Government of Ontario announces additional restrictions and extends stay-at-home order

On Friday, April 16, 2021, the government of Ontario, in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health and ‎other health experts, announced stricter measures under the province's Stay-at-Home order. ‎In addition, both the provincial declaration of emergency and the Stay-at-Home order have been extended for an additional two weeks, until at least May 20, 2021, to help stop the spread of ‎COVID-19.

As set out in our previous bulletin, the Stay-at-Home order currently in effect requires all people in the province to remain at ‎home except for limited, essential circumstances, such as going to the grocery store or pharmacy, ‎accessing health care services (including vaccinations), for outdoor exercise, or for ‎work that cannot be done remotely.‎ To ensure businesses are not permitting non-essential workers to enter the workplace, the Government of Ontario has increased the number of Ministry of Labour inspectors who will be visiting workplaces to confirm rules are being followed.

The government also implemented the following public health and workplace ‎safety measures effective Saturday, April 17, 2021 at 12:01 a.m.:‎

• Prohibit all outdoor social gatherings and organized public events, except for with ‎members of the same household or one other person from outside that household ‎who lives alone or a caregiver for any member of the household;‎
• Close all non-essential workplaces in the construction sector;‎
• Reduce capacity limits to 25 per cent in all retail settings where in-store shopping is ‎permitted. This includes supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, indoor ‎farmers' markets, other stores that primarily sell food and pharmacies; and,‎
• Close all outdoor recreational amenities, such as golf courses, basketball courts, and ‎soccer fields with limited exceptions.‎

In addition, effective Monday, April 19, 2021 at 12:01 a.m., the government implemented a 10 person limitation to the ‎capacity of indoor or outdoor weddings, funerals, and religious services, rites or ceremonies. . Social gatherings associated with these services such as receptions ‎are prohibited, except for with members of the same household or one other person from ‎outside that household who lives alone. Drive-in services are permitted.‎

In order to limit the transmission of the variants of concern, the government is also ‎restricting travel into Ontario from the provinces of Manitoba and Quebec with the ‎exception of purposes such as work, health care services, transportation and delivery of ‎goods and services or exercising Aboriginal or treaty rights.‎

Finally, to increase public compliance with the Stay-at-Home order and stop the spread of ‎COVID-19, amendments to an emergency order (O.Reg 8/21 Enforcement of COVID-19 ‎Measures) have been made that will provide police officers and other provincial offences ‎officers enhanced authority to support the enforcement of Ontario's Stay-at-Home order.‎ However, the government of Ontario has walked back previous plans to allow police officers and other provincial ‎offences officers to stop all pedestrians and vehicles and require any individual to provide their home ‎address and purpose for not being at their residence following immense pressure from the public and local authorities. Instead, under the new rules, police are only allowed to stop vehicles or individuals if the police suspect people of participating in an organized public event or social gathering.

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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