Beginning on Friday, June 12th, restaurants and bars outside of the Toronto area will be able to reopen their patios and social gatherings can increase from five to 10 people across the province.
The announcement is part of the Ontario government’s plan for the second stage of reopening the province’s economy during COVID-19.
Premier Doug Ford made the announcement at a media conference on Monday (June 8) at Queen’s Park, along with health minister Christine Elliott, finance minister Rod Phillips, economic development minister Vic Fedeli, and labour minister Monte McNaughton.
Effective just after midnight on Friday, June 12th, the province will increase the limit on social gatherings from five to 10 people across the province — regardless of whether a region has moved to stage two. All places of worship in Ontario will also be permitted to open with physical distancing in place and attendance limited to no more than 30 per cent of the building capacity to ensure the safety of worshippers.
“I know that staying apart from our friends and loved ones has been one of the hardest parts of the last few months, and hopefully today’s announcement will bring some relief,” Ford said. “I also know that for so many of us, the restrictions around places of worship have been extremely hard. During these uncertain times, our faith has never been more important.”
The government is taking a regional approach to stage two of reopening the province, easing restrictions in communities where it is safe to do so, based on trends of key public health indicators such as lower rates of transmission, increased capacity in hospitals, and progress made in testing.
“We also need to get people back to work,” Ford added. “We need to get the economy going and to do this as quickly as possible. We’re moving forward with a regional approach, and we’re moving forward with an approach that lets us make decision for specific parts of Ontario based on what’s happening on the ground, based on the advice of the chief medical officer of health, our command table, and our local public health experts.”
In those stage two regions, hair salons, shopping malls (except for sit-down dining), tour and guide services, swimming and wading pools, and camping and beaches at provincial parks are among the other businesses that can reopen.
All public health units in the greater Kawarthas region fall under the stage two category: Peterborough Public Health; Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit; and Hastings Prince Edward Public Health.
In stage two regions, businesses and services permitted to reopen with proper health and safety measures in place include:
- Outdoor dine-in services at restaurants, bars, and other establishments, including patios, curbside, parking lots, and adjacent properties
- Select personal and personal care services with the proper health and safety measures in place, including tattoo parlours, barber shops, hair salons, and beauty salons — with the exception of facial services
- Shopping malls under existing restrictions, including food services reopening for take-out and outdoor dining only
- Tour and guide services, such as bike and walking, bus and boat tours, as well as tasting and tours for wineries, breweries and distilleries
- Water recreational facilities such as outdoor splash pads and wading pools, and all swimming pools
- Beach access and additional camping at Ontario Parks
- Camping at private campgrounds
- Outdoor-only recreational facilities and training for outdoor team sports, with limits to enable physical distancing
- Drive-in and drive-through venues for theatres, concerts, animal attractions, and cultural appreciation including art installations
- Film and television production activities, with limits to enable physical distancing; and
- Weddings and funerals, with limits on social gatherings to 10 people.
At the media conference, Ford also said that libraries, community centres, museums, and art galleries can reopen, with physical distancing and capacity limits in place.
On Tuesday, the province will also be releasing details on services supporting people who are returning to work, including child care, summer camps, post-secondary education pilots to help people graduate, training centres, and public transit.
At the beginning of each week, the government will provide an update on the ongoing assessment of public health units, and whether they are ready to move into stage two at the end of the week.
Public health unit regions allowed to move into stage two on June 12th are:
- Algoma Public Health
- Brant County Health Unit
- Chatham-Kent Public Health
- Eastern Ontario Health Unit
- Grey Bruce Health Unit
- Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit
- Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
- Huron Perth Public Health
- Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Public Health
- Leeds Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit
- Middlesex-London Health Unit
- North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit
- Northwestern Health Unit
- Ottawa Public Health
- Peterborough Public Health
- Porcupine Health Unit
- Public Health Sudbury & Districts
- Region of Waterloo Public Health and Emergency Services
- Renfrew County and District Health Unit
- Simcoe-Muskoka District Health Unit
- Southwestern Public Health
- Thunder Bay District Health Unit
- Timiskaming Health Unit
- Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health
Public health units that remain in the stage one category include those that make up the Golden Horseshoe (Durham, York, Toronto, Peel, Halton, Hamilton, and Niagara) as well as those in border regions (Windsor-Essex and Lambton). Haldimand-Norfolk — where more than 160 workers at at a Norfolk farm have tested positive for COVID-19 — will also remain in stage one until public health officials can evaluate the extent of the outbreak.
Ford also announced legislation to ban commercial evictions for those who qualify for the province’s commercial rent relief program. The ban would take effect for evictions on and after June 3rd, and last until August 31st.
“Our small businesses are struggling right now,” Ford said. “For them, making rent is top of mind. That’s why we worked to get $900 million to help businesses with commercial rent relief. As I was clear to commercial landlords, you have to be fair and help out everyone. But we still heard about some landlords who just didn’t get the message.”
Ford also issued a plea for Ontarians to support small businesses as they reopen.
“Our small business owners are the backbone of our communities, and now more than ever we all need to support them. So please, get out there and buy local. Support your local small businesses.”
