New as of March 20

Ontario Helping Students Learn from the Safety of Their Own Home

Province Launches First Phase of the Learn at Home Portal

The government of Ontario launches the first phase of Learn at Home and Apprendre à la maison, a new online portal that will provide resources for families so students can continue their education while schools are closed due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation.

Learn at Home offers all students high-quality, made-in-Ontario math and literacy resources, created by Ontario-certified educators, in both English and French. Elementary resources are designed to help young students learn at home with interactive activities that encourage participation through entertaining and stimulating digital content. High school content was designed with a focus on STEM courses and ensure core competencies and skills are reinforced. The government is also providing access to course content for students who take the initiative to refresh and extend their learning. 

The at-home activities offered by Learn at Home provide quick and easy access to some of Ontario’s best online kindergarten to grade 12 learning resources produced by Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) Educators. As part of the government’s commitment to planning for every scenario, the province is working closely with education stakeholders to develop a plan for scaling and building additional online learning programs.

Quick Facts

• For students who do not have access to a computer, work is underway, in conjunction with school boards, to provide the necessary technology to everyone who needs it.
• TVO Kids offers educational programing throughout the day for school-aged children. Check out their broadcast schedule here to know what is on and when.
• Bilingual materials on Learn at Home will continue to be added on a regular basis to provide new and compelling content throughout this period. Other learning programs, such as Ontario’s Virtual Learning Environment, are being further developed to provide enhanced learning options.
• Mathify provides real-time homework help led by OCT educators for students between grades 6-10, six days a week, including weekdays from 9AM ET – 9PM ET. The Government worked in concert with TVO to expand Mathify beyond the existing grades 7-10, to now include grade six.
• Eurêka! is another online learning support program that helps students in French language schools from grades 1 to 12 with their school work and their learning.
• Ontario public schools will be closed from March 14 through to April 5, 2020 in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19. Similarly, private schools and licensed child care centres will also be closed until April 5, 2020.
• EQAO assessments for the 2019-20 school year have been cancelled, including the Ontario Secondary School Literacy test. The literacy requirement for students graduating in the 2019-20 school year has also been waived.
• The Ministry of Education is working with TVO and TFO to roll-out robust education programming on their broadcast channels, with a phased-in approach commencing next week. This iterative process will ensure that Ontario students and families have additional mediums available for engaging with high-quality, made-in-Ontario education resources that support a continuity of learning for students.

Additional Resources

• Learn at Home

 

Ontario Ministry of Health IMPORTANT NOTICE:

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ontario Drug Benefit Program has implemented the following processes:

Trillium Drug Program (TDP) Application

To submit a Trillium Drug Program application or supporting documentation, you can either:

• fax the documents to (416) 642-3034; or
• e-mail the documents to trillium@ontariodrugbenefit.ca

NOTE: If faxing or emailing, you will be required to submit the original signed form to the TDP by Canada Post when the pandemic is over.  Please write in bold letters “Resubmit Originals” on the application form when mailing in the original application.

Seniors Co-Payment Program (SCP) Application

To submit a Seniors Co-Payment Program application or supporting documentation, you can either:

• fax the documents to (416) 642-3034; or
• e-mail the documents to trillium@ontariodrugbenefit.ca

NOTE: If faxing or emailing, you will be required to submit the original signed form to the SCP by Canada Post when the pandemic is over.  Please write in bold letters “Resubmit Originals” on the application form when mailing in the original application. 

U.S.-Canada Joint Initiative: Temporary Restriction of Travelers Crossing the U.S.-Canada Border for Non-Essential Purposes

The U.S.-Canada land border serves as an economic engine that supports over $2.4 billion dollars in daily trade. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States and Canada are temporarily restricting all non-essential travel across its borders. In each of our countries, we are encouraging people to exercise caution by avoiding unnecessary contact with others. This collaborative and reciprocal measure is an extension of that prudent approach.

“Non-essential” travel includes travel that is considered tourism or recreational in nature.

The United States and Canada recognize it is critical we preserve supply chains between both countries. These supply chains ensure that food, fuel, and life-saving medicines reach people on both sides of the border. Supply chains, including trucking, will not be impacted by this new measure. Americans and Canadians also cross the land border every day to do essential work or for other urgent or essential reasons, and that travel will not be impacted.

This decision will be implemented on March 21, 2020, at which time the U.S. and Canada will temporarily restrict all non-essential travel across the U.S.-Canada land border. The measure will be in place for 30 days, at which point it will be reviewed by both parties.

Prime Minister announces Canada’s Plan to Mobilize Industry to fight COVID-19

The COVID-19 outbreak continues to evolve rapidly, and the government is mobilizing Canadian businesses and manufacturers to help fight the spread of the virus and protect the health and safety of all Canadians.

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced Canada’s Plan to Mobilize Industry to fight COVID-19, which will create pathways to deploy resources to domestic manufacturers and businesses so they can help during this critical time.

The Plan introduces new measures to directly support these businesses to rapidly scale up production or re-tool their manufacturing lines to develop products made in Canada that will help in the fight against COVID-19. These products could include critical health and safety supplies and equipment, including personal protective equipment, sanitization products, diagnostic and testing products, and disease tracking technology.

The Plan builds on the Government of Canada’s more than $1 billion COVID-19 Response Fund and the support that has been provided to our health care system since the beginning of the outbreak. It focuses on domestic capacity building, innovative solutions, and procurement of essential supplies. It will:

• Build the industrial capability needed to manufacture critical supplies at scale in Canada. This will be done either by re-tooling the manufacturing lines of existing Canadian businesses or rapidly scaling up the production of others that already produce these products.
• Refocus Canada’s existing industrial and innovation programs, by adding to their mandate a requirement that they prioritize the fight against COVID-19. This includes:
  • the Strategic Innovation Fund to deliver direct support to Canadian companies for large-scale projects
  • National Research Council of Canada to expedite research and development with small and medium-sized enterprises
  • Innovation Superclusters to tap into a national network of 1,800 members, and Innovative Solutions Canada to help companies commercialize products more quickly
• Deliver direct support to key Canadian companies that are working on large-scale and later-stage research and development projects aimed, in the immediate term, at producing countermeasures to COVID-19.
• Challenge innovative companies to develop research-based solutions, technologies, and products that can address a variety of COVID-19 issues. 
• Source equipment needed to support Canada’s response to COVID-19 here in Canada. The Government of Canada will use existing supply arrangements and innovative, flexible procurement approaches. It is also reaching out to suppliers to identify and purchase equipment, supplies, and services needed for Canada’s response to COVID-19. With a view to longer-term support, the Government of Canada will ensure procurement flexibility to support innovation and build domestic manufacturing capacity to supply critical health supplies to Canadians.

These measures are part of a larger strategy the Government of Canada is implementing to protect Canadians and prevent the spread of the virus. This strategy prioritizes the health and safety of Canadians, ensures the capacity of our health care system, and mitigates the economic impacts on Canadians and Canadian business.