‘Protecting Ontarians by Enhancing Gas Station Safety to Prevent Gas and Dash Act, 2023’ This bill was passed in April 2023 and please find the link to the entire Bill that mandates GTA gas stations to implement Pre-Pay at the pumps to protect our employees and customers from drive offs as well as the business losses family run gas sites are experiencing.
The bill has not yet received royal assent, but we are seeing many gas stations in the GTA, Hamilton, Durham, York and Halton voluntarily implementing this program.
Once passed local retailers may ask their local Municipality to pass the same resolutions and bring Ontario into the same realm as gas station throughout north America where Prepaying at the pump is the business norm.
We encourage retailers throughout Ontario to ease your customers into the Prepay program by signaling the outside pumps or making prepay mandatory after 7:00 pm or dark (whatever comes first).
The advantage to our industry is no more thefts from drive offs, no more business losses due to these theirs, no longer need to continue to ask local police services to attend or do something and ensures that our employees and customers will be safer in the long run.
To alleviate any fears of instore losses, in other jurisdictions (BC and Alberta) have not had any loss of instore business and customers adjusted quickly with the majority agreeing it is a better way to conduct business.
Bottom line it is time to also institute your own prepay program to protect the bottom line of your business.
