Ontario announces new framework to categorize public health units

On November 3, 2020, the province of Ontario announced its Keeping Ontario Safe and Open ‎Framework. The new Framework categorizes public health unit regions into five levels, each of which outlines the types of public health and workplace safety ‎measures for businesses and organizations. These include targeted measures for specific ‎sectors, institutions and other settings.‎

The five levels are as follows:

• Green-‎Prevent - Focus on education and awareness of public health and workplace safety measures in place. Restrictions reflect broadest allowance of activities in Stage 3 absent a widely available vaccine or treatment. ”Highest risk” settings remain closed.
• Yellow-Protect - Enhanced targeted enforcement, fines, and enhanced education to limit further transmission. Apply public health measures in “high risk” settings.
• Orange-Restrict - Implement enhanced measures, restrictions, and enforcement avoiding any closures.
• Red-Control - Implement broader-scale measures and restrictions, across multiple sectors, to control transmission (Return to modified Stage 2). Restrictions are the most severe available before widescale business or organizational closure.
• Lockdown - Measure of last ‎and urgent resort. Implement wide-scale measures and restrictions, including closures, to halt or interrupt transmission (Return to modified Stage 1 or pre-Stage 1). Consider declaration of emergency.

Each public health unit in Ontario has been provisionally classified into one of the levels according to the Framework’s indicators. These classifications will be confirmed by the province on Friday, November 6, 2020 and become effective on Saturday, November 7, 2020 at 12:01 a.m.

For most regions, the new classifications will not change the restrictions related to COVID-19 currently in place. However, under the new system, four public health units that are currently in modified Stage 2 under the previous framework, Peel, York, Ottawa and Eastern Ontario, are set to be classified in the orange, or "restrict" category on November 7, 2020. Toronto, the only other public health unit in modified stage 2, will also be classified in the orange category a week later, on November 14, 2020. Under the new orange category, businesses that had been closed or whose operations had been greatly restricted under the modified Stage 2 rules will have some of those limits relaxed. For example, gyms will be permitted to reopen and bars and restaurants will be allowed to serve customers indoors.

Going forward, the government will assess the impact of public health measures applied to public health unit regions for 28 days, or two COVID-19 incubation periods.

The full COVID-10 Response Framework: Keeping Ontario Safe and Ontario can be accessed here.

We will continue to monitor and provide updates as soon as they become available. The COVID-19 situation is rapidly evolving with new measures being adopted ‎or modified at both ‎the ‎federal and provincial level. For further information, please consult our ‎Coronavirus Resource ‎Centre or feel free to contact any member of our DLA Piper Canadian Employment and ‎Labour Law Service ‎Group, who will ‎ensure that you are acting upon the most up-to-date information.‎

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