On April 16, 2021, Premier Doug Ford announced that the current provincial declaration of emergency and the Stay-at-Home order will be extended for an additional two weeks (until at least May 20, 2021), and effective April 17, 2021 at 12:01am, the following additional province-wide changes and restrictions are in place for the duration of the Stay-at-Home order:
- If a police officer or other provincial offences officer has reason to suspect that an individual is participating in an organized public event or social gathering, they may require that individual to provide his or her name, date of birth and residential address;
- Workplace inspections will be significantly increased to enforce safety requirements, with a heavy focus on construction sites, box stores, food processors, manufacturers and warehouses in Ottawa, Toronto and York Region;
- Travel into Ontario from Manitoba and Quebec is restricted to specific purposes, such as work, health care services, transportation and delivery of goods and services, and exercising Aboriginal or treaty rights;
- Outdoor social gatherings and organized public events are not permitted except for with members of the same household or with one other person from outside that household who lives alone or a caregiver for any member of the household;
- All non-essential workplaces in the construction sector are required to close. A list of permitted construction services can be found here;
- Capacity limits in all retail settings where in-store shopping is permitted, including supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, indoor farmers’ markets, other stores that primarily sell food and pharmacies is reduced to 25 per cent;
- All outdoor recreational amenities, such as golf courses, basketball courts and soccer fields must close, with limited exceptions. Originally, the Ontario government included playgrounds in this list, but after receiving backlash in response to this inclusion, the regulations were amended to permit use of playgrounds. Rules with respect to outdoor gatherings are still in force; and
- Effective April 19, 2021 at 12:01am, the capacity of weddings, funerals, and religious services, rites or ceremonies will be limited to 10 people indoors or outdoors. Social gatherings associated with these services, such as receptions, are prohibited, except for with members of the same household or one other person from outside that household who lives alone. Drive-in services will be permitted.
All other public health and workplace safety measures for non-essential retail under the provincewide emergency brake (i.e., curbside pick-up and delivery only), continue to apply.
This blog post was written by Jade Renaud, a member of the Business Law team. Jade can be reached at 613-369-0373 or at [email protected].
