Retail Business Holidays Act

Council Resolution CR236/2019 - Exemption:

• City Council, at its meeting held on May 6, 2019, adopted Council Resolution CR236/2019 directing the City Solicitor to prepare a by-law that exempts the City of Windsor from the Retail Business Holidays Act (RBHA) and provides retail business establishments with a blanket exemption from holiday closures with the exception of Christmas Day.

The Retail Business Holidays Act (the "Act") requires businesses to be closed on statutory holidays unless they are exempted. The Act sets out statutory exemptions for certain classes of business and also provides that Council may pass a by-law permitting businesses to remain open for the maintenance or development of tourism. Before passing such a by-law, Council must hold a public meeting to consider an application for exemption.

The Retail Business Holidays Act statutory holidays include:

1. New Year’s Day,
2. Good Friday,
3. Victoria Day,
4. Canada Day,
5. Labour Day,
6. Thanksgiving Day,
7. Christmas Day,
8. Easter Sunday, and
9. Any other public holiday declared by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor to be a holiday for the purposes of this act (Family Day is included in this provision).

View copy of the Retail Business Holidays Act.

Resources

• Council Report No. C129/2018 - Retail Business Holidays Act - Blanket Exemption
• Council Report No. C71/2019 - Public Response to Creating a Blanket Exemption for Windsor Pursuant to the Retail Business Holidays Act
• Council Resolution CR236/2019
• By-Law Number 80-2019
• By-Law Number 81-2019
• By-Law Number 82-2019

For general information, call 311. For detailed inquiries, please contact:

The Office of the City Clerk
Suite 530 - 350 City Hall Square West
Windsor, Ontario
Canada
N9A 6S1

Phone: 519-255-6222 ext. 6378
Email: clerks@citywindsor.ca
Fax: 519-255-6868