Item - 2017.PG21.16

The Planning and Growth Management Committee:

1.  Requested the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to host a community consultation meeting on recommended changes to the Zoning By-laws 439-86 as amended and 569-2013 related to craft breweries, brew pubs, and similar uses to clarify and facilitate the use; and,

2.  Requested the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to report back to the Planning and Growth Management Committee in the third quarter of 2017 on recommended changes to the Zoning By-laws regarding craft breweries, brew pubs, and similar uses.

Toronto is at the centre of a worldwide craft beer renaissance. The craft beer sector has seen tremendous growth in recent years and is expected to continue to grow.

In 2015, Toronto City Council adopted item ED 3.11: Fostering Economic Development in Toronto's Craft Beer Sector in response to local growth in the craft beer sector and the resulting confusion amongst industry and city staff on the interpretation of the zoning bylaw as it related to craft breweries.

Since 2015, staff from the Planning, Buildings and Economic development divisions, brewery owners, event planners and my office, have formed a working group playfully called the Cask Force.  We conducted a survey of craft breweries to inform the Cask Force’s work and together we have published an internal guidance document for interpreting the existing zoning bylaw concerning craft breweries.  While this work has been rewarding, we have reached the limits of what interpretation of the existing zoning bylaw can offer and we are ready to explore changes to the zoning bylaw to foster support of the Craft Beer industry.

Toronto's food and beverage sector is of great economic importance to the region. Along with Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles, it is one of the largest food and beverage clusters in North America. Statistics from 2010 show that 47.2 percent of the jobs in Ontario's food and beverage sector were located in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA).  There are over 180 operating breweries in Ontario, with many situated in Toronto and dozens more in the planning stages. As of 2015, that represented 1,500 direct jobs in the craft brewery industry, about 30 percent of the brewery jobs in the province.

Toronto needs to support growth in the new craft beer sector, but the general nature of the definitions in the zoning bylaw do not reflect the realities of craft beer manufacturing and sales. We need to change that.