Most Manitobans support letting stores choose Sunday shopping hours, survey finds

A full two-thirds of Manitobans are in favour of letting stores set their own hours on Sundays, a new survey suggests.

In the survey, commissioned by the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce and Retail Council of Canada, 68 per cent of those asked said they supported allowing retailers to set their hours of operation, including on Sundays, with 45 per cent of those sayingthey strongly supported it.

On the other side, just over a quarter said they opposed making a legal change to allow retailers to set their own Sunday hours, and 14 per cent said they strongly opposed it.

• Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce pushes for more Sunday shopping

The Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce approached the Manitoba government earlier this year, pushing for changes to Sunday shopping laws.

Currently in Manitobastores are allowed to open at 9 a.m, but they have to close by 6 p.m.

The survey found half of people with kids in their home strongly supported Sunday shopping, while support was weaker among people over 55.

"The 9-5, Monday to Fridayeconomic experience that defined our world years ago has been replaced by a 24/7online reality, driven by demographics, technology and globalization," said Loren Remillard, president and CEO of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce.

• Sunday shopping still a hot debate in Winnipeg

Munther Zeid, the owner of five local food fare stores saidadding more hours won't bring in more money.

"Would we change, right now, no," he said.

Zeid says when the laws changed they opened earlier but there weren't enough shoppers to justify the staff cost.

"Idon't think it's going to make a difference in businesses. I know for ourselves our hours will remain the same," Zeid said.

Manitoba is one of only three provinces that restrict Sunday shopping hours, along with Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.

The survey was conducted via telephone interviews by Probe Research on a random sample of 1,000 people in the province, with95 per cent certainty that results are accurate within 3.1 percentage points.