Regina’s new smoking bylaw comes into place on Saturday. The new bylaw makes it illegal to smoke in all public outdoor places.
Smoking cigarettes and vaping will be banned in all public parks and sports facilities, as well as on patios at restaurants and bars and within ten metres of the entrance of any public buildings.
Now before this bylaw came into effect, it was up to individual restaurants to decide if they wanted to implement a smoking ban on patios.
The city reached out to the public in the spring, using an online survey to determine public support for the ban.
After debating potential changes to the bylaw, city council voted it in unanimously at the end of May.
The bylaw has received some criticism; the Saskatchewan Hotel Association said it would have preferred leaving the decision to allow smoking up to individual restaurants.
The Canadian Cancer Society in Saskatchewan supports the new bylaw. The group will be hosting a party outside of city hall at 10:00 a.m. Friday morning to celebrate a healthier, smoke-free city.
The city says they're counting on voluntary compliance from smokers. The health region, Regina police and bylaw enforcement officers will all have authority to enforce the ban.
