Ontario declares second provincial emergency, issues Stay-at-Home Order

On January 12, 2021, the government of Ontario, in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health and other health experts, declared a second provincial emergency under s 7.0.1 (1) of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMCPA).*

Stay-at-Home Order

On January 13, 2021, the government issued O. Reg. 11/21: STAY-AT-HOME ORDER (the “Stay-at-Home Order”) which came into effect Thursday, January 14, 2021 at 12:01 a.m. The Stay-at-Home Order requires all individuals in the province to remain at home except for essential purposes including going to the grocery store or pharmacy, accessing health care services, providing care to others, exercise, moving, animal care, attending gatherings permitted under O. Reg. 82/20: RULES FOR AREAS IN STAGE 1 or for essential work where the nature of the work requires attendance at the workplace.

Remote work

The most significant new restriction for employers is that, under O. Reg. 82/20: RULES FOR AREAS IN STAGE 1, each person that is responsible for a business or organization that is open is required to ensure that any worker who works for the business or organization conducts their work remotely, unless the nature of their work requires them to be on-site at the workplace.

Additional restrictions

Effective Thursday, January 14, 2021, the government also enacted the following additional public health ‎measures to curb the spread of COVID-19:‎

• All indoor gatherings are prohibited and all outdoor organized public gatherings and social gatherings must have no more than five people. The limits on gatherings do not apply to households that have more permanent occupants than the limit. Additionally, single person households are still permitted to interact with one other household.
• Individuals are required to wear a mask or face covering in the indoor areas of ‎businesses or organizations that are open. Wearing a mask or face covering is ‎now recommended outdoors when physical distancing is difficult or not possible.‎
• Every member of the public in a place of business or facility that is open to the public shall maintain a physical distance of at least two metres from every other person, except from their caregiver or from members of the person’s household.
• Certain retail stores, including hardware stores, alcohol retailers, outdoor markets and other non-essential retail stores ‎offering curbside pickup or delivery, must open no earlier than 7 a.m. and close no ‎later than 8 p.m. General retail stores offering curbside pickup may only sell to customers who purchase their items prior to arriving at the business. The restricted hours of operation do not apply to stores that ‎primarily sell food (including discount and box stores), pharmacies, gas stations, convenience stores, and restaurants ‎for takeout or delivery.‎
• What constitutes essential construction activities or projects have been narrowed further. The full list of permitted construction activities can be found in O. Reg. 82/20: RULES FOR AREAS IN STAGE 1.

New enforcement measures

Finally, under O. Reg. 8/21: ENFORCEMENT OF COVID-19 MEASURES, the government of Ontario gave authorities the following powers regarding the enforcement of public health measures related to COVID-19:

• A police officer or other provincial offences officer who has reasonable and probable grounds to ‎believe that an individual has committed an offence under section 7.0.11 of the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to Covid-19) Act, 2020 may require the ‎individual to provide the officer with the individual’s correct name, date of birth and address.‎
• Every individual who is required to provide a police officer or other provincial ‎offences officer with their correct name, date of birth and address shall promptly comply.‎
• A police officer or other provincial offences officer may order that premises be temporarily closed if they have reasonable grounds to believe that an organized public event or other gathering is occurring at the premises and that the number of people in attendance exceeds the number permitted under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to Covid-19) Act, 2020.
• A police officer or other provincial offences officer may order an individual attending an organized public event or other gathering that is prohibited under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020 to cease attending the organized public event or gathering, as applicable, and may order individuals at the organized public event or gathering to disperse. 

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.

*This article was updated on January 22, 2021, to reflect the official language in O. Reg. 11/21: STAY-AT-HOME ORDER, O. Reg. 82/20: RULES FOR AREAS IN STAGE 1, and O. Reg. 8/21: ENFORCEMENT OF COVID-19 MEASURES‎.

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