Rise and chug! Toronto approves a 6 a.m. start for bars during the Olympics
No crying into pints allowed
From a Toronto time zone perspective, the Olympics being in Italy is a lot better than the Olympics being in Beijing. Milan is six hours ahead, and since a lot of the action happens in the afternoon and evening, we should be able to catch most of it. And now, we can raise a glass while we’re at it.
Yesterday, city council approved a motion to extend alcohol service hours so that the city’s 8,000 bars and restaurants can start pulling pints at 6 a.m. It was, it should be noted, a rare moment of agreement for those who are constantly opposed at council, like Mayor Olivia Chow and wannabe mayor Brad Bradford.
Related: Canadian Tate McRae’s Team USA Olympics ad is treason
The whole thing was Chow’s idea. On Monday, she tabled her motion, which read: “I am proposing city council adopt this item so that we can celebrate the Team Canada Olympic spirit(s) throughout the Winter Games.” (See what she did there?) Yesterday, the motion was adopted without amendment or debate. Ah yes, booze—the one point over which downtown elites and suburban salt-of-the-earthers can come together.
It’s about fun and patriotism, sure, but it’s more about business. February is never an easy month for Canadian food and drink establishments, and with the state of the current economy and the slump in alcohol consumption, people are going to bars less than ever.
Tony Elenis, CEO and president of the Ontario Restaurant Hotel and Motel Association, called Chow’s proposal “a practical, low-risk measure that would allow restaurants and cafes that choose to participate to meet early-morning demand created by the time difference with Italy, increase revenues, support jobs, and provide welcoming spaces for residents and visitors cheering on Team Canada.”
Related: Canadian Olympians will take over Nathan Phillips Square next weekend
Whether it’s increased cheering, hooting, hollering or running naked through a snow bank when Team Canada wipes that smug smirk off Auston Matthews’s face, there’s no question that early morning alcohol consumption will affect more than just the bottom lines of bars and restaurants. But 2026 has already felt like five years of stress and anxiety rolled into a single month. We could all stand to unwind a little—hiccup. (Hey, it’s well past 6 a.m.)
Courtney Shea is a freelance journalist in Toronto. She started her career as an intern at Toronto Life and continues to contribute frequently to the publication, including her 2022 National Magazine Award–winning feature, “The Death Cheaters,” her regular Q&As and her recent investigation into whether Taylor Swift hung out at a Toronto dive bar (she did not). Courtney was a producer and writer on the 2022 documentary The Talented Mr. Rosenberg, based on her 2014 Toronto Life magazine feature “The Yorkville Swindler.”
