Tornoto- Mayor John Tory officially kicked off the City of Toronto’s 2022 CaféTO program with the opening of the first patio and the announcement on the expansion of the City’s Amplified Live Music on Patios program.
Mayor Tory was joined by Deputy Mayor Ana Bailão (Davenport), Chair, Planning and Housing Committee; Deputy Mayor Michael Thompson (Scarborough Centre), Chair, Economic and Community Development Committee; Councillor Brad Bradford (Beaches-East York), and members of the local business community at The Emmet Ray on College Street.
The CaféTO program began in 2020 to help bar and restaurant operators during the pandemic by providing safe, outdoor dining areas in the public right-of-way. Again this year, the City has received applications for more than 1,000 curb lane cafés and sidewalk cafés. Crews have begun installing traffic safety equipment to close curb lanes, to install more than 800 curb lane cafés throughout May for restaurants that successfully registered for the CaféTO program by the April 2 deadline. Additional curb lane café installations are anticipated throughout the summer for applications that can be accommodated and were received after the deadline. In addition, the City continues to receive more sidewalk café permit applications each day.
City Council has waived all application, transfer and permit fees for the CaféTO program again this year.
The City’s Amplified Live Music on Patios program has been expanded from four City wards to eight. Through the program, Torontonians can enjoy outdoor live music from May through November 2022. The pilot program allows amplified live music on CaféTO patios, to add energy and vitality to participating main streets and help local artists, who have been among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The participating wards include Beaches-East York, Davenport, Parkdale-High Park, Scarborough Centre, Spadina-Fort York, Toronto Centre, Toronto-Danforth and University-Rosedale. More information about Amplified Live Music on Patios is available on the City’s Amplified Live Music on Patios webpage
New this year, the City’s CaféTO Property Improvement Program offers business operators matching funding of 50 per cent for the cost of eligible improvements (excluding furnishings) to café space on private property or City property where a valid permit has been issued.
Expenses eligible for funding include platforms or decking, fencing, technical drawings, patio and decorative fence lighting and accessibility improvements that meet Accessibility for Ontarians with Disability Act (AODA) design standards. The maximum grant available is $5,000, based on a minimum of $10,000 in improvements. Further funding of up to $2,500, for $5,000 in accessibility upgrades, is available, for a total maximum program grant of $7,500. More information is available on the program webpage
CaféTO also supports restaurant and bar operators to expand outdoor dining opportunities on private property. The City has enacted Temporary Use Zoning Bylaws to permit larger outdoor patios than would otherwise be permitted and to allow outdoor patios in parking lots.
Details about CaféTO, including guidebooks and how to register, are available here