Strict Sunday shopping rules may soon end in Miramichi

Business is brisk on the weekends at Emily Field's specialty cheese shop in Miramichi, as customers flow through the doors to buy thick slices of aged cheddar and blocks of gouda. 

"That is the time when people get out and go shopping," she said.

But on Sundays the store stays shuttered until noon — because it's against Miramichi's municipal bylaw that limits shopping hours to between noon and 5 p.m.

"If people had a little bit more time to shop on the weekends, I think it would be great for business and great for the community in general," Field said. 

Miramichi is now considering modifying its Sunday shopping bylaw, allowing business owners to set their own hours, after a request from the Retail Council of Canada.

While the province's largest cities repealed restrictions more than a decade ago, Miramichi officials have kept the restrictive bylaw in place.

Under New Brunswick's Days of Rest Act, all retailers, with few exceptions, must be closed on Sundays but the legislation leaves it up to municipalities to create their own Sunday shopping rules.

Sunday shopping bans were once standard across Canada, but most restrictions have been dropped or loosened in response to public pressure.

Jim Cormier, Atlantic director of the Retail Council of Canada, said Miramichi was one of three municipalities, along with Woodstock and Sackville, that opted to maintain restrictions to Sunday hours over the past decade. The northern city of about 17,000 is now the last remaining hold out.

"They are the only spot in all of New Brunswick that still tries to dictate to retailers the hours that councillors feel work best for retailers' business," he said.

Cormier said businesses need flexibility, especially in an environment where they're competing against online shopping. 

"It doesn't mean that retailers are open. It just means they have the choice to choose those hours that work best for their business," he said.

At a meeting on May 7, Miramichi city councillors discussed the request from the retail council. They asked for additional feedback from the public before considering amending the bylaw.

City manager Mike Noel said when the rule was looked at in 2005, he recalls employees "weren't very fond" of it and didn't want to work on Sundays.