January 3, 2021

The government of Ontario has announced that it is reinstating the restrictions of Step Two, with some modifications. For reference, Step Two was the period between June 30 and July 16 of last year. 

The new measures come into effect  Wednesday, January 5, 2022 at 12:01 a.m. for at least 21 days (until January 26, 2022), subject to trends in public health and health system indicators.

The measures include social gathering limits for both private and public events, closing indoor dining at restaurants and bars, limiting capacity at retail outlets and closing entertainment and sport venues.

Businesses and organizations are required to ensure employees work remotely unless the nature of their work requires them to be on-site.

Publicly funded and private schools will move to remote learning starting January 5 until at least January 17.

Hospitals are being instructed to pause all non-emergent and non-urgent surgeries and procedures.

In terms of relief for effected businesses, the government is expanding the new Ontario Business Costs Rebate Program. As previously advised, the government is providing for a six-month interest- and penalty-free period for Ontario businesses to make payments for most provincially administered taxes. 

It is also “exploring options for providing further targeted and necessary supports for businesses and workers impacted by the province’s move into a modified Step Two of the Roadmap to Reopen, including grants.“

I am providing a summary of key points with a link to the full government announcement.

Closures and capacity restrictions
Effective Wednesday, January 5, 2022 at 12:01 a.m. for at least 21 days (until January 26, 2022), subject to trends in public health and health system indicators.
These measures include:

• Requiring businesses and organizations to ensure employees work remotely unless the nature of their work requires them to be on-site. 
• Reducing social gathering limits to five people indoors and 10 people outdoors.
• Limiting capacity at organized public events to five people indoors.
• Limiting capacity at indoor weddings, funerals, and religious services, rites and ceremonies to 50 per cent capacity of the particular room. Outdoor services are limited to the number of people that can maintain 2 metres of physical distance. Social gatherings associated with these services must adhere to the social gathering limits.

Retail and Dining

• Retail settings, including shopping malls, permitted at 50 per cent capacity. For shopping malls physical distancing will be required in line-ups, loitering will not be permitted and food courts will be required to close.
• Personal care services permitted at 50 per cent capacity and other restrictions. Saunas, steam rooms, and oxygen bars closed.
• Closing indoor dining at restaurants, bars and other food or drink establishments. Outdoor dining with restrictions, takeout, drive through and delivery is permitted.
• Restricting the sale of alcohol after 10 p.m. and the consumption of alcohol on-premise in businesses or settings after 11 p.m. with delivery and takeout, grocery/convenience stores and other liquor stores exempted.
• Closing indoor meeting and event spaces with limited exceptions but permitting outdoor spaces to remain open with restrictions.

Entertainment, Sports, Culture

• Closing indoor sport and recreational fitness facilities including gyms, except for athletes training for the Olympics and Paralympics and select professional and elite amateur sport leagues. Outdoor facilities are permitted to operate but with the number of spectators not to exceed 50 per cent occupancy and other requirements.
• Closing indoor concert venues, theatres, cinemas, rehearsals and recorded performances permitted with restrictions.
• Closing museums, galleries, zoos, science centres, landmarks, historic sites, botanical gardens and similar attractions, amusement parks and waterparks, tour and guide services and fairs, rural exhibitions, and festivals. Outdoor establishments permitted to open with restrictions and with spectator occupancy, where applicable, limited to 50 per cent capacity.
• Public libraries limited to 50 per cent capacity.
• Closing indoor horse racing tracks, car racing tracks and other similar venues. Outdoor establishments permitted to open with restrictions and with spectator occupancy limited to 50 per cent capacity. Boat tours permitted at 50 per cent capacity.

Schools

• All publicly funded and private schools will move to remote learning starting January 5 until at least January 17, subject to public health trends and operational considerations.
• School buildings would be permitted to open for child care operations, including emergency child care, to provide in-person instruction for students with special education needs who cannot be accommodated remotely and for staff who are unable to deliver quality instruction from home.
• During this period of remote learning, free emergency child care will be provided for school-aged children of health care and other eligible frontline workers.

Hospitals

• Effective January 5, 2022 the Chief Medical Officer of Health will reinstate Directive 2 for hospitals and regulated health professionals, instructing hospitals to pause all non-emergent and non-urgent surgeries and procedures in order to preserve critical care and human resource capacity.

Business relief
Eligible businesses that are required to close or reduce capacity will receive rebate payments for a portion of the property tax and energy costs they incur while subject to these measures. 

Eligible businesses required to reduce capacity to 50 per cent, such as smaller retail stores, will receive a rebate payment equivalent to 50 per cent of their costs, while businesses required to close for indoor activities, such as restaurants and gyms, will receive a rebate payment equivalent to 100 per cent of their costs. 

A full list of eligible business types will be made available when applications for the program open later this month.

Effective January 1, 2022, the government is providing up to $7.5 billion for a six-month interest- and penalty-free period for Ontario businesses to make payments for most provincially administered taxes.

The government is also exploring options for providing further targeted and necessary supports for businesses and workers impacted by the province’s move into a modified Step Two of the Roadmap to Reopen, including grants.

I hope you find this information helpful.

Please contact me for assistance working through your staffing matters.

December 31, 2021

Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health has announced updates and revisions to a variety of COVID-19 guidelines and measures. The changes affect testing and isolation guidelines, attendance capacities for public events, school opening dates and fourth vaccinations for certain citizens at risk.

Below is a brief summary of the key points followed by a link to the full government announcement.

Testing and Isolation
Effective December 31, members of the general public with mild symptoms are asked not to seek testing. 

In addition, most individuals with a positive result from a rapid antigen test will no longer be required or encouraged to get a confirmatory PCR or rapid molecular test.

The publicly-funded PCR testing will be available only for high-risk individuals who are symptomatic and/or are at risk of severe illness from COVID-19, including for the purposes of confirming a COVID-19 diagnosis to begin treatment, and workers and residents in the highest risk settings, as well as vulnerable populations. A full list of eligible individuals can be found here.

Isolation periods
Individuals with COVID-19 who are vaccinated, as well as children under 12, will be required to isolate for five days following the onset of symptoms. Their household contacts are also required to isolate with them. 

These individuals can end isolation after five days if their symptoms are improved for at least 24 hours and all public health and safety measures, such as masking and physical distancing, are followed. Non-household contacts are required to self-monitor for ten days.

Unvaccinated, partially vaccinated or immunocompromised individuals will be required to isolate for 10 days. 

Individuals who work or live in high-risk health care settings are recommended to return to work after 10 days from their last exposure or symptom onset or from their date of diagnosis. 

However, to ensure sufficient staffing levels, these workers will have the opportunity to return to work after isolating for seven days with negative PCR or rapid antigen test results, which will be provided by the province through the health care setting.

Attendance capacities for public events
Effective 12:01 a.m. on Friday, December 31, 2021, Ontario is restricting spectator capacity to 50 per cent of the usual seating capacity or 1,000 people, whichever is less, in the indoor areas of the following settings:

• Spectator areas of facilities used for sports and recreational fitness activities (e.g., sporting events);
• Concert venues; and
• Theatres.

School openings
Students are set to return to schools on January 5, 2022 for school boards previously scheduled to return on January 3 to provide schools additional time to prepare for the public health measures announced today.

Fourth vaccination doses for certain citizens at risk
Effective immediately the province will be making fourth doses of mRNA vaccines available to residents of long-term care homes, retirement homes, Elder Care Lodges and other congregate care settings if at least three months, or 84 days, have passed since their third dose. I hope you find this information helpful and offer my best wishes for health and prosperity in the new year.

Please contact me for assistance working through your staffing matters.

December 22, 2021

With the rapid rise in COVID-19 infections over the past week and subsequent measures restricting business operations, the government of Ontario and Canada have both announced programs to provide new and/or expanded support to effected businesses and workers.

The Ontario government is introducing a new Ontario Business Costs Rebate Program as well as a six-month interest-and-penalty-free period to make payments for most provincially administered taxes.

The federal government is temporarily expanding eligibility for two programs – the Local Lockdown Program for employers and Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit for employees, both of which were included in Bill C-2, passed last Thursday, December 16, 2021.

I have provided you with brief summaries of all the measures and programs followed by links to the full announcements.

Ontario
The new Ontario Business Costs Rebate Program will provide rebate payments to eligible businesses equivalent to 50 per cent of the property tax and energy costs they incur while subject to the current capacity limits. 

Examples of businesses that will be eligible include restaurants, smaller retail stores and gyms. A full list of eligible business types will be made available through a program guide in mid-January 2022.

The province is also providing a six-month interest-and-penalty-free period for businesses to make payments for most provincially administered taxes. The six-month period will begin January 1, 2022 and end July 1, 2022.

Taxes in the program include:

• Employer Health Tax
• Beer, Wine & Spirits Taxes
• Tobacco Tax
• Insurance Premium Tax
• Fuel Tax
• International Fuel Tax Agreement
• Gas Tax
• Retail Sales Tax on Insurance Contracts & Benefit Plans
• Mining Tax
• Race Tracks Tax

Canada
Local Lockdown Program
For employers, the temporary expansion of the Local Lockdown Program, means a business can now qualify if:

• one or more of its locations is subject to a public health order that has the effect of reducing the entity’s capacity at the location by 50 per cent or more, and
• activities restricted by the public health order accounted for at least 50 per cent of the entity’s total qualifying revenues during the prior reference period.

The government also intends to temporarily lower the current-month revenue loss threshold from 40 per cent to 25 per cent.  Employers would continue to need to demonstrate current-month losses only, without the requirement for a historical 12-month revenue decline.

Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit
For employees, Bill C-2 included a new Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit to provide income support when employment is interrupted by a government-imposed public health lockdown order.

The federal government intends to temporarily expand the definition of a lockdown order to also include provincial and territorial orders involving capacity restrictions of 50 per cent or more – from December 19, 2021 to February 12, 2022. 

The minimum number of days a lockdown order needs to be in place to meet the new definition would be reduced to 7 consecutive days, down from 14 consecutive days.

After February 12, the definition will revert to the original definition as set out in Bill C-2.

I hope you find this information helpful and that you, your fellow workers and employees, families and loved ones follow the measures advised by our public health authorities and stay safe and healthy during the holiday period and the weeks ahead.

Please contact me for assistance working through your staffing matters.

December 15, 2021

The Premier of Ontario, Minister of Health and Chief Medical Officer today outlined plans to speed up some programs and introduce others in order to help protect everyone in the province against the rapidly spreading and highly transmissible Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus. 

I have provided a top line summary below with a link to the full government announcement.

Booster shots
The interval between second dose and booster dose has been shortened to three months (84 days). 

Starting today, December 15, individuals aged 50 and over as well as all those currently eligible who have already booked their appointment at an interval of six months (168 days) can rebook for an earlier date.

Starting Friday, December 17, pharmacies and other channels may provide boosters for individuals 18 and over at the three-month interval for walk-ins.

Starting Monday, December 20, all individuals aged 18 and over will be eligible to schedule booster vaccination shots.

All vaccinations including boosters can be scheduled through Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccination portal, by calling the Provincial Vaccine Contact Centre at 1-833-943-3900, through Indigenous-led vaccination clinics, participating pharmacies and primary care settings.

Capacity limits
Starting Saturday, December 18, at 12:01 a.m. a 50 per cent capacity limit will apply to most indoor areas of venues with a usual capacity of 1,000 or more (full list in the government announcement).

Rapid testing blitz
Starting today, December 15, rapid tests will start to be provided free of charge at pop-up testing sites in high-traffic settings such as malls, retail settings, holiday markets, public libraries and transit hubs. 

Pop-up teams will be deployed at nearly 50 locations across the province, including some co-located with GO-VAXX mobile vaccine buses. 

Most sites will distribute free take-home rapid antigen test kits, subject to supply, and some will offer asymptomatic rapid antigen screening on-site. 

Take-home rapid tests will also be available at select LCBO stores, starting with the busiest stores this week and more stores being added in the coming days.

Locations of pop-up rapid antigen screening sites can be found at Ontario.ca/holidaytesting 

Long-term care homes
Effective December 14, 2021, all general visitors to a long-term care home must be fully vaccinated.

General guidance
All Ontarians are urged to limit gatherings, observe safe distancing and wear face masks at all indoor public settings.I hope you find this information helpful and informative and that you, your fellow workers and employees, families and loved ones follow these measures advised by our public health authorities and stay safe and healthy in the weeks ahead.

Please contact me for assistance working through your staffing matters.

December 10, 2021

The government of Ontario announced today that it is adjusting its COVID-19 response in light of increased cases and evolving global evidence around the Omicron variant.

New or revised public health measures include:

• Delaying the lifting of proof of vaccination requirements. These had been tentatively scheduled to be lifted on January 17, 2022, contingent on the absence of concerning trends. Current trends do not warrant any easing or lifting of restrictions on that date.
• Effective December 20, 2021, requiring proof of vaccination for youth aged 12 to 17 years participating in organized sports at recreational facilities.
• Effective January 4, 2022, requiring the use of the enhanced vaccine certificate with QR code and the Verify Ontario app in settings where proof of vaccination is required.
  • The QR code can be used digitally or by printing a paper copy.
  • Individuals can download their enhanced certificate with QR code by visiting https://covid-19.ontario.ca/book-vaccine/.
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Holiday business gatherings
In consideration of the announcements and additional statements to the press today,  I would like to update the information I provided to you earlier this week in regards to holiday events.

Both the Minister of Health and Chief Medical Medical Officer of Health emphasized that:

• Ontarians are strongly advised to limit any kind of social gatherings and the number of gatherings they attend over the holiday season.
• Outdoor gatherings should be limited to a maximum of 100 people and indoor gatherings to a maximum of 25 people.
• Attendees should wear a face covering and physically distance if individuals in attendance are unvaccinated, partially vaccinated or their vaccination status is unknown.
• Employers in all industries should make every effort to allow employees to work from home.

The Minister and Chief Medical Officer also strongly encouraged all Ontarians to become fully vaccinated, including booster shots. As of Monday, December 13, all Ontarians over the age of 50 who have received their first two vaccinations are eligible to schedule their booster. Expanded booster dose eligibility to all Ontarians 18 years of age and older will occur on January 4, 2022, 

More information on booking appointments for all vaccinations can be found at https://covid-19.ontario.ca/book-vaccine/

A link to the full text of today’s News Release is below and the full suite of measures is outlined in a backgrounder provided by the government that can be accessed at this page: https://news.ontario.ca/en/backgrounder/1001329/responding-to-omicron-and-protecting-our-progress

I hope you find this information helpful and informative and that you, your fellow workers and employees, families and loved ones follow the measures advised by our public health authorities and stay safe and healthy in the weeks ahead.

Please contact me with any questions you may have or for assistance working through your staffing matters.

December 8, 2021

The Ontario government’s COVID-19 Worker Income Protection Benefit program, which had been scheduled to expire on December 31, 2021, has been  extended to July 31, 2022. A link to the government News Release is below.

The paid leave is available for employees to get tested, vaccinated, self-isolate, or care for a family member. 

Employers are generally required to pay employees the wages they would have earned had they not taken the leave. Eligible employers are entitled to be reimbursed the amount, up to $200 a day for up to three days.

Employers have 120 days after their employees are paid to submit their application to the Worker Income Protection Benefit Program. The reimbursement can only be claimed for individuals who are employees under the Employment Standards Act (ESA). ,

The province is also extending, until June 30, 2022, the regulatory amendment that puts non-unionized employees on Infectious Disease Emergency Leave any time their hours of work are temporarily reduced by their employer due to COVID-19. I hope you find this information helpful and and informative and that you, your fellow workers and employees, families and loved ones stay safe and healthy as the weather requires us to participate in more indoor activities and the holiday season is upon us.

Please contact me with any questions you may have or for assistance working through your staffing matters.

December 7, 2021

On November 11 the government of Ontario paused the lifting of capacity restrictions in settings with higher risk of COVID-19 transmission and announced today that the pause has been extended. To determine when these restrictions can be lifted, the government will continue to monitor trends in public health and health care indicators and learn more about the new Omicron variant.

The settings effected include:

• food or drink establishments with dance facilities such as night clubs and wedding receptions in meeting/event spaces where there is dancing;
• strip clubs; and
• sex clubs and bathhouses.

To be clear, the current capacity measures remain in place and are unchanged since since October 25:

Proof of double vaccination is required in those settings where capacities have been lifted, including:

• Personal care services (e.g., barber shops, salons, body art);
• Indoor areas of museums, galleries, aquariums, zoos, science centres, landmarks, historic sites, botanical gardens and similar attractions;
• Indoor areas of amusement parks;
• Indoor areas of fairs, rural exhibitions, festivals;
• Indoor tour and guide services;
• Boat tours;
• Indoor areas of marinas and boating clubs;
• Indoor clubhouses at outdoor recreational amenities;
• Open house events provided by real estate agencies; and
• Indoor areas of photography studios and services.

Locations where a wedding, funeral or religious service, rite or ceremony takes place may also implement proof of vaccination requirements for services, rites, or ceremonies at the location.

In today’s announcement the Minister of Health also encouraged “everyone to get their first, second or booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible.”

I have provided a link to the full text of today’s announcement and News Release below.

In regard to booster doses, all Ontarians aged 50+ are now eligible to schedule their COVID-19 vaccination booster shots starting Monday, December 13, 2021 at 8:00 a.m.

Scheduling can be done through the COVID-19 vaccination portal, by calling the Provincial Vaccine Contact Centre at 1-833-943-3900 (TTY for people who are deaf, hearing-impaired or speech-impaired: 1-866-797-0007), through Indigenous-led vaccination clinics, select pharmacies and primary care settings. Appointments will be booked for approximately six months (168 days) after a second dose.

I hope you find this information helpful and and informative and that you, your fellow workers and employees, families and loved ones stay safe and healthy as the weather requires us to participate in more indoor activities and the holiday season is upon us.

Please contact me with any questions you may have or for assistance working through your staffing matters.