Street food trucks have been less present on the streets of the metropolis since the pandemic, due to teleworking, but also because city regulations are too rigid, believes the opposition to city hall. To give this industry a boost, Ensemble Montréal proposes that the City recognize street food as a cultural activity in its own right.
“For the past few years, we’ve seen the effect of a slowdown in street food,” notes the councilor of Ensemble Montréal in the district of Tétreaultville, Julien Hénault-Ratelle. According to him, the regulatory amendment proposed by his party would give much more latitude to owners of food trucks so that they can participate in pop-up events or neighborhood markets without having to present artistic programming, as is the case at the moment.
Currently, only four of the city’s 19 boroughs allow the presence of food trucks on public property, namely Ville-Marie, Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie and Villeray-Saint- Michel-Parc-Extension. “We see a huge development potential for street food in Montreal,” says the elected official, who points to the overly restrictive regulations.
Along with his colleague Stéphanie Valenzuela, Mr. Hénault-Ratelle will present a motion to the municipal council meeting on June 12, calling for a relaxation of the City’s regulations in order to recognize street food as a cultural activity. “Street food is a vector of identity and culture that must be recognized for its full potential as gastronomy. With the proposed regulatory amendment, it would allow street food to be present at more ephemeral events, quickly and simply. »
With its motion, the opposition also wants the City to mandate the Montreal Gastronomy Office to develop an action plan to promote Montreal street food. The City should also agree with the Office on three-year funding for the Association des restaurateurs de rue du Québec to ensure better financial stability, it is proposed.
Finally, Ensemble Montréal suggests installing electrical terminals dedicated to food trucks in predetermined locations to avoid the need for gas generators.
Multiple constraints
The vice-president of the Association des restaurateurs de rue du Québec, Gaëlle Cerf, confirms that the industry is coming up against restrictive regulations that consider gastronomy to be of a commercial nature above all. “Creating an event that is based on outdoor gastronomy is very complicated. There absolutely must be art and culture. You have to have a DJ, a fire-eater and a stilt-walker,” she quips.
As an example, she cites the event The First Fridays which takes place on the Esplanade of the Olympic Park. This one could not stand on the public domain, she said. “Not having the status of a cultural event, it is very difficult to obtain subsidies,” she adds.
Still, the street food industry is doing well, although trucks are less visible on the streets, Cerf argues. Long before the pandemic, street food had turned to private events, festivals and even CHSLDs, gradually abandoning activities in the public domain.
The Association currently has 73 members, for a total of one hundred trucks.