COVID-19 is something that we are all going to have to face together. Our primary concern is the health and safety of Ontarians.
We hope you are staying safe and healthy.
Thank you to all the province’s essential services workers and those on the front-line. You step up everyday to ensure individuals, families and seniors have what they need to stay safe and healthy.
Thank you to everyone else who is staying home and practicing physical distancing.
It is important to listen to the advice of Public Health experts:
- Wash hands frequently
- Avoiding touching eyes, nose and mouth
- Avoid contact with people who are sick
- Practice social-distancing
- Stay home if you’re not feeling well
- If you are concerned or suspect you have the virus, call
Telehealth Ontario: 1-866-797-0000 or
Ottawa Public Health: 613-580-6744
We will be publishing our Newsletter on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays now.
Congratulations to the class of 2020 – high school graduates! Well done on reaching this important milestone.
New as of June 15
More People Can Get Back to Work as Additional Businesses and Services to Reopen This Week
The Ontario government, in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health and local medical officers of health, is enabling more regions of the province to enter Stage 2 of the government’s reopening framework. These regions are able to reopen due to positive trends of key public health indicators at the local level, including lower transmission of COVID-19, sufficient hospital health system capacity, local public health capacity to assist with rapid case and contact management, and a significant increase in testing provincially.
The details were provided today by Premier Doug Ford, Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, Rod Phillips, Minister of Finance, Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation, and Trade, and Lisa MacLeod, Minister of Heritage, Tourism, Culture, and Sport Industries.
Informed by public health advice and workplace safety guidance, and supported by the collective efforts of businesses, workers and families to limit the potential spread of the virus, the latest public health unit regions allowed to move into Stage 2 on Friday, June 19, 2020 at 12:01 a.m. are:
- Durham Region Health Department;
- Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit;
- Halton Region Health Department;
- Hamilton Public Health Services;
- Lambton Health Unit;
- Niagara Region Public Health Department; and
- York Region Public Health Services.
These regions are in addition to the 24 public health regions that entered Stage 2 on June 12, 2020. Before opening, business owners need to review the workplace safety guidelines and public health advice.
The following regions will remain in Stage 1 under ongoing assessment until trends of key public health indicators demonstrate readiness to move into Stage 2:
- Peel Public Health;
- Toronto Public Health; and
- Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.
Public health remains the government’s top priority. All Ontarians must continue to follow public health advice, including practising physical distancing, wearing a face covering if physical distancing is a challenge, washing hands frequently and thoroughly, and avoiding touching your eyes, nose and mouth. If you think you have COVID-19 or have been in contact with someone who has COVID‑19, get tested.
The Chief Medical Officer of Health and health experts will continue to closely monitor the evolving situation to advise when public health restrictions can be gradually loosened or if they need to be tightened.
Ontario Develops Additional Learning Materials for Students and Teachers
The province is providing up to $1.5 million to create made-in-Ontario videos and resources to support Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) learning. The resources will align with the four science strands in the curriculum and will help students from Kindergarten to Grade 12.
Science North will create resources for elementary school teachers and students, while the Ontario Science Centre will develop materials for secondary school teachers and students. All resources will be accessible and available in both English and French and will include:
- Professional development videos for educators
- Virtual and at-home hands-on STEM activities for students
- Activities and student worksheets which can be printed and distributed through school boards
Resources can be accessed online at Science North and the Ontario Science Centre websites, with additional material being released weekly. Activities will use everyday objects and supplies so students can participate easily at home.
Ontario Expanding Data Collection to Help Stop Spread of COVID-19
This will help ensure the province has a more complete picture of the outbreak. This change will allow for the collection of data in a consistent way across the province, while ensuring the privacy of Ontarians is protected.
Under these proposed changes, individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 infection will be asked additional questions about their race, income, languages spoken, and household size. Individuals can choose not to answer any or all of these questions. Individuals’ privacy is protected as it is for all information currently collected on other diseases.
Collecting data province-wide, and in a standardized way, will ensure a more complete picture of the outbreak is captured. The province will continue to work with local public health units and other health care partners to implement effective policies to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Ontario Helps Local Business Test and Certify Medical-Grade PPE
The announcement was made today by Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.
CSA Group Testing & Certification Inc. is a subsidiary of the Canadian Standards Association. The organization tests, inspects and certifies products to ensure they are in compliance with safety, environmental and operating performance standards. There is currently no domestic provider of comprehensive testing and certification for medical grade masks, gloves and gowns, however with the government’s support, the organization will add new capacity to test and certify medical-grade PPE, including masks, surgical gowns and gloves.
Since launch, the Ontario Together web portal has received more than 26,000 submissions. More than 17,000 emergency supplies leads have been converted into more than $610 million in purchases of critical supplies and equipment to support staff on the front lines including, more than 21 million gowns, 168 million gloves, 123 million masks and over 4 million face shields. Over 6,600 ideas have been submitted through the portal on how to address the COVID-19 outbreak, including offers to retool their business to make critical supplies or to deliver needed goods or services.
The Ontario Together web portal is also accepting technology-driven solutions and services to help businesses reopen safely and to strengthen interprovincial trade and supply chains.
The government has also launched the Workplace PPE Supplier Directory to provide businesses with information on personal protective equipment (PPE) suppliers.
Ontario Eases Restrictions on Wedding and Funeral Ceremonies
The Ontario government is providing more flexibility on the number of attendees permitted at indoor and outdoor wedding and funeral ceremonies, in recognition of the importance of being with loved ones during the moments that matter most.
Based on positive public health trends the government is extending the number of people allowed to attend an indoor wedding or funeral ceremony to a maximum of 30 per cent capacity of the ceremony venue.
Wedding and funeral ceremonies taking place outdoors will be limited to 50 attendees. For both indoor and outdoor ceremonies, those attending must follow proper health and safety advice, including practising physical distancing from people who are not from the same household or their established 10-person social circle.
The changes came into effect on Friday, June 12 at 12:01 a.m. The maximum number of people allowed to attend indoor or outdoor wedding and funeral receptions remains at 10 people. As the COVID-19 outbreak evolves in Ontario, further direction will be provided on capacity restrictions for weddings and funerals going forward.
More small businesses can soon access the Canada Emergency Business Account
The Government of Canada is taking immediate, significant and decisive action through Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan to support Canadians and businesses facing difficult challenges as a result of the global COVID-19 outbreak. Small businesses in particular continue to face economic hardship and uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Today, Minister of Finance Bill Morneau announced that as of Friday, June 19, 2020, applications will be accepted so that more small businesses can access the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA). This means that owner-operated small businesses that had been ineligible for the program due to their lack of payroll, sole proprietors receiving business income directly, as well as family-owned corporations remunerating in the form of dividends rather than payroll will become eligible this week.
To qualify under the expanded eligibility rules, CEBA applicants with payroll lower than $20,000 will need:
- A business operating account at a participating financial institution;
- A Canada Revenue Agency business number;
- A 2018 or 2019 tax return; and
- Eligible non-deferrable expenses of between $40,000 and $1.5 million.
Eligible businesses will qualify for financing of up to $40,000, with 25 per cent of this being forgivable based on the current terms of CEBA loans. Businesses can contact their primary financial institution for more information or to apply directly for CEBA. More information on the expanded CEBA can be found on the program’s website.
CEBA is part of the Government of Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan, which is helping Canadians and businesses deal with the economic impacts of the pandemic. The measures under this plan will help businesses protect the jobs that Canadians depend on, keep their doors open, keep their employees on payroll, and recover quickly when the time comes.
The government continues to assess and respond to the impacts of COVID-19. It stands ready to take additional actions as needed to stabilize the economy and mitigate the impacts of the pandemic.
The Government of Ontario recently announced changes to the electricity price that Regulated Price Plan (RPP) customers on Time-Of-Use (TOU) pricing pay. Effective June 1 through to October 31, 2020, residential and small business customers on TOU pay a fixed price of 12.8 ¢/kWh for electricity consumed all hours of the day and every day of the week.
