Ottawa city council votes to waive monthly patio fees this summer

Ottawa’s city council has agreed to scrap monthly patio fees for businesses this summer. CTV’s Stefan Keyes reports.

Restaurateurs in Ottawa will not have to pay monthly patio fees this summer as the city celebrates its 200th birthday.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe introduced a motion at Wednesday’s council meeting to cut the summer monthly patio permit rental rate from $16.49 per square metre to $0. Council approved the motion unanimously.

Any businesses that have already paid their summer patio fees will be reimbursed, according to the motion.

The 2026 budget increased the patio fee by 58 cents per square metre compared to 2025, but Sutcliffe said waiving the fee over the summer would help local businesses at a time when costs are rising.

“This is a challenging time for many small businesses. We want to support our local hospitality industry, our local restaurants and small businesses. We want them to have a great season, especially with Ottawa 200 celebrations. We don’t want to add to their financial burden,” Sutcliffe said after introducing the motion.

“I think this is something we can do to support our local business community and make the city more vibrant during our Ottawa 200 celebrations.”

The motion also addresses the ByWard Market District Authority and the Sparks Street Mall Authority, whose patio fees cover operating expenses. The motion says the city will provide funding to offset the lost revenue, covered through staff vacancies and professional services budgets within the Planning, Development and Building Services department.

“This is Ottawa’s 200th birthday; we want to have a great summer season, we want lots of patios open, lots of people enjoying their time on the patios, residents and visitors alike,” Sutcliffe told reporters after the council meeting.

“And so, if we can support small businesses, reduce their costs, reduce their financial pressures, make it easier for them to open their patios for this season in particular, we want to do everything we can.”

The city had removed the fees in 2020 through 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic before gradually reintroducing them at 50 per cent of the usual fee in 2023, 75 per cent in 2024 and 100 per cent in 2025.

Patios ‘absolutely essential’

Johny Bonney, assistant general manager for The King Eddy and Lil Z’s Pizza in the ByWard Market, say patios are “absolutely essential” for his business.

“It’s great news,” Bonney told CTV News Ottawa.

“It’s something we’ve been fighting for in the last year for sure, maybe a little bit more. In COVID, we have a bit of a reprieve and then after COVID, they came back, but I think its great because it’s an acknowledgement that things haven’t been back to normal since COVID and we’re still feeling it down here.”

He says the summer rates for patio fees can rack up to between $1,800 to $2,400 per month, depending on the size, a significant amount for small businesses.

“The more of those expenses you can limit or offset, the better chance you have at surviving,” Bonney said.

Sutcliffe’s motion says roughly $460,000 was collected in patio fees citywide last year.

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Shaun Vardon

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