Montreal relaxes terrace rules that led to Grand Prix mayhem last year

Montreal is relaxing certain rules that turned last year’s Formula 1 Grand Prix into something of a fiasco for some downtown businesses.

Several downtown restaurant and bar terraces were forced to close during the 2024 Grand Prix festivities – with the weekend already underway – due to compliance issues, despite having the proper permits.

In the lead-up to this year’s Canadian Grand Prix, held on the weekend of June 13-15, the Ville-Marie borough is loosening its rules.

The city announced it will relax bylaws to allow previously non-compliant terraces to operate, provided safety isn’t compromised. The new rules are set to roll out this summer.

It comes as a relief to frustrated bar owners, who say the loosening of the rules is long overdue. The F1 weekend is historically one of the most profitable weekends for restaurateurs in Montreal.

“If we don’t have any patio for the summer, my business won’t continue for sure, and it was a really big stress,” said Jean-Yves Mas, the co-owner of Le Psy Bar on Saint-Denis Street in the Quartier Latin.

Last year, Mas received a notice from the city saying his terrace was non-compliant — it was four inches too wide and the wheelchair access ramp was not wide enough. He fixed the latter issue, but says shortening the terrace by four inches would be costly – at least four days of work to complete.

Ville-Marie city councillor Robert Beaudry visited the bar and told Mas the notice did not make sense. Shortly after Beaudry’s visit, the owners got the official OK from the city to open their terrace.

In a statement to CityNews, the borough said: “The Ville-Marie borough is pulling out all the stops to facilitate and accelerate the deployment of terraces on its territory. … Since the abrupt closure of terraces on Peel, a major concerted effort with emergency services, borough teams and the commercial community has been underway to make things easier for merchants.”

But business leaders warn deeper issues persist, citing poor communication between city departments.

“They seem not to have talked to each other,” said Julien Vaillancourt Laliberté, the executive director of SDC Quartier Latin. “The permit person doesn’t speak to the inspection person, and every time, every year, it’s the same thing. Why don’t you guys speak to each other?

“There’s been improvement, a lot of improvement since the Peel Street incident last year, but still there is that silo working and how are we gonna break it off?”