Parliament passed legislation in August which allows local councils to decide if shops could open for Easter Sunday.
Easter Friday was not included in the legislation.
Two options will be presented to councillors to vote on at the council meeting in Queenstown today.
One option would keep the existing rules in place and the other would set up a new policy for Easter Sunday trading.
Council regulatory manager Lee Webster has recommended the council make a new trading policy which covers the entire district.
A new policy would allow the council to provide a clear and simple policy to determine if shops could open on Easter Sunday, Ms Webster said.
New rules could be applied to the whole district or just certain areas, she said.
If councillors vote to change the rules, there will be a public consultation process.
In the past, some Wanaka businesses have chosen to trade illegally on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
Pembroke Mall in Wanaka already had an exemption which allowed shops there to open on Easter Sunday between 7am and 9pm.
A spokesman for the council said it was the intention of the council to have the issue decided before April, but the timeframe depended on the consultation process.
Wanaka Paper Plus manager Chris Lumsden the changes were a copout as it still was not a level playing field, with some places still able to open on Good Friday.
Mr Lumsden said before the Shop Trading Hours Act was passed in 1990 it was relatively easy to get an exemption to open on Easter Sunday.
''What people forget is before shops were allowed to open on Sunday you used to be able to apply for an exemption which included Easter Sunday, and all you really had to do was send it away to get rubber-stamped.''
The store had defied the law since it was passed so not much would change, but it would take some pressure off knowing it was trading legally, he said.
Wanaka Community Board chairwoman Rachel Brown encouraged people in the Upper Clutha to take part in the consultation process.
The law had been changed so communities could decide if they wanted shops to be open or not, so it was important people let their voice be heard, Ms Brown said.
