To reduce the risk of spread of COVID-19, the Ontario government announced on April 23, 2020 that it is extending all Emergency Orders made under section 7.0.2 (4) of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (the “Act”) until May 6, 2020. The declaration of the state of emergency in Ontario was last extended on April 14, 2020, and remains in effect until at least May 12, 2020. As of April 22, 2020, there were 12,879 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario.
The Emergency Order extension includes the continued closure of non-essential workplaces, restaurants, bars, outdoor amenities in parks and recreational areas, and public places. The Emergency Order extension also continues the restriction on social gatherings in Ontario to no more than five persons. Employers in essential businesses should note that the size restriction on social gatherings does not limit the number of employees who can work in their workplaces. However, such employers should ensure that health and safety precautions, such as physical distancing, frequent hand-washing and sanitization, continue in effect in the workplace.
The following is the full list of emergency orders extended until May 6, 2020:
- Closure of establishments
- Prohibiting public events and gatherings or more than five people
- Work deployment measures for health care workers
- Drinking water and sewage
- Electronic service of documents
- Work deployment for long-term care homes
- Off-peak electricity pricing
- Closure of places of non-essential businesses
- Traffic management
- Streamlining requirements for long-term care homes
- Prohibiting unfair pricing on necessary goods
- Closure of outdoor recreational amenities
- Enforcement of orders
- Work deployment for boards of health
- Work deployment measures in retirement homes
- Access to COVID-19 status information by specified persons
- Service agencies providing services and supports to adults with developmental disabilities
- Pick-up and delivery of cannabis
- Signatures in wills and powers of attorney
- Use of force and firearms in policing services
- Child care fees
- Agreements between health service providers and retirement homes
- Temporary health or residential facilities
- Closure of public lands for recreational camping
- Work deployment measures for service agencies providing violence against women residential services and crisis line services
- Limiting work to a single long-term care home
- Work deployment for district social services administration boards
- Deployment of employees of service provider organizations
- Work deployment measures for municipalities
- Limiting work to a single retirement home
The Ontario government has also introduced a new measure to allow mental health and addictions agencies to redeploy staff within different locations or between programs, and employ extra part-time staff, temporary staff or contractors in order to ensure people continue receiving the high quality care they expect and deserve during the COVID-19 outbreak. Agencies are required to provide appropriate training and education to achieve the purposes of a redeployment plan.