Municipal Licensing

Emerging Opportunities and

Threats

Vanessa Fletcher

City of Toronto

Past

• Licensing Bylaws used to be ‘locked down’ -

once approved did not need to be revisited

for years.

• Licensed businesses were ‘traditional’ types.

• This matched the public’s

needs/expectations.

• Business types remained ‘steady’, no real

radical changes in the various business types

or categories.

Past

• Adult Entertainment Club, Manager & Entertainer

• Arcade, Pool hall and pay-to-play places of amusement

• Auctioneer

• Boats for hire

• Body piercing, electrolysis, hair salon, nail shop, tattoo, waxing and other personal services

• Body Rub Parlour and Body Rubber

• Bowling Alley

• Building Cleaner

• Building Renovator

• Car wash, gas station and public garage

• Circuses and carnivals

• Clothing Drop Box

• Commercial Parking Lot

• Driving School operators and instructors

• Drain Contractor and drain layer

• Food trucks, food cards, ice cream trucks and other street food vendors

• Firework sales

• Grocery, restaurant, cafes and other retail stores that sell food

• Hawker/pedlar and assistant

• Heating contractor

• Holistic centre and practitioner

• Insulation Installer

• Jewellery buyers and precious metal shops

• Laundry

• Limousine service company, owner and driver

• Nightclub and entertainment establishments

• Outdoor marketing stalls and displays

• Pawn shop

• Pet shop

• Plumbing and Heating contractors

• Pedicab owner and driver

• Private parking enforcement agency

• Second hand salvage yards and shops

• Sidewalk Patio/Boulevard Café

• Smoke shops and retail stores which sell cigars and cigarettes

• Taxicab brokers, owners and drivers

• Temporary sign providers

• Theatres

• Tow Truck owner and driver

• Transient Trader

• Driving for a Private Transportation Company

Toronto – Current Licences

• Annually we issue over 57,000 business licenses

• Generates approx. $24 million in annual revenues

• All of our license applications except VFH are traditional paper based submissions

• License applications can only be submitted in one location – 850 CoxwellAve.

Toronto - Current

Toronto - Evolving

• In the recent years there has been a radical shift in the ‘traditional’ business types.

• New business’ have emerged along with new terminology like ‘sharing economy’, ‘gig economy’ and ‘collaborative economy’

• Change has been propelled by both technological changes and public expectations/needs.

• These new challenges are pushing against traditional approach to licensing bylaws.

Evolution

• Challenges faced in Toronto include an antiquated ‘Frankenbylaw’ – aka our Licensing Bylaw

• This Bylaw – Chapter 545 of Toronto Municipal Code is 221 pages long.

• Has been cobbled together over the years and is a prime example of ‘create it and do not touch again unless in an emergency’.

• However, recently we have made some gains in bringing this Bylaw into the 21st century.

Evolution

We have removed some license types

from the Bylaw;

• Owners and drivers of horse-drawn vehicles

used for sightseeing tours

• Owners or keepers of trailer camps

• Person who conducts a special sale

• Seller of meat and fish excluding horse meat

• Seller of horse meat

Evolution

Regulator’s trilemma

Levelling the playing field

Vehicle for Hire in Toronto

• New regulations were passed May 2016 – permits Uber to operate in Toronto

• 5,000 licensed taxis in Toronto

• 45,000 UberX drivers available in Toronto

• Average wait time for a taxicab = 9 minutes

• Average wait time for an Uber = 3 minutes

• Equal regulations where required (driver screening, vehicle safety)

• Equitable regulations where appropriate (cameras and roof lights are only required

in taxicabs)

Short-term rental platforms

• 9,900 Airbnb hosts rented 15,869 listings in 2016 - increase of 3x

since 2014

• 86% of Airbnb listings are rented short-term, 11% are rented for

both short- and long-term

• 65% of listings rent entire unit, 35% rent a room in a unit.

• 72% Airbnb listings are condos/apartments/lofts, 29% of listings

houses/townhouses, 2% of listings are in other types of buildings,

like boats or boutique hotels.

• Airbnb found that 81% of hosts (around 8,000) rent their primary

residence

Short Term Rental activity in Toronto

Short-term rental listings rented in 2016

Data provided by Airbnb

Treehouse ?

Short Term Rental in Toronto

• Draft regulations for Airbnb released on Monday – proposes restriction to

only primary residence, allows in all housing type, across the city

• Guiding principles:

– neighbourhood impacts

– housing affordability

– Tourism

– equity and taxation

Municipal Concerns

City of Toronto staff have convened an internal interdivisional working group on the Legalization of Cannabis.

Highlighted issues to consider as the Federal and Provincial governments proceed to legalize cannabis and permit retail sales.

These concerns include:

o Locations and concentration of retail outlets

o Resources/tools for local enforcement (funds, taxation powers, information sharing)

o Enforcement/oversight of personal cultivation

o Nuisance and fire hazards (production sites and personal cultivation)

o Clear communication of rules in the interim – retail is currently illegal.

Personal Cultivation

Fire hazard:o Home-based cultivation can pose a fire hazard, particularly if

oil extraction and refining is taking place. o Extraction will be prohibited, but how will we ensure that

individuals do not try this at home?

Home Cultivation:o Potential abuse of growing more plants than allowedo Impact on residents residing in apartment/condo buildings,

townhomes etc..(odour, mold, air quality, waste disposal)

Illegal Dispensaries in Toronto

Overview 188 illegal marihuana storefront operations investigated. 1500 inspections year to date. 65 dispensaries currently open/operating 4 Planning Act Search Warrants executed.

Charges 89 property owners charged 208 business owners charged 168 employees charged 465 total charges to date 55 convictions to date

Summary of Orders/Fines 24 prohibition orders 5 probation orders 4 closure orders $54,700 total fine amount

Rooming Houses

Hybrid Uses – Restaurants morphing into

nightclubs

Bodyrubs/Holistics

New Pressures

Vanessa Fletcher

A/ Manager, Policy and Planning

Municipal Licensing & Standards

City of Toronto

vanessa.fletcher@toronto.ca

toronto.ca/mlshaveyoursay

Thank you