Since 1871, when six bishops in Ontario declared there should be no association with bishop Jacob Wisler of Ohio, who was dismissed because of his conservative stance, there were tensions among the Mennonites in Ontario about the question how much modern practices like Sunday School, revival meetings, English language preaching etc.
In November 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, both the Region of Waterloo Public Health unit and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health issued orders to close Old Order schools and places of worship in their regions and to limit social interactions.
In Waterloo Region, the orders applied to sects "including Markham, Old Colony, and David Martin Mennonite communities", according to a news report.
Both agencies cited a lack of cooperation with public health requirements that were intended to minimize the spread of the virus.
In an interview with the Waterloo Region Record, bishop Peter Brubacher, ("bishop for seven Old Order Mennonite church districts" in north Waterloo Region according to another news agency),[4] made this comment, "I guess to be frank and honest, a lot of people really didn’t take it that serious, to isolate".