KITCHENER -- As restaurants and bars get ready for another critical patio season, municipalities across the area are doing their part to help them out.

Owners like Natalie Schnurr at Arabella Park Beer bar say the warmer weather is a much needed lifeline for their industry.

“We’re just trying to make up for the winter that we have struggled to survive through,” she said.

With the City of Kitchener extending its temporary patio expansion program to the end of the year, Arabella will have its bigger and better patio return for the summer.

“Typically we would have a smaller patio, usually only 500 square feet,” said Schnurr. “We’ve been able to add an extra 4,000 square feet onto our patio.”

Gaukel Street in Downtown Kitchener is once again closed off to offer outdoor eating options, while Willis Way and Princess Street in Waterloo could be closed off again this summer as well.

In Stratford, support to restaurants and bars included an expanded 2020 program that allowed people to enjoy alcohol along the banks of the Avon River.

“It’s not over, so we still need to be thinking about how to best support our businesses and welcome our restaurants back,” said Joani Gerber, CEO of Invest Stratford. “The pilot program is going to grow and expand a little bit this year and include the park system, so everything south of the river and Queen’s Park as well will be great for picnics and takeout.”

In Guelph, bars and restaurants without an existing agreement with the city will want to get their patio permit on Apr. 1 instead of May 1.

“While the sun is shining, we want to be able to bring people back in, hire more staff, get more people back on the payroll,” said Brandon Rennie, the owner of Gin Mill.

The bump up decision goes to council on Monday, and while Mayor Cam Guthrie says the downtown dining district of last year won’t look the same, there may be some more wiggle room.

“There seems to be quite a lot of agreement and compromise so far around potentially looking to close the streets down on the weekends, but not like last year,” he said.

Brant County already has five businesses taking of advantage of its sidewalk patio permits that begin on May 1.

In Cambridge, the city says they’re hoping to better their 35 temporary patio permits issued last year. Council will decide in late April on allowing road closure requests to accommodate patios.