Whereas the Business Licensing By-law 120-2005, as amended (“Licensing By-law”) is a by-law to license, regulate and govern certain businesses operating within the City of Oshawa (“City”), to ensure health and safety, consumer protection and nuisance control; and,
Whereas on February 27, 2023, Council approved Report SF-23-07 “Review of Business Licensing By-law 120-2005, as amended and Temporary Measures Related to Certain Short-Term Food Shop and Peddler Licenses” which directed staff to conduct a comprehensive review (“Review”) of the Licensing By-law, including public and industry consultation, and report back to the Safety and Facilities Services Committee (“Committee”) with proposed enhancements and updates to the Licensing By-law; and,
Whereas on April 29, 2024, Council approved Report SF-24-06 "Review of Licensing By-law 120-2005 and Proposed Program" which proposed legislative and program enhancements to the Licensing By-law and sought Council’s approval to draft a new Licensing By-law to implement the enhancements; and,
Whereas City staff subsequently identified an additional opportunity to extend the benefits of municipal licensing to food-related operations which distribute complimentary food (e.g. promotional events, etc.) for the purposes of ensuring common health, safety and consumer protection standards for patrons and the general public; and,
Whereas the inclusion and regulation of complimentary food distribution operations would rely on existing regulatory provisions associated with food business operations, and would not be subject to a licensing or application fee; and,
Whereas in addition to the legislative and program enhancements as contemplated in Report SF-24-06, the inclusion of the following by-law definitions and provisions to the forthcoming Licensing By-law is necessary and required in order to extend the benefits of municipal licensing to the aforementioned food distribution operations:
- new definitions for permanent and temporary food distribution operations
- new licensing classes for permanent and temporary food distribution operations
Therefore, be it resolved that in accordance with Item SF-24-44 dated October 16, 2024, staff be directed to include new definitions and licensing classes for food distribution in the forthcoming new Business Licensing By-law.