Quebec Superior Court Gives Municipalities the Power to Restrict Fast Food Restaurants

Quebec Superior Court decision gives Municipalities the right to use zoning to try to fight against junk food.

In 2016 Cote-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grace borough, Montreal’s largest borough, passed a zoning bylaw as part of a broader health initiative that limits new fast-food restaurants to two major streets and a shopping centre.

Last month Quebec Superior Court Justice Marc St-Pierre ruled against Restaurants Canada, an association representing the food service industry that filed a motion to quash the municipal bylaw.

In his Oct. 30 decision, Justice St-Pierre wrote, “The court is of the opinion that the borough was perfectly entitled to regulate the businesses it calls ‘fast food restaurants’ by virtue of its general powers.”

The restaurant association as 30-days to file an appeal of the judge’s decision.