This Thanksgiving long weekend, residents in one Ottawa neighbourhood will have a lot more choice when it comes to shopping.
Businesses in the Glebe are now allowed to open their doors on six statutory holidays throughout the year, including Labour Day and New Year’s Day. Thanksgiving Day, Canada Day, Family Day and Victoria Day round out the list.
The Ontario Municipal Board handed down the decision, which takes effect immediately, on Sept. 29 following a three-day hearing at City Hall.
“We couldn’t be happier that our members can now choose for themselves whether opening on a holiday is beneficial to their operations, or not,” said Andrew Peck, executive director of the Glebe Business Improvement Area, in a news release.
City council had already approved the exemption in February, but the Ottawa and District Labour Council quickly appealed the decision to the OMB, an independent tribunal that has the power to review and overturn decisions made by municipal governments.
In a tweet, the ODLC said it’s “disappointed” with the OMB’s ruling, which is final. The council has warned that the decision could force other business areas to follow suit — regardless of their members’ views on holiday retailing — in order to continue competing with stores in the Glebe.
Businesses in the Glebe have been itching to serve customers on statutory holidays for years — with one infamously jumping the gun.
In 2014, the Whole Foods Market at Lansdowne Park defied provincial law by opening up on Good Friday. Ottawa Police were called out to the location after receiving a complaint, later slapping the upscale grocery store’s owners with four charges for the violation, which carried a fine of up to $50,000.
Despite the new rules, Whole Foods and other shops in the Glebe won’t be able to turn on their cash registers over the Easter long weekend. Under Ontario’s Retail Business Holidays Act, they’re still required to close on Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Christmas Day.
The Glebe now joins only a handful of other locations in Ottawa – all situated in the downtown core – permitted to operate on holidays: the Rideau Centre, the Byward Market, Sparks Street Mall, the Loblaw supermarket on Rideau Street, as well as the stretch of Rideau Street between King Edward Avenue and Sussex Drive.