Christmas 2023: Here's What's Open & Closed On Christmas Day In Ontario This Year
Grocery stores, restaurants, malls, attractions, and more! 🎄
Christmas tree at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto.
As we get closer to the end of December, that means it's the most wonderful time of the year (or so the song says) — Christmas!
You might be wondering what's open and closed on Christmas Day in Ontario, including grocery stores, malls, restaurants and attractions, especially if you need to do last-minute shopping or are looking for things to do.
If you don't know, Christmas is on December 25, 2023, which is a Monday.
Regardless of whether you're celebrating the holiday or not, here's what you need to know about places that are open and closed on Christmas Day in Ontario this year.
That includes spots like Costco, Walmart, The Beer Store, Eaton Centre, the CN Tower, Nathan Phillips Square's skating rink and even services like banks, the TTC and ServiceOntario.
Grocery stores
Costco: All Costco locations in Ontario are closed on Christmas Day.
Walmart: Closed for Christmas.
Metro: Closed.
Food Basics: All Food Basics locations are closed on Christmas Day in Ontario.
Loblaws: Closed on December 25.
Longo's: All locations are closed.
Rabba: All of the Rabba locations in the Greater Toronto Area are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
That includes Christmas Day so if you need to shop for groceries on December 25, this is one of the few places that's open.
Liquor stores
LCBO: Stores are closed on Christmas Day.
The Beer Store: Closed on December 25.
Wine Rack: Wine Rack locations in the Toronto area are open on Christmas.
Restaurants
Mandarin: Holiday hours for lunch at Mandarin restaurants in Ontario are 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Then, Manadarin's holiday hours for dinner are from 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Fox on John: This spot in Toronto is open on Christmas Day.
You can even get the Turkey dinner special if you're celebrating the holiday. It features roasted turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, garlic mash, and caramelized carrots with a slice of pie for dessert.
The Albion Rooms: The Albion Rooms in Ottawa is open for lunch and dinner on December 25.
Makimono: Makimono Sushi's Pickering location is open on Christmas.
Isabelle Restaurant + Lounge: This Burlington restaurant is accepting reservations for Christmas Day.
Milestones Grill + Bar: This location in Richmond Hill is open on Christmas.
d|bar: At the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto, d|bar has a Festive Afternoon Tea from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. and Festive Fondu Boards available from 4 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on December 25.
ONE Restaurant: This Toronto restaurant is open on Christmas Day.
Mado: Located at Mississauga's Square One mall, Mado is accepting reservations for December 25.
Headwaters Restaurant: Headwaters Restaurant at Millcroft Inn & Spa in Alton is open on Christmas Day.
VUE Bistros: This spot at the CN Tower is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Christmas if you're visiting the Toronto landmark and want a bite to eat.
Malls and shopping centres
Eaton Centre: Toronto Eaton Centre is closed on Christmas Day.
Yorkdale: Closed.
Sherway Gardens: This mall is closed for Christmas.
Rideau Centre: Ottawa's Rideau Centre is closed on December 25, 2023.
Outlet Collection at Niagara: Closed.
Square One: Closed.
Bramalea City Centre: This mall in Brampton is closed on Christmas.
Vaughan Mills: Closed.
Toronto Premium Outlets: This outlet mall is closed on Christmas Day.
Mapleview Shopping Centre: Burlington's shopping centre is closed on December 25.
Transit
TTC: On Christmas Day, the TTC is on Sunday service which means routes operate on Sunday schedules.
Also, the subway service will start around 8 a.m. and will run every four to five minutes on December 25 so you can get to where you need to go. Exact subway hours vary by station though.
GO Transit: Across all GO Transit routes, service will run according to the Saturday schedule on Christmas Day this year.
That means each route will operate on its Saturday schedule even though Christmas is on a Monday.
Some GO Transit routes don't offer weekend service so if you're travelling with GO Transit on December 25, you need to check specific route schedules for information about weekend service availability.
Services
Canada Post: Canada Post is closed on national and provincial holidays which means there is no mail collection or delivery on December 25, 2023.
Banks: Banks are closed on Christmas Day.
But you can still access your accounts, pay bills, move money around and more with online and mobile banking. Also, you can withdraw cash from ATMs.
Service Canada: All Service Canada centres in Ontario are closed on Christmas Day.
ServiceOntario: ServiceOntario locations are closed on Christmas.
However, some ServiceOntario services are online and you can renew your driver's license, renew your license plates, renew your health card, and more.
Things to do
ROM: The ROM in Toronto is closed on Christmas.
Canada's Wonderland: Closed — and that includes WinterFest, an immersive holiday experience throughout the amusement park.
National Art Gallery of Canada: This art gallery in Ottawa is closed.
Cineplex: Most Cineplex theatres in Ontario are open on Christmas Day and showing movies.
Nathan Phillips Square skating rink: The skating ink at Nathan Phillips Square is open on Christmas Day — December 25 — for drop-in leisure skating between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m.
The Distillery Winter Village: The Winter Village at Toronto's Distillery District is closed.
Journey Behind The Falls: Closed.
Art Gallery of Ontario: Closed.
CN Tower: You can visit the CN Tower on December 25 and the Main Observation Level, SkyPod, and VUE Bistros are open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Rouge National Urban Park: Rouge National Urban Park in Toronto — which borders Markham, Pickering and Uxbridge — is open 365 days a year. Plus, admission is free.
So, as you might have guessed, most places — including grocery stores and malls — are closed on December 25 in Ontario since Christmas Day is a stat holiday.
However, there are still some places open on Christmas if you're looking to buy groceries, have dinner at a restaurant, go out to a movie, skate at an outdoor rink, hike at a national park, or do something else on the holiday this year!
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.