After Royal Assent, changes in legislation allowing retailers in Prince Edward Island to open on Sundays year round will come into effect on December 24, 2010.
In accordance with the Retail Business Holidays Act, retail businesses will be permitted to open at 12 noon on Sundays year round, but must remain closed on designated holidays. This year the first Sunday following Christmas Day is Boxing Day which is a designated holiday and therefore retail businesses on Prince Edward Island will be closed. They are permitted to be open Monday, December 27.
The designated retail holidays listed in the Retail Business Holidays Act are Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Good Friday, Islander Day, Labour Day, New Year’s Day, Remembrance Day and Thanksgiving Day. Regardless of the day of the week on which these holidays fall, retail businesses are not permitted to be open.
The first Sunday a retail business may open under the newly amended legislation will be Sunday, January 2, 2011, at 12 noon.