At least one Ottawa bar owner says the city isn’t moving fast enough on its promise to review the rising cost of patio fees.
Dave Longbottom, owner of Flora Hall Brewing in Centretown, said it’s nice that the city is paying attention to the issue but any changes might come too late.
“I’m happy they’re looking at it but it would be nice if they looked at it at a real-world pace, not city-government pace … They’re more than happy to jack the prices quickly and then take their time to lower them. If I tried to raise the price of a pint by 40 per cent overnight, I’d be empty. The city can sort of arbitrarily raise the price of a patio per square metre by 40 per cent but I can’t recoup that cost,” Longbottom told OBJ Wednesday.
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The rate per square metre for a patio licence went up 38.95 per cent this year from $11.45 in 2024 to $15.91 in 2025. The City of Ottawa told OBJ last month that the increases in cost followed a “phased-in approach” adjusted for inflation. Licence fees were waived from 2020 to 2022 to support small businesses during the pandemic.
Councillors Allan Hubley and Tim Tierney had recommended that the city review the cost of licences for businesses to operate outdoor patios on city property to ensure that they remain in line with other Canadian municipalities.
City council voted Wednesday to conduct a “comprehensive review” that will see city staff consult with the ByWard Market District Authority and Sparks Street Mall Authority and make a recommendation in time for 2026 budget deliberations in December.
Any changes to the cost of the licence would go into effect for the 2026 patio season.
Longbottom told OBJ last month that this year’s licence is costing his business “at least a grand or more” compared to last year for his street patio that can seat 20-25 people.
While his business will be able to weather the storm, he warned that others may not. “I’ll be thrilled if they review (the fees) and lower them but the thing is, by then, I won’t be dead but there might be some businesses who are,” he said.
Rising patio fees and increased parking fees on streets around the ByWard Market and Preston Street mean additional hurdles to revitalizing the downtown core, Longbottom added.
“It’s not the right time, given what we do to contribute to life in this city. It seems like a lack of vision is present. (Parking fees) don’t affect me directly but the city is showing a lack of understanding about what’s required here to get people back into the downtown core,” he said.
