Death by Regulation
March 20, 2025
It’s been a harsh winter, at least by Ontario standards, but spring has sprung at last. The snow is gone and the temperatures are climbing. No better time for restaurant owners to start thinking about putting up a patio on the sidewalk. I don’t get the attraction, but they do seem to be popular.
The City of St. Catharines is on their side, they say. They’re committed to supporting the business community in innovative and efficient ways that align with the best practices of comparator municipalities.
In fact, they’re so committed to supporting those bars, restaurants and cafes that they’ve got no fewer than 23 terms and conditions that a business must meet before putting up a patio. Still more if it’s on a regional road such as Ontario Street, Geneva Street or Welland Avenue. But there’s only 16 if the patio is on private property.
The full list is detailed in a 33-page document put together by the City. Yes, boys and girls, you read that right. Thirty-three pages.
For starters, the proprietor must have a valid business license. You can’t just open a restaurant. Heavens no. You need the government’s permission. You’ve got to have at least $5 million in insurance coverage. The City, of course, must be named as additional insured on the policy. You’ve got to have a patio site plan. And the patio must be compliant with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. No one must be left behind. Unless they haven’t taken gene-altering poison. Then to hell with them.
Once a business owner has submitted the application package, a dedicated team of staff from various municipal divisions will review it in order to ensure that all applications have the necessary requirements, permissions and insurance in place to operate efficiently and safely. The City estimates the process will take seven to ten business days.
Naturally, there are fees involved. You didn’t expect the expertise of these Patio Nazis for free, did you? The 2024 application fee was $255. Only $204 for private property. That’s right. You have to pay the City $204 for the privilege of putting a patio on your own property. And that’s not all. There’s a municipal property lease fee of $46.50 per square meter. But city council is in your corner. You can be forgiven if you’ve forgotten that by now. This year, they’ve cut the fees by 50%. How kind of them. So now you only have to pay the City $102 to put a patio on your own property. Be sure to write Mat Siscoe and thank him for his benevolence.
Just in case anyone decides to step out of line, the Patio Nazis reserve the right to conduct site inspections at any time. Heaven forbid a business owner should do something without issued approval or deviate from their patio site plan.
All this can only make you wonder why anyone wants to do business here.
Because this yet another classic case of death by regulation.
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