CORRECTED VERSION: CORRECTS DAY OF WEEK TO “WEDNESDAY” A man drinks a beer in Trinity Bellwoods Park, in Toronto, Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023. Today is the first day of a pilot project by the City Toronto to allow drinking alcohol in public parks. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
You can drink in 45 Toronto parks this summer. Here’s a map of where alcohol in parks will be allowed
Cracking down on cold ones in parks will be a thing of the past starting this summer. Toronto city council voted narrowly in favour of allowing alcohol consumption in dozens of parks.
CORRECTED VERSION: CORRECTS DAY OF WEEK TO “WEDNESDAY” A man drinks a beer in Trinity Bellwoods Park, in Toronto, Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023. Today is the first day of a pilot project by the City Toronto to allow drinking alcohol in public parks. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
If you’re going out for a picnic or hanging with friends at a handful of parks across the city, you’ll no longer need to worry about being ticketed for cracking open a cold one — not that ticketing for drinking in parks was a common occurrence to begin with.
Here’s what you need to know about drinking legally around the city.
When did drinking in parks become legal in Toronto?
A close vote on April 24 made alcohol consumption in parks legal, taking effect immediately at dozens of parks across the city, but mainly in the downtown core.
Stunning sunsets. Fabulous food. The park that has everything. Here’s where to go to toast the city’s new pilot program.
The city ran a pilot program between August and October of 2023, with towering billboards guarding the entrances of 27 parks in the fall.
City staff found that the pilot, despite concerns about citywide booze-induced chaos, was overwhelmingly well-received. There were no increased calls to police, no spike in public complaints and no increase in emergency room visits, staff reported — following a trend over the pandemic that saw people socializing outdoors and drinking in parks due COVID-19 lockdown measures.
“Concerns anticipated by Torontonians before the pilot, such as increased disruptive behaviour and litter, largely did not materialize,” staff wrote in their report recommending the alcohol in parks program be made permanent.
Councillor Paula Fletcher, who represents Toronto-Danforth, which had five parks in the pilot, told the Star in October 2023, that her office didn’t receive a single complaint during the pilot program.
“People were already having a beer or glass of wine in the park,” she said. “They didn’t take this as an invitation to have a rave or a huge party.”
Ninety per cent of people who visited a pilot park wanted to see the program maintained or expanded, staff reported after the test program. A survey of the general population in Toronto found the same response from 53 per cent of residents.
Five councillors — Frances Nunziata, James Pasternak, Vincent Crisanti, Stephen Holyday and Anthony Perruzza — sought to have their wards exempted from the policy, citing the will of their constituents. Each lost their motions by just one or two votes.
Which parks allow drinking in Toronto?
You can check out the Star’s map of where you’re allowed to drink in a park in the city:
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