the public meeting, there will be an online survey to provide further opportunity for input and comment. Findings will then be reported back to Committee and Council.
Survey is now closed.
Project Contact: All survey responses will remain confidential and will be analyzed and submitted as aggregated data. If you have questions, please contact Pam Coulter (contact information listed above). The survey will be open until Tuesday, April 30, 2019 at 4:30pm Thanks for taking time to complete the survey! |
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