City report finds Toronto stores should open on four statutory holidays

TORONTO, Ont. – A new city report finds Toronto retailers should be permitted to keep their doors open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on four statutory holidays – Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day and Thanksgiving Day.

Thestar.com reports the survey showed that out of the 81 municipalities in Ontario which have holiday shopping, over 90 per cent let stores open on those four holidays because they fall during the tourist season.

While Toronto has had the power to set shopping hours for the past six years, holiday shopping rules have yet to be changed. As a result, only stores or malls tourist-designated areas, such as along Yonge St. or in the Distillery District, remain open on statutory holidays.

Nonetheless, all other retailers must be closed, except for variety stores, restaurants and movie theatres, on nine statutory holidays.

The report is scheduled to be discussed next Tuesday by councillors on the economic development committee at City Hall. However, the report still supports most stores keeping their doors closed on New Year’s Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Christmas Day.

In recent years, the municipal government has been lobbied by Toronto’s large malls which argue they are at a disadvantage because malls in neighbouring cities – such as Pacific Mall in Markham – can be open. 

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