As Canadian cities make pandemic patios permanent, experts call for clear standards

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At the height of social distancing and other restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, many Canadian cities have issued temporary patio policies, relaxing rules and waiving fees for bars and restaurants looking to attract more outdoor customers.

These programs have brought a glimmer of hope — and revenue — to businesses that had to close their doors, allowing them to offer more outdoor dining to citizens eager to leave their homes.

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Now, as cities move into their new post-pandemic normal, experts say patios need comprehensive standardization to make them more accessible, as well as more predictable for businesses still trying to make up for lost sales.

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“It was something that became obvious a no-brainer for better streets, better neighborhoods and better cities,” said city planning consultant Brent Toderian, who is also a former chief planner for Vancouver.

“So it’s remarkable how bad we’ve done.”

When the pandemic hit, restaurants and bars closed, resorted to takeout services or it was completely dark, and sprawling patios were a lifeline for many businesses.

“The pandemic was kind of a forced pilot program,” said James DiPaolo, a senior associate at Urban Strategies.

“Cities have been looking for innovative ways to adapt, and they’ve had to do it on a much faster schedule than they used to.”

Three years later, the transition to the new normal looks different everywhere you look, with some municipalities making temporary, permanent changes while others rolling them back.

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But advocates have been sounding the alarm about accessibility concerns in pedestrian plazas and sidewalks for several years, and say any permanent solution needs adequate accessibility standards. Meanwhile, companies are looking for predictability as they make plans and investments for the future, but in some cities they have been complaining about delays and segregation in the licensing process.

Many businesses in Toronto are currently seeing previously approved patio permits denied during the pandemic years for a variety of reasons, or are facing delays in obtaining permits even as summer approaches, said Tracy McGregor, Ontario vice president of Canadian Restaurants.

“This is where the frustration comes in,” she said, “because they can’t walk the earth with these yards.”

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Toderian said the city’s CafeTO program is an example of the “red tape” that can occur if policies are not well designed.

“When you walk around Montreal, you see a lot (patios). So that definitely indicates that their system is more effective.

“It’s part of their overall attitude toward the public sphere, which is better than any other city in North America.”

In some cases, the pandemic has improved accessibility, said Maian Ziv, founder and CEO of AccessNow. For example, businesses that might not have previously had accessible indoor seating were able to do so with the extra outdoor space, she said.

But in other cases, she said, they have introduced new barriers.

“No public funds should be appropriated for the installation of new barriers, and no permits or permits should be granted to companies that have not considered accessible access points to these spaces.”

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Over time, urban spaces are becoming less challenging to access, said David Lipofsky, president of the Accessibility Law Coalition of Ontario. Epidemic wipeout programs are just one example, he said, noting that early iterations often left pedestrians on the road.

Changes announced early in 2023 to Toronto’s program include “unified platforms for accessibility,” according to the city, along with a transition period to make required changes and grant programs for businesses and BIAs.

Lipovsky said that while each municipality is looking for a permanent solution, a mixed situation is developing, even though the duty to assimilate goes beyond city limits.

“If you leave it up to each municipality to reinvent the accessibility wheel, they either won’t do it, or they risk getting it wrong. And you’re burdening people with disabilities every community to have to fight about this.”

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Widespread and standardized accessibility benefits everyone, not just people with disabilities, Lipofsky said, including increasing companies’ potential customer base.

“We just need to make sure that there’s an access plan built into all of these projects,” Ziff said. This could be as simple as ensuring easy access or educating and training restaurant staff, she said.

“I’d like to see that widely adopted in every municipality, as opposed to on a case-by-case basis,” Ziv said.

Toderian agreed that yard programs should be approached in a standardized manner, rather than a program that requires case-by-case reviews of yard designs as some do.

“No wonder these things don’t get done faster,” he said.

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DiPaolo said it appears that both Calgary and Edmonton have clear, helpful guidelines for their patios, which helps businesses figure out what their patio should look like instead of “starting from scratch in each case.”

In Calgary, the city is again waiving yard permit fees this year. In 2022, it made the expanded yard program permanent, with permits valid for three years, according to the city’s website.

Along 17th Avenue, a popular stretch of bars and restaurants, a local business group decided to get involved in organizing patio season.

CEO Tulene Steistol explained that the 17th Ave Business Improvement District invested last year in building an extensive walkway system that runs alongside the sidewalks. Seating is set up on the sidewalks in front of businesses, while pedestrians walk the boardwalk without having to keep an eye on servers and customers crossing between the restaurant and patio seating.

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This has made the patios safer for patrons and pedestrians and more attractive to businesses, Steiestol said, noting that the BIA made changes following comments from the city’s Accessibility Commission.

Steiestol believes municipalities should help pay for such projects, which helps them spread more widely.

“We have municipalities coming down, and their own teams from other cities taking note of what we did,” she said.

Some communities have taken pandemic patios several steps forward, DiPaolo said, implementing pedestrian-only times on the streets and bringing in live music and public art.

He said, “I hope as a planner that … the success of these programs can be leveraged for more permanent improvements in the public sphere.”

“Rather than building temporary street courtyards during the summer months, we might be talking about widening the public street, where these issues of accessibility, mobility, and safety are actually built into the design of the streetscape rather than being addressed through the permitting process that happens every year.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 9, 2023.

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