{"id":672765,"date":"2026-05-16T05:23:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T05:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/672765\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T05:23:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T05:23:13","slug":"more-ontario-stores-to-open-on-victoria-day-in-move-government-says-brings-flexibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/672765\/","title":{"rendered":"More Ontario stores to open on Victoria Day in move government says brings \u2018flexibility\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stores in Ontario will be open on Victoria Day for the first time since the Ford government changed the rules governing the statutory holiday, after the premier\u2019s frustration at major malls being closed on Family Day.<\/p>\n

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Back in February, Ford said he was inundated with calls from \u201cso many people wanting to go to shopping malls\u201d and questioned why major shopping centres \u2014 including Toronto\u2019s Sherway Gardens and Yorkdale Mall \u2014 were closed.<\/p>\n

His government then moved to change the rules so more stores and malls could open on two holidays: Victoria Day<\/a> and Family Day.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement Stephen Crawford told Global News retailers would have the \u201coption\u201d to open on Monday, but stressed staff should not be required to work.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy giving retailers the option to open on Family Day and Victoria Day, we are supporting employees and businesses while giving families more choice and convenience to shop at their local retail stores,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThese changes will give employees the flexibility to agree to pick up extra shifts at increased pay, while maintaining their right to take the day off.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The move has been criticized by Ford\u2019s political opponents, who said they fear the change will hurt those who work the hardest and take away one of only a few mandated breaks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole point is that people deserve to have some time off with their family,\u201d Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said. \u201cWe have these holidays so everybody gets a chance to spend time with their family, and they should be able to.\u201d<\/p>\n

The idea was first floated by the premier in February, when he mused about it during a conversation with journalists, suggesting it would boost the economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know it would add to our GDP,\u201d Ford said on Feb. 17. \u201cThat would probably add close to a million working hours that people could pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Less than a month later, he brought it to cabinet and the plan moved forward.<\/p>\n

Before the changes, the Retail Business Holiday Act forbade shopping on New Year\u2019s Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and Easter Sunday.<\/p>\n

Family Day isn\u2019t enshrined in that law, but it is designated as a holiday in the Employment Standards Act, which means employees are entitled to enhanced wages.<\/p>\n

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Ford\u2019s interest in changing the law appears to be driven by the Greater Toronto Area.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to go to Home Depot \u2026 it was closed,\u201d Ford confessed on Feb. 17.<\/p>\n

That closure is largely a decision by a City of Toronto bylaw, which dictates that all retail across the city \u201cmust close\u201d on statutory holidays.<\/p>\n

The only exemptions are small grocery stores, pharmacies and art galleries, along with retailers that carry a \u201ctourist area exemption,\u201d including the Eaton Centre, the Bloor-Yorkville Business Improvement Area and the Distillery District.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stores in Ontario will be open on Victoria Day for the first time since the Ford government changed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":672766,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[45,49,48,13404,714,247584],"class_list":["post-672765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ontario-politics","tag-politics","tag-victoria-day"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}