The City of Kitchener is one step closer to a proposed ban on fireworks sales.
A staff report was presented to the Community and Infrastructure Services Committee on Monday afternoon.
The report included three options: keeping regulations as they are, amending the bylaw to set more restrictive time limits and ban fireworks sales within the city, or a full ban on selling and setting off fireworks.
Staff recommended the second option.
Currently, fireworks are only allowed to be set off in Kitchener on Victoria Day until 11 p.m., on Canada Day until 11 p.m. and on Diwali until 11 p.m. The report recommended adding start times to the restrictions. Staff suggested a 9 p.m. until 11 p.m. window for Victoria Day and Canada Day and a timeframe of 8 p.m. until 10 p.m. on Diwali.
The report also noted only 20 businesses in the city are licensed to sell fireworks and they are only allowed to sell them for 18 days per year. To help these businesses make the transition, the amended bylaw was recommended to take effect in 2026, allowing shop owners to sell off their remaining stock.
The option also included stricter penalties for firework-related violations, raising the fines from between $300 and $400 to $1,000 to $1,500.
The City of Kitchener has often hosted a Canada Day fireworks display. Staff investigated how much it would cost to change that event to a show involving 100 drones. The quote for a Canada Day drone show came out to $22,000.
The debate
Committee members took turns to ask staff questions regarding their findings.
Councillor Stephanie Stretch wondered why staff recommended an earlier start time for Diwali celebrations compared to Canada Day or Victoria Day.
“We did an earlier start date for Diwali because it gets darker in the fall, which is typically where Diwali falls, and the sun sets a little bit later for Canada Day and Victoria Day weekend,” Kitchener’s Manager of Bylaw Enforcement, Helen Fylactou explained.
Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic worried a city-wide ban would not put a stop to nuisance behaviour. “I think about our geography and assuming the others in the region come on board, that’ll mean that you won’t be able to buy in Elmira, you won’t be able to buy it in Breslau as an example, but I go just a little bit farther down Highway 7 in terms of Breslau and I get to Wellington County,” he said. “That coupled with how much trade happens online – the reality is, won’t people still be able to get them fairly easily?”
Fylactou, admitted that was still a possibility. “However, the idea is to take away the impulse purchase when you’re filling up your vehicle and you see fireworks and you just grab some and make it a little bit more difficult for youth to obtain fireworks that we have had some issues with previously setting off in our parks,” Fylactou said.
Later in the meeting, Vrbanovic opposed the idea of banning fireworks sales.
“I can’t support the motion, primarily because I am very significantly concerned that the problem that exists is not going to get solved by this. The problem that exists is the extremely bad and illegal behaviour from one human being toward another human being, or groups of human beings in terms of the bad things we saw in some of our parks,” Vrbanovic said.
“What worries me is when we pass bylaws that people feel are government overreach into the lives of citizens, we start seeing people lose faith in the system. We start seeing particularly where there’s a bylaw that people don’t feel can be legitimately enforced or isn’t being legitimately enforced. We know what the challenges are,” he added.
Councillor Debbie Chapman recommended an amendment to direct staff to come back with a plan to transition away from city-run fireworks displays and look at other alternatives, such as drone shows.
Ultimately, the committee voted against the amendment, but the main motion, recommending the second option presented by staff, passed.
The motion still needs to go before city council.
