It is going to be a lot easier to breath in restaurant and bar patios beginning this long weekend thanks to changes in the Smoke Free Ontario Act that ban smoking on all patios where food and drink is consumed.

Martin Kuhn -- the tobacco enforcement supervisor for the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit -- says they have been working hard to get the required signage and information out to all establishments in the area.

The Smoke-Free Ontario Act now also bans smoking within 20 metres of children’s playgrounds, play areas, and publicly owned sports fields.

The Smoke-Free Ontario Act came into effect in 2006 to protect people from involuntary exposure to secondhand smoke.

The January 2015 amendments extend that protection to outdoor restaurant workers and children and families at play.