Pressure to allow Ottawa businesses to open on holidays appears to be building, with retailers and their advocates saying stores should have the option to open regardless of where they are located.

Last month, the Ontario Municipal Board upheld an Ottawa city council decision granting the Glebe an exemption from provincial legislation.

That means businesses in the neighbourhood are allowed to stay open on six statutory holidays, including Thanksgiving.

Ontario's Retail Business Holidays Act also exempts retail outlets that sell handicrafts and book or magazine stores that are less than 2,400 square feet with a maximum of three employees, as well as pharmacies under 7,500 square feet, nurseries, flower shops, gardening centres and gas stations.

Christine Leadman, the head of the Bank Street BIA, says letting other business districts open on holidays is a "no-brainer." Stores in locations established as tourist areas by specific municipal bylaws can also keep the lights on, and that's how the Glebe won its exemption.

'It's a no-brainer'

Retailers in the city's other business improvement areas say whether or not a neighbourhood is in a tourist zone shouldn't be relevant grounds to permit or deny opening.

"To me, it's a no-brainer," said Bank Street BIA executive director Christine Leadman.

Leadman said holiday shopping should be extended not just north of the Glebe, but to all neighbourhoods — even where there are historically few tourists.

"To suggest that only people who are here visiting are shoppers doesn't make a whole lot of sense," she said.

Some stores want to give employees day off

Statutory holiday openings are not a "silver bullet" for business owners, says Wellington West BIA head Zach Dayler. (Stu Mills) At nearby Compact Music, manager Tyler Clarke said even if his Centretown location was permitted to stay open, he probably wouldn't.

Clarke says his record store employees are happy to have a holiday Monday off.

"It's nicer to have the extra time and recharge the batteries," he said.

The Ottawa and District Labour Council has opposed the push for stores to open on holidays, arguing employees would face pressure to work on the holidays or lose other shifts.

The labour council has said it intends to appeal the Glebe's new exemption at the Ontario Municipal Board.

Relax rules for 2017, says own retail group

Zach Dayler, the head of the in Wellington West BIA, said the city should exempt his area and others in preparation for what will likely be a record year for tourism.

"With 2017 on the horizon and lots of people wanting to do events it's going to be interesting to see how the city responds," Dayler said.

"Opening a business for a holiday exemption isn't going to be the silver bullet that solves the challenges for local business," he said, but added that there has been a growing interest among his association members to follow in the Glebe's footsteps.

Flock Boutique co-owner Bridget Remai says her Wellington West staff are eager to work on statutory holidays. (Stu Mills) Because it is smaller than 2,400 square feet, and is staffed by fewer than four people, Flock Boutique in Wellington Street is exempt from the Retail Business Holidays Act

"Our staff actually battle each other out for holiday work shifts," joked co-owner Bridget Remai.

"It's nice to walk out on the street and meet everybody — and if no businesses are open there isn't really a common meeting place," said Remai.

Remai said the majority of her Thanksgiving Monday customers will be locals, and not tourists. She thinks the time has come to let all neighbourhoods, tourist destinations or not, open on holidays.​