COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa

[4][5][6] Initial restrictions preventing essential businesses from operating (such as the closure of indoor dining and personal care services) continued through until June 12, 2020, when the government of Ontario allowed Ottawa to enter Stage 2 of reopening.

[10] Along with other areas of Canada, cases began to steadily rise in late summer and early autumn.

[12] Ottawa had its modified Stage 2 status lifted for parts of November, until the province declared a province-wide shutdown beginning December 26, 2020.

[17][18] Vaccine rollout plans for Ottawa started for only Long Term Care (LTC) residents, staff, and certain health-care workers, but slowly expanded to a larger range.

As of March 5, 2021, adults 90 years of age or older anywhere in the city can receive their COVID-19 vaccine, along with the Inuit, First Nations, and Métis populations.

[25] On June 15, OC Transpo became the first public transit authority in Canada to make face masks mandatory.

[25] On July 17, the city entered Stage 3 of the province's re-opening plan, allowing bars and restaurants to open for indoor dining, as well as movie theatres, gyms and fitness centres.

[25] On August 26, City Council extended the mask by-law to include common areas of apartments and condominiums.

[25] On September 19, Monsignor Paul Baxter School in Barrhaven was ordered closed for 14 days due to an outbreak.

[25] On September 25, an outbreak is declared at the Extendicare Starwood long-term care home, which resulted in 25 residents dying.

[25] On October 8, an indoor wedding with no physical distancing or people wearing masks leads to 22 cases of COVID-19.

[25] On October 15, a 53-year-old woman was charged with breaking the Quarantine Act for failing to self-isolate for 14 days after travelling abroad and returning to work at a long-term care home.

[25] On January 5, a pilot project began to move doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine from the Ottawa Hospital directly to long-term care homes.

[28] On January 9, the Department of Canadian Heritage announced that Ottawa's annual Winterlude festival would be held virtually this year.

[31] On January 22, the city bans sledding and tobogganing at Mooney's Bay Hill due to consistent large crowds.

[37] On February 17, two employees at the Stirling Park Retirement Community were fired after accusations one of them allowed their wife to be vaccinated while stopping a housekeeper from getting theirs.

[43] On April 6, the province released a list of forward sortation areas declared as "hot spots" where adults 50 and over would be able to get vaccinations.

[22] On May 19, Ottawa Public Health announced that splash pads would be allowed to be open in the city beginning on the weekend.

[51] A day later, after some splash pads had opened, it was announced that they would not be, as they were included as part of Ontario's re-opening plan, set to take force June 14.

[54] On June 11 at 12:01am, bars and restaurants in the city will be allowed to open their patios (until 2am) as part of Step one of the province's re-opening plans.

[56] On July 11, it was announced that fans could be in attendance at a sporting event in the city for the first time since the pandemic began.

1,000 fans will be allowed to attend the final three remaining Ottawa Blackjacks games of the season, beginning July 17.

[61] On February 17, the province removed capacity limits for restaurants, gyms, movie theatres, meeting spaces, gaming establishments and other indoor areas that opt-in to proof of vaccination requirements.