City of Toronto seeks feedback on CaféTO program for 2023 and beyond

CaféTO is a program that provides restaurants and bars in Toronto with the opportunity to expand their outdoor dining space through sidewalk cafés, curb lane cafés or patios on private property. (File Photo: City of Toronto)

Today, the City of Toronto launched a survey for restaurant operators, customers and the general public to provide feedback on the CaféTO program. Survey responses will help to inform proposed program guidelines and criteria going forward.

This patio season, the CaféTO program supported more than 1,200 restaurants and bars across the city with expanded outdoor dining opportunities on streets and sidewalks.

Toronto City Council made CaféTO a permanent city program in 2021 and asked staff to report on proposed program changes specific to the curb lane café portion of the program in early 2023.

In 2021, a similar CaféTO program survey received more than 10,000 responses which showed that 91 per cent of respondents believed that extended sidewalk and curb lane cafés should be allowed in Toronto in the future.

The survey and more details about the CaféTO program are available at Toronto.ca/CafeTO.

The City is currently picking up all CaféTO curb lane safety equipment (more than 80 per cent of installations have already been removed) and is on schedule to have all remaining equipment removed by Monday, November 7. All remaining businesses and business improvement areas (BIAs) have been informed of their upcoming removal dates.

Quote:

“Over the last three years, CaféTO has been a transformative program that has made our streets more vibrant and supported the restaurant industry during an unprecedented period of uncertainty. I look forward to hearing the feedback collected through this survey and I know it will help us continue to improve the program in the years to come.”
– Mayor John Tory