The father in law is looking at getting a bike to poottle around town with and maybe go on some gentle offroad trails. He's been to his LBS and I'm happy so far that they've actually listened to what he wants and not tried to sell him a MTB.

Here is what they recommend in his price range:

https://www.norco.com/bikes/urban/hybrid/rideau/

I'm not familiar with these bikes but it looks ok to me, I think I can just make out the braze ons for a rear rack and I'm hoping it's an easy fit for fenders.

Anyone know about these bikes?

There are rack and fender mounts, yes. I have a fair deal of experience in building and retailing Norco's lower end bikes. They are pretty basic, the component level is quite low, and as the price tag suggests, they are only a small step up from a dept. store bicycle.

However, in their defence, they have decent design behind them, a few touches such as the MSW rims with the wear line on them, and they should be professionally and properly built and tuned, which is something you are nearly guaranteed not to get at a dept. store.

And while its all low end, nothing on it is broken by design. There aren't any severely outdated components (like freewheels) on the bike, and even the lower end shimano will provide acceptable shifting if properly set up.

I am not averse to saying this is an good bicycle, I believe that it is fine for the price.

Has your father in law tried bicycles of different design and settled on that sort of geometry and design? There are some other fairly good choices in casual use bicycles around that price range which differ a bit in approach, the Kona smoke is one that certainly comes to mind. Comparatively:

It is in the same price range, but features a few nicer parts, such as a slightly better front derailer, crankset with replaceable chainrings, big fat continental city contact tires with puncture protection, a cromoly frame and fork, modern threadless headset, and the kona includes fenders.

Downsides to the Kona are that the rims are single wall, I do prefer the nicer double walled MSW rims on the Rideau, which may or may not be a concern depending on the weight and riding aggressiveness of your father in law. For casual use, I do not typically consider something like this to be a problem. The Kona also does not have a suspension seatpost, although it will have a bit more suspension overall from its fatter tires.

A few differences (not necessarily advantages / disadvantages) are that the Smoke has twist shifters, the Rideau trigger.

The most important difference, the real one in the end, is that the Rideau is a very upright, North American comfort hybrid style ride, big fat saddle, really upright. The smoke appears to have geometry that is lower and more along the lines of a mountain bike, making it somewhat sportier, although it could easily be fitted with a high rise bar to bring it more in line with the Rideau.

If he's already into that design and riding position for sure, I don't see anything glaringly wrong with the Rideau.

I'm not sure a mountain bike would be such a bad option if he really is interested in trails. If you put some slick tires on it, it will be just as capable as he needs on-road.

That said, a lot of mountain bikes in that price range are almost hybrids anyways, so IDK.