Provincial government response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario

[1] On March 17, 2020, Premier Ford declared a provincial state of emergency, prohibiting public gatherings larger than 50 people, and ordering the closure of all schools, child care services, libraries, indoor recreation facilities, dine-in bars and restaurants, and all cinemas, theatres, and concert venues.

[2] On March 20, 2020, further measures were announced, including waiving the three-month waiting period for Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) coverage,[3] the launch of an e-learning portal,[4] and extended privileges for hospitals to re-deploy staff.

[18] On June 12, 2020, Chief Medical Officer of Health David Williams issued guidelines for "social circles" — allowance for families to expand their interactions with up to 10 people (including themselves) from outside of their immediate household.

[23] Due to heightened cases in the regions, Peel, Ottawa, and Toronto were rolled back to Modified Stage 2 from October 10 to November 7, reinstating closures of indoor dining areas, casinos, cinemas and theatres, gyms, and personal care services that require the removal of face masks.

[29] On June 8, it was announced that Stage 2 would be implemented across most of the province, excluding 10 Southern Ontario health regions primarily in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area and along the Canada–United States border (such as Windsor-Essex) due to a large number of active cases.

[30] In addition, Ford announced that the cap on gathering sizes would be increased to ten province-wide regardless of phase, and that there would be a moratorium on evictions through the end of August of small businesses which are eligible for the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program.

[36] Industry/retail Outdoor recreation Care/household Services Stage 2 allowed certain businesses to reopen, with heavy restrictions: On December 21, 2020, Premier Ford announced that in order to "save lives and prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed in the coming weeks", a "strict" province-wide shutdown would begin in all health regions (regardless of their current status on the response framework) at 12:01 a.m.

These measures upgraded the province-wide shutdown to a stay-at-home order; all Ontario residents were required to remain at their homes unless conducting an activity deemed essential.

[47] All other restrictions enacted under the province-wide shutdown remained in force, and the colour-coded response framework was officially considered "paused" due to the declaration of emergency.

Outdoor gatherings were limited to five people, and guidance now recommends masks be worn outside (in addition to the existing indoor mandate) if social distancing is not possible.

[51] The measures faced criticism for disproportionately favouring big box retailers, by not restricting the times of day in which they may offer curbside pickup or delivery services, or preventing them from selling non-essential goods.

[45] On February 8, 2021, Premier Ford announced that the declaration of emergency would expire, but that the stay-at-home order would be extended in the majority of health regions to allow a gradual reinstatement of the response framework.

Unlike the earlier revision, the "Lockdown" tier will allow for non-essential retail with capacity limits (unless the region is subject to a stay-at-home order).

[53][54] The framework is now subject to an "emergency brake", where regions may immediately be placed back in the "Lockdown" tier as a circuit breaker if health officials believe that the incidence rate is increasing too rapidly and the healthcare system is at a severe risk of being overwhelmed.

Personal care services were to be allowed to operate by-appointment only at 25 percent capacity/5 people (whichever is fewer) in "Lockdown" regions beginning April 12.

[66][64] In addition, subject to physical distancing, capacity limits were removed for outdoor religious services (including funerals and weddings) in all regions.

This includes prohibiting all indoor organized events and gatherings, limiting outdoor gatherings to five people, capacity limits for retail (50 percent for essential retail, 25% for all other stores), and ordering the closure of all in-person dining (regardless of setting), daycamps, personal care services, sports and recreation facilities, meeting and event spaces, and cinemas, and capping capacity of religious services to 15 percent.

[69][70][71][72] Premier Ford faced criticism over the new shutdown (which resulted in only minor changes for health regions already in the "Lockdown" tier), with Leader of the Opposition Andrea Horwath arguing that it was "a too little too late response by this government to what we knew was coming".

Furthermore, essential retail stores are only allowed to sell food, pharmacy items, and cleaning supplies, and all other non-essential goods are prohibited from being displayed or sold to in-store customers.

[73] Following criticism of photos showing displays of cloth masks blocked by local Walmart stores, representatives of the government clarified that they were considered an essential good.

[76] On April 16, 2021, Premier Ford announced that due to record high hospitalizations and cases, the stay-at-home order had been extended through at least May 20, and that several additional restrictions will also be imposed.

Beginning April 19, land travel into Ontario is restricted at the provincial border to essential purposes (transport of goods, medical care, work, and exercising treaty rights) only, and indoor places of worship are limited to 10 people.

[80] On April 17, Jones announced that the new police authority would be narrowed to only allow them to stop and ticket individuals they suspect are participating in a public event or social gathering.

He also announced that Ontario was working on developing a paid sick leave benefit, arguing that they needed to fill "gaps" in the CRSB that were not fulfilled by the 2021 federal budget, and that they planned to make it "the best program in North America".

Premier Ford stated that the additional time was necessary in order to ensure that "most normal July and August possible", but that this would not allow large public gatherings such as concerts or sporting events.

[94] On June 2, 2021, the stay-at-home order officially expired, leaving the province with some restrictions, bans on outdoor activities like camping stayed closed.

[111] On October 8, 2021, ahead of the opening of new seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and in the National Hockey League (NHL), Premier Ford announced that capacity limits would be lifted for certain venues and events where proof of vaccination is required, including cinemas, theatres, and concerts, the seating areas of sports, recreation, and racing facilities, meeting and event spaces (subject to social distancing), and the studio audiences of commercial film and television productions.

An Ontario government spokesperson stated that restaurants were deemed a higher-risk setting due to patrons not wearing masks for prolonged periods.

[113] The involvement of MLSE—owner of most of Toronto's professional sports teams[a]—in the development of the Verify Ontario app was also scrutinized by the industry, who accused the provincial government of favouring the interests of larger corporations over small businesses.

[118] On December 10, 2021, citing the spread of the Omicron variant, Ontario announced upcoming changes to the proof of vaccination requirements, which have henceforth been extended indefinitely.