Ontario Announces Expanding “Tailgate Event” SOPs to Non-Sports Cultural and Community Events, Unlocking BYOB in Public Parks and Places
The Ontario government today announced its intention to expand the “tailgate event” class of special occasion permits under the Liquor Control and Licence Act so that it includes community and cultural events not connected to an eligible sporting event.
This effectively means that event organizers could apply to the AGCO for a special occasion permit for what it terms a ‘community or cultural event’ to sell, serve, and permit the consumption of liquor—even BYOB.
The current definition of “tailgate event” in O. Reg. 747/21: PERMITS under the Liquor Licence and Control Act is limited to occasions tied to sporting events, namely:
“a public event that is held at an outdoor premises that is at ground level, where the event is held in connection with and in proximity to a professional, semi-professional or post-secondary.”
Unlike general SOPs, “tailgate events” do allow BYOB—but they are restricted to sporting-related events and are subject to other requirements.
The proposal was published in the Ontario Regulatory Registry, entitled “Proposed regulatory amendments to O. Reg. 747/21 (“Permits”) under the Liquor Licence and Control Act, 2019”, seeking comment from stakeholders. The proposal would expand the definition of “tailgate event” to include what they call ‘cultural and community events,’ which is not yet defined but would be at a later date.
Currently, the SOP framework (except for tailgate events) allows permit holders to sell and/or serve liquor at temporary events but does not authorize bringing your own booze or its consumption. Conversely, the current tailgate event class of special occasion permits does permit such, but only applies to sporting-related events.
The government gives as an example “an event hosted at a municipal park that has been designated to allow alcohol consumption” in which “someone enjoying their own beer in the park would be able to enter the tailgate event permitted space with their beer and enjoy the activities being offered (e.g. movie screening, art exhibit).”
Under section 41 of the Act, consumption of alcohol is not permitted in public places except at already-licensed establishments such as bars or restaurants, permitted events, or areas designated by a by-law of the relevant municipality.
The example given by the province in the notice suggests that, unlike existing SOPs, including talgate events under the current definition, permits issued for the broader cultural or community events under the proposal may, at least at first, only be issued for events in public places that municipalities have positively designated as place the public is permitted to consume their own booze at large.
The Province also says that applicants for these expanded tailgate event permits would need to “obtain a letter or resolution from the relevant municipality confirming the event’s status as a ‘cultural, or community event’ before submitting their application to the AGCO.”
That effectively gives municipalities strong veto power, unlike the framework for cannabis retail stores, in which cities can only submit to the AGCO during a public notice process requesting that the particular cannabis store not be authorized, which the AGCO may consider.
Municipalities that have already designated public places to allow consumption of alcohol at large under the liquor Act or that do so soon after the amendment is in force would likely see the highest volume of applications and/or successfully permitted events.
Nothing is stopping a municipality from passing a by-law designating all public places within its boundaries to enable tailgate event permits under the proposed expanded framework. However, it could be subject to a court challenge by interested parties such as residents’ associations. Whether such a challenge would be successful is yet to be seen.
