‘Unexpected and egregiously high’: Edmonton restaurants feel new patio fees are hurting small businesses
Posted April 15, 2026 11:40 am.
An Edmonton restaurant is contemplating not re-opening its patio this summer after the city announced new patio licence fees effective April 1.
The owner of Rocky Mountain Icehouse on Jasper Avenue says having less seating capacity will have a significant impact on the business – especially with the Oilers once again heading into the playoffs.
But Susan Forsey is struggling with how to manage the new cost.
“On top of everything else, we can’t afford another bill,” Forsey told CityNews.
“Maybe if we can pull the money together, it just makes business sense, smart business sense if we can pull the money together. Not to have the year-round patio, but to at least have the summer patio.”
For years, Edmonton restaurants did not have to pay anything to use city sidewalks. But as of two weeks ago, a year-round patio on public space costs $6,900, while a large single-season patio is $3,700.
The city says the new patio tax is “needed to offset property tax increases.”
The Hub on Whyte Avenue is among the businesses that will not re-open a patio this summer.
Co-owner Peter Kleith tells CityNews while he understands the city’s difficult financial position, he’s disappointed in the significant fees they’ve introduced, adding this will decrease vibrancy in areas like downtown and Whyte Ave.
The Alberta Hospitality Association says the fees were “unexpected and egregiously high.”
“It’s just one more straw on a camel of an industry that’s already working,” said Mona Pinder, the association’s executive director. “They’re also not in line with other communities. And we just think that they’re taking away from the vibrancy of the community, which is something that Edmonton has been trying to promote, and this just seems to go against that.”
Last month, there was a motion calling city leaders to rethink fees, but council shot it down.
The new patio fees were announced earlier this year. At the time, Edmonton’s mayor said “patios are subsidized by taxpayers, and the fee change puts half of those costs back on the businesses.”
Forsey says Rocky Mountain Icehouse opened one of the first winter patios as part of the city’s pilot project in 2019, adding new patio fees after the city was promoting year-round patios seems ironic.
“I understand that they do need to recoup money and they have to,” she said. “Because now they don’t have photo radar, that’s a huge hit for them. And they’re trying to survive from COVID as well. We all are. But when you add everything together, I just think it’s detrimental to small businesses.”
