COVID-19:

May 7

• Released A Measured Approach to Planning for Surgeries and Procedures During the COVID-19 Pandemic, which outlines clear criteria that hospitals must meet before resuming scheduled surgeries and procedures. The goal is to gradually get surgeries back on track, while protecting frontline staff and patients, and ensuring hospitals stay prepared for any potential outbreak or surge of COVID-19.
• Making $3.5 million available to the forestry industry to protect workers planting trees this season during the COVID-19 outbreak. The funds will be used for larger camp facilities and additional kitchens to provide more space as well as extra personal protective equipment to support workers who will be planting 70 million trees in Ontario’s forests this year.

May 6

• Allowed garden centres and nurseries to open May 8, hardware and safety supply stores to open May 9, and retail stores with a street entrance to provide curbside pickup and delivery as of May 11.
• Expanded the essential construction list to allow below-grade multi-unit residential construction projects, like apartments and condominiums, to begin and existing above-grade projects to continue.
• Extended the emergency electricity rate relief for time-of-use customers, including families, farms and small businesses, until May 31, 2020 during the COVID-19 outbreak. The relief was initially provided for a 45-day period starting on March 24, and is intended to be in place for an additional 24 days.
• Extended all emergency orders that have been put in place to-date under subsection 7.0.2 (4) of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act until May 19, 2020.
• Provided Virox Technologies Inc. with $850,000 from the Ontario Together Fund to help the local manufacturer double its production of disinfectants to stop the spread of COVID-19 and create jobs. Virox is the first manufacturer to receive money from the Ontario Together Fund.

May 5

• Expanding virtual mental health services to help thousands of Ontarians experiencing anxiety and depression, including frontline health care workers, during the COVID-19 outbreak. These Internet-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (iCBT) programs were developed in partnership with MindBeacon and Morneau Shepell and will be provided at no out-of-pocket costs to Ontarians across the province.
• Established a Mental Health and Addictions COVID-19 Response Table, led by the Mental Health and Addictions Centre of Excellence at Ontario Health, to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on access to public mental health and addictions services.
• Allowed licensed restaurants and bars to sell spirits with a food order at a lower price (reducing the minimum price of $2.00 per 29 mL to $1.34 per 29 mL) and made it easier for cideries to sell directly to consumers by temporarily removing the requirement for cideries to have five acres of planted fruit in order to qualify for a store at their cidery.

May 4

• Significantly increased testing and contact tracing capacity, allowing health experts to identify cases of COVID-19 and support efforts to stop the spread of the virus. On April 30, Ontario exceeded the target of 16,000 tests a day, with many of those tests aimed at protecting long-term care residents and staff. To date, Ontario has conducted over 342,000 tests.
• Developed an integrated laboratory system which has established the province as a national leader in daily testing volumes per capita.
• Acknowledged Mental Health Week and the increased anxiety Ontarians are experiencing because of COVID-19. Reminded Ontarians of supports in place to help, such as newly expanded online and virtual mental health supports.

May 2

• Working with the federal government, municipalities and First Nations partners to develop evacuation plans as part of Ontario’s flood preparedness planning. Recognizing the impact of COVID-19 on municipalities this year, Ontario is taking the lead on identifying suitable locations to host evacuees and to minimize the reliance on municipal resources for various supports, including health care and social services.

May 1

• Allowed certain businesses and workplaces to reopen as long as they can comply with strict public health measures and operate safely during the COVID-19 outbreak. Those permitted to reopen include garden centres and nurseries with curbside pickup and delivery, lawn care, landscaping, no touch car washes, and auto dealership by appointment only. Golf courses and marinas may begin preparations for the season, but may not open to the public. The list of essential construction projects was expanded to include shipping and logistics; broadband, telecommunications and digital infrastructure; municipal projects; colleges and universities; child care centres; schools; and site preparation, excavation, and servicing for institutional, commercial, industrial and residential development.
• Gave hospitals the authority and flexibility to more quickly appoint, reappoint and grant privileges to medical and other professional staff to address potential surge volumes.
• Authorized coroners, registered nurses appointed as coroner investigators and public health units to access the provincial electronic health record to help reduce demands on clinicians’ time related to death investigations, reduce exposure to COVID-19-related death investigations, and improve the ability to monitor the spread of the virus.
• Passed an emergency order to defer a portion of the Global Adjustment charges for industrial and commercial electricity consumers that do not participate in the Regulated Price Plan for the period starting April 2020. This is intended to give companies immediate relief to their monthly electricity bills in April, May and June 2020. The government intends to keep this emergency order in place until May 31, 2020, and subsequent regulatory amendments would, if approved, provide for the deferral of these charges for June 2020 as well.

April 30

• Released workplace safety guidelines that will provide direction to those working in manufacturing, food manufacturing and processing, restaurant and food service, and the agricultural sector as the government prepares for a gradual reopening of the provincial economy. These measures build on more than 60 guidelines developed by Ontario’s health and safety associations in response to COVID-19 for various sectors such as retail, health care, construction, transportation, police services, firefighters, and transit employees.
• Issuing posters to promote a variety of useful safety tips, including advice on physical distancing and sanitation. They are downloadable from the Ontario.ca website so employers can print and post them in their workplaces.
• Added 58 new inspectors to join the hundreds of existing provincial labour inspectors on the ground. The inspectors will be tasked with communicating COVID-19 safety guidelines to essential workplaces or enforcing emergency measures, including physical distancing and the closure of non-essential businesses.
• Recently doubled the capacity of Ontario’s Health and Safety Call Centre to 50 phonelines to deal with a large increase in calls.

April 29

• Further expanding the list of essential workers eligible to receive free emergency child care during the COVID-19 outbreak. Those who will benefit include people who work in the food supply chain, cooking and cleaning in health care facilities, trucking, deaf and deafblind interpretation, retirement homes, grocery stores and pharmacies, emergency services for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, and certain federal employees, including the military.
• To accommodate more children, 37 additional child care centres have been approved and will be reopening in the coming days.

April 28

• Launched the COVID-19: Tackling the Barriers website to help businesses overcome the unique challenges created by the global pandemic. Businesses working to retool their operations to produce health-related products, or those that want to continue their operations in this new environment of physical distancing, can submit any potential roadblocks to the website. The province is prepared to allow temporary changes to provincial rules and regulations in order to remove any barriers that are hindering business and negatively impacting Ontario’s supply chain.
• Pausing or extending any existing public consultations, delaying non-urgent related consultations while the emergency situation remains in place, and considering extending deadlines for reports and audits to help Ontario businesses focus on overcoming today’s challenges.

April 27

• Released AFramework for Reopening our Province, which outlines the criteria Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health and health experts will use to advise the government on the loosening of emergency measures, as well as guiding principles for the safe, gradual reopening of businesses, services and public spaces. The framework also provides details of an outreach strategy, led by the Ontario Jobs and Recovery Committee, to help inform the restart of the provincial economy.

April 26

• Announced that all publicly funded schools will remain closed until at least May 31, 2020, as part of an effort to keep students, staff and families safe. The extension was based on expert advice from the Chief Medical Officer of Health and health officials on the COVID-19 Command Table to allow an additional period of time to permit updated modelling and data to inform next steps in the government’s ongoing effort to stop the spread of the virus.

April 25

• Providing temporary pandemic payment to frontline staff in recognition of the dedication, long hours and increased risk of working to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. The increase will provide $4 per hour worked on top of existing hourly wages, regardless of the qualified employee’s hourly wages. In addition, employees working over 100 hours per month will receive lump sum payments of $250 per month for the next four months. This means eligible employees working an average of 40 hours per week would receive $3,560 in additional compensation.
• Introduced new and extended some emergency orders under subsection 7.0.2 (4) of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act.
• Allowed for the redeployment of staff to ensure they can work where they are needed most during the COVID-19 outbreak. This will help to quickly provide much-needed staffing support to long-term care homes while they continue to fight outbreaks.
• Provided staffing flexibility to service providers and employers in the intervenor services sector, which helps people who have a combined loss of hearing and vision. This will give employers the temporary authority to redirect staff to carry out essential tasks to support and protect people who are deafblind.
• Permit the use of allotment gardens and community gardens across the province to help ensure food security for some individuals and families during the pandemic. Local medical officers of health will provide advice, recommendations and instructions that the gardens must meet in order to operate, such as physical distancing, and cleaning and disinfecting of commonly used equipment and surfaces.
• Extended the closure of provincial parks and conservation reserves to May 31, 2020. Provincial parks and conservation reserves will continue to remain fully closed to all recreational activities. This includes car camping, backcountry camping, roofed accommodations, day use opportunities, access points and all public buildings.

April 24

• Partnering with the federal government to provide forgivable loans to eligible commercial property owners experiencing potential rent shortfalls because their small business tenants have been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. The province is committing $241 million through the new Ontario-Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance Program (OCECRA). The total amount of provincial-federal relief that would be provided is more than $900 million.
• Partnering with the federal government to invest up to $2.5 million to help the agri-food sector expand online to provide more opportunities for producers to grow their business and offer more food choices for families who are shopping from home during the COVID-19 outbreak. The Agri-Food Open for E-Business initiative will help food producers, farmers markets, retailers, garden centres, greenhouses, nurseries and agricultural associations develop online business, providing consumers with greater access to a wide variety of food and agriculture products.

April 23

• Delivering a new COVID-19 Action Plan for Vulnerable People to better protect vulnerable populations during the outbreak of COVID-19. This plan builds on the government’s previous actions to protect people living in high-risk settings, including homes serving those with developmental disabilities, shelters for survivors of gender-based violence and human trafficking, children’s residential settings, and those residential settings supporting vulnerable Indigenous individuals and families both on and off reserve.
• Moving to solicit ideas on additional actions and measures that can be taken now to further support vulnerable Ontarians and staff in high-risk settings.
• Extending all emergency orders that have been put in place to-date under s.7.0.2 (4) of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act until May 6, 2020.
• Introduced a new measure to allow mental health and addictions agencies to redeploy staff within different locations or between programs, and employ extra part-time staff, temporary staff or contractors in order to ensure people continue receiving the high-quality care they expect and deserve during the COVID-19 outbreak.

April 22

• Provided an update on progress made on the implementation of the COVID-19 Action Plan for Protecting Long-Term Care Homes, including introducing more aggressive testing, screening, and surveillance, deploying specialized teams from hospitals, public health and the home care sector, recruiting additional frontline staff and increasing personal protective equipment.
• Making a formal request to access extra reinforcements from the federal government to fight COVID-19 in Ontario’s long-term care homes. This could include personnel and other supports from Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada and Canadian Armed Forces. This support would be deployed to five priority long-term care homes.

April 21

• Through the new Ontario Community Support Program, investing $11 million to help deliver meals, medicines and other essentials to those in need, including low-income seniors and people with disabilities and chronic medical conditions.
• Issuing the first doubled Guaranteed Annual Income System (GAINS) payments. Individuals will receive up to $166 per month and couples will receive up to $332 per month. This will provide an additional $75 million to 194,000 vulnerable seniors.

April 20

• Released updated COVID-19 modelling, which shows that the enhanced public health measures, including staying home and physically distancing from each other, are working to contain the spread of the virus and flatten the curve. However, it was noted that in order for these projections to become reality, everyone must continue to stay home as much possible and practice physical distancing.

April 18

• Investing $20 million to advance medical research and develop tools and resources to combat COVID-19 and other infectious diseases through the Ontario COVID-19 Rapid Research Fund.

April 17

• Canada and Ontario are investing up to $1 million in new funding through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership to connect workers with in-demand jobs in the agri-food sector to keep the nation’s supply chains strong and store shelves stocked during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Partnered with Rogers Communications and Apple to help meet the educational needs of students and families. iPads are being purchased and distributed by Ontario school boards, pre-equipped with free Rogers high-speed wireless data. Apple is providing ongoing support in French and English to teachers, parents and students, with a collection of resources to support learning and working from home.
• Accelerated the delivery of Internet access, currently on track to be in every high school in Ontario by September 2020 and elementary school by September 2021.

• Rogers Communications is working with Ontario school boards to provide high-speed, low-cost internet to subsidized tenants and members of housing partners across Ontario through its Connected for Success program, as well as the Government of Canada Connecting Families initiative.
• Expanded the list of essential workers eligible to receive emergency child care, including people who assist vulnerable communities, emergency response and law enforcement sector staff, more health and safety workers and certain federal employees.
• Issued emergency order restricting retirement home employees from working in more than one retirement home, long-term care home or health care setting, with compliance required by April 22, 2020.
• Provided Local Health Integration Networks with the ability to direct home care service provider organizations to safely reassign frontline staff to areas where they are most needed, including home and community care settings, long-term care homes, supportive housing, retirement homes and hospitals.
• Provided municipalities and District Social Service Administration Boards with the flexibility to offer reassignments to their staff, including child care workers, by-law enforcement officers, and those who deliver public health services, to where there is local need during the outbreak.
• Gave ambulance services the flexibility to hire and assign college students who have not yet completed exams or graduated, to provide services appropriate to their competence level and scope of practice.

April 16

• Enabled auto insurance companies to provide temporary insurance premium rebates to drivers during the COVID-19 pandemic and for up to 12 months after the declared emergency has ended.
• Expanded hospital capacity by adding 1,035 acute care beds and 1,492 critical care beds. Of Ontario’s 3,504 critical care beds, 2,811 are now equipped with ventilators, up from 1,319 when the outbreak first started.
• Enacted pandemic staffing plans to ensure hospitals have the staff available to care for a sudden surge in patients.

April 15

• Announced the COVID-19 Action Plan: Long-Term Care Homes to protect seniors and vulnerable people during the pandemic. The action plan adds further measures to prevent further outbreaks in long-term care homes including aggressive testing, screening and surveillance; managing outbreaks and spread of the disease; and growing the long-term care workforce.
• Issued an emergency order to require long-term care staff to only work at one facility in order to reduce spread of the virus between facilities.

April 14

• Extended the Declaration of Emergency under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act for a further 28 days.
• Continued to enforce current emergency orders, such as the closure of all non-essential workplaces, outdoor amenities such as parks and recreational areas, public places and bars and restaurants, as well as restrictions on social gatherings of more than five people, and prohibitions against price-gouging.
• Passed the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Support and Protection Act to amend the Education Act, Planning Act, Development Charges Act, Police Services Act and the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act to respond to the concerns of education and municipal stakeholders during the COVID-19 emergency.

April 13

• Secured more than 13 million surgical and procedural masks, 200,000 N95 respirator masks and 38 ventilators over the last five days to ensure that patients, frontline health care workers and first responders have the critical equipment and supplies they need to protect themselves during the COVID-19 outbreak.
• Providing same-day deliveries of supplies and equipment to hospitals, long-term care and retirement homes and other facilities to support essential workers in all settings and ensure supplies are expedited to those most in need.
• Announced that on April 11, Alberta committed to send Ontario 250,000 N95 masks, 2.5 million surgical masks, 15 million surgical gloves, 87,000 safety goggles and 50 ventilators.

April 12

• Taking steps to better detect, plan and respond to the COVID-19 outbreak by developing a new health data platform called the Pandemic Threat Response (PANTHR). This new platform will hold secure health data that will allow researchers to better support health system planning and responsiveness, including the immediate need to analyze the current COVID-19 outbreak.
• Declared Easter Bunny’s delivery of chocolates and treats an essential service.

April 11

• Reported over 14,000 submissions to the Ontario Together portal appealing to Ontario’s manufacturers, entrepreneurs and innovators to provide essential supplies and equipment to support front line workers.
• Extended all emergency orders that have been put in place to-date under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act until April 23, 2020. This includes the closure of outdoor amenities in parks and recreational areas, non-essential workplaces, public places and bars and restaurants, along with restrictions on social gatherings and the prohibition of price gouging.
• Introduced new measures to address surge capacity in retirement homes, restrict recreational camping on Crown land and allow the repurposing of existing buildings and temporary structures.

April 10

• Temporarily preventing child care centres from collecting payments from parents, while also ensuring that their child care spaces are protected.
• Implementing the next phase of Ontario’s strategy to significantly expand and enhance COVID-19 testing by proactively testing several priority groups. Ontario expects to double the number of tests processed each day to 8,000 by April 15 and 14,000 by April 29, at which point overall lab capacity will have been further expanded.
• Re-established same-day testing results, which are now conveniently accessible to patients through a new user-friendly online portal. This portal will help ease pressure on public health units and frontline workers, allowing them to focus their efforts on combating COVID-19.
• Expanding the capacity of public health units to conduct contact tracing and case management, both of which are critical to stopping the spread of the virus, by enabling the use of volunteers, including retired nurses and medical students.
• Delivered Good Friday reflections to Ontario’s Christian community and urged everyone to stay home and practice physical distancing at this time to slow the spread of COVID-19.

April 9

• Partnering with SPARK Ontario to help seniors and the most vulnerable stay connected and healthy as they self isolate during the COVID-19 outbreak. Volunteers help to deliver food or medicines, run errands or check-up on seniors and the most vulnerable by phone or email while they self-isolate.
• Launched a new Ontario Jobs and Recovery Committee which will focus on getting businesses up and running and people back to work after the COVID-19 pandemic is over.
• Providing $52 million from the Ontario’s Action Plan financial package to better support individuals and families in financial crisis through social assistance. This funding will support those who are not able to access federal assistance to cover needs such as food costs, rent and medicine.
• Worked with the federal government to develop the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Loan that will enable up to $40 billion in lending to help businesses meet cash flow requirements through guaranteed loans.
• Issued the COVID-19 Provincial Testing Guidance Update. This guidance adds to the initial COVID-19 Public Health Guidance on Testing and Clearance issued March 25, 2020.

April 8

• Extending construction hours for essential construction projects, like critical projects in the health care sector, to 24 hours a day. Work on new hospital builds will be able to continue any time of the night or day in order to help accelerate the construction of important projects and will ensure construction workers can practice physical distancing on work sites to stay safe and healthy.
• Brought Passover greetings to Ontario’s Jewish community and reiterated that everyone must still stay home and practice physical distancing at this time to slow the spread of COVID-19.
• The Chief Medical Officer of Health issued an updated directive (#3) for long-term care homes to immediately implement that all staff and essential visitors wear surgical/procedure masks at all times for the duration of full shifts or visits in the long-term care home as well as to ask long-term care homes to save and securely store used PPE, including masks. The directive includes rigorous direction for staff and resident cohorting, the limitation of staff workplaces, COVID-19 testing and the latest protocol for outbreak management, among other critical guidance.

April 7

• Investing over $37 million to support outbreak planning, prevention and mitigation efforts to ensure the health and well-being of Indigenous people and communities — particularly those in remote and far-northern regions. The funding will respond to the unique needs of First Nations, Métis and Inuit people and families across the province.
• Launched a new online tool – the Health Workforce Matching Portal – that will enable health care providers with a range of experience to join the province’s response to COVID-19. The portal will efficiently match the availability and skillsets of frontline health care workers to the employers in need of assistance.

April 6

• Made an emergency order that will allow police, firefighters and paramedics to obtain COVID-19 positive status information about individuals with whom they are coming into contact. This will help first responders protect themselves and the public when responding to an emergency.
• Deferring $15 million in property taxes for people and businesses in parts of Northern Ontario located outside of municipal boundaries. Through these measures, Ontario is giving taxpayers in unincorporated areas more time to pay each of the four 2020 Provincial Land Tax installments.
• Offering direct financial support to parents while Ontario schools and child care centres remain closed as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak through the new Support for Families initiative. This is a one-time payment of $200 per child 0 to 12 years of age and $250 for those 0 to 21 years of age with special needs so parents can access additional tools for their kids to use while studying remotely.

April 4

• Investing up to $40 million through the COVID-19 Residential Relief Fund to support organizations that provide residential services for children and youth, people with developmental disabilities and emergency shelters for women and families fleeing domestic violence.
• Launched a new web portal – Ontario.ca/AgFoodJobs – to connect workers with employers looking to fill positions in the agri-food sector. This new online tool will make it easier to match people to essential jobs and training resources throughout the provincial food supply chain.

April 3

• Released extensive COVID-19 modelling, revealing several scenarios that project the potential number of cases and deaths and providing the public with full transparency about the consequences should everyone but non-essential workers fail to stay home and practise physical distancing.
• Reducing the list of businesses classified as essential and ordering more workplaces to close.
• Issued a new emergency order to provide public health units the authority and flexibility they need to make staffing decisions that support their ongoing fight against the outbreak of COVID-19, despite any collective agreements.
• Launched a new user-friendly online portal for the public to easily access their COVID-19 lab test results.

April 2

• Improving access to mental health supports during COVID-19, including dedicated supports for frontline health care workers and first responders, by providing emergency funding of up to $12 million to immediately expand online and virtual mental health supports.
• Providing $2.6 million to hire new psychologists and other mental health workers to support Ontario Provincial Police personnel.
• Providing an emergency payment of more than $2.7 million to support services for victims of domestic violence and other violent crimes during the COVID-19 crisis.
• Investing $1.3 million in technology to help courts and tribunals continue the transition to remote operations.
• Provided more safe places for truck drivers to stop and rest across the province and keeping all 23 ONroute travel plazas open for take-out, grab and go and drive-through services, including washrooms with enhanced cleaning. Also providing portable washrooms at 32 truck inspection stations so trucks have a place to stop and rest safely.

April 1

• Launched a new $50 million Ontario Together Fund to help businesses provide innovative solutions or retool their operations in order to manufacture essential medical supplies and equipment, including gowns, coveralls, masks, face shields, testing equipment and ventilators.
• Ordered 10,000 ventilators from O-Two Medical Technologies with support from Auto Manufacturing Parts Association members, Linamar, Martinrea, and Magna.

March 31

• Extended closure of publicly funded schools for teachers until Friday, May 1, 2020, and to students until Monday, May 4, 2020.
• Extended closure of private schools, licensed child care centres and EarlyON programs until April 13.
• Launched the second phase of Learn at Home by working with education partners to re-establish teacher-led learning, leverage digital resources, and prioritizing students on track to graduate.
• Announced the province will launch a new challenge on Ontario Together to leverage partnerships with the telecommunication sector to provide innovative, low-cost and high-impact solutions to help more students with at-home learning.
• Easing the financial burden on students through a six-month grace period through the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) on loan payments and interest accruals
• Finalized an agreement with eCampusOntario to make digital learning supports available to postsecondary institutions to enable Ontario colleges and universities to conduct year-end assessments for students.
• Investing $25 million in additional funding to help publicly-assisted colleges, universities and Indigenous Institutes respond to COVID-19 with deep cleaning, purchasing medical supplies or offering mental health supports.

March 30

• Extended the Declaration of Emergency and associated emergency measures, including the closure of non-essential workplaces and restrictions on social gatherings of more than five people until April 13.
• Issued a new emergency order to close all outdoor recreational amenities, such as sports fields and playgrounds.
• Doubled the $5 million investment announced in the fiscal update to a total of $10 million to help community organizations to coordinate the subsidized delivery of meals, medicines and other necessities to seniors.
• CMOH is strongly urging those over the age of 70 or those with compromised immune systems or underlying medical conditions to stay at home.
• Launched a new dedicated web page with enhanced public information about COVID-19, including changing how COVID-19 cases are being reported to provide a more relevant summary of data from Public Health Ontario.
• The province, in collaboration with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, and in consultation with the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA), Ontario Health and the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA), issued directive on health and safety standards for frontline nurses in hospitals in order to prevent exposure to and transmission of COVID-19.

March 29

• Ontario’s Chief Prevention Officer announced updated guidance to help construction employers better understand their responsibilities and what is needed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on the job site, including physical distancing measures and better sanitation.

March 28

• Issued a new emergency order to prohibit organized public events and social gatherings of more than five people.
• Implemented a new emergency order to provide staffing flexibility for long-term care homes and allow homes to redirect their staffing and financial resources to essential tasks and protecting residents.
• Announced new penalties to combat price gouging and hold offenders accountable for charging unfair prices on the necessary goods Ontarians need to protect themselves and their families from COVID-19.
• Enabled MGCS and MOH to centrally manage public sector supply chains so the government can prioritize buying what is needed most, deploying them and allocating them on a priority basis to support the delivery of essential services to Ontarians. This will help ensure frontline workers have the essential goods and services they need in the fight against COVID-19.

March 27

• Provided more details on the $3.7 billion to protect people and jobs and $10 billion to improve cash flows for people and businesses that was outlined in Ontario’s Action Plan: Responding to COVID-19.

March 26

• Provided more details on the additional $3.3 billion to support frontline health care workers and increase health care capacity in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. This includes increasing the number of assessment centres, adding more acute care and critical care beds, improving testing and providing more protective equipment for frontline workers.
• Provided more details on the $1.9 billion in Workplace Safety Insurance Board (WSIB) relief as part of the fiscal update to reduce the financial strain on business brought on by COVID-19.

March 25

• Launched Ontario’s Action Plan: Responding to COVID-19, a $17 billion emergency relief package to provide relief to families and certainty to businesses. This includes $3.3 billion in additional resources for the health care system, $3.7 billion in direct support for people and jobs, and $10 billion in support for people and businesses through tax and other deferrals to improve their cash flow.
• Launched the Stop the Spread Business Information Line, a toll-free line (1-888-444-3659) to provide support to Ontario businesses who have questions about the province’s recent emergency order to close non-essential workplaces.

March 24

• Providing immediate electricity rate relief for families, small businesses and farms by switching to a fixed, off-peak rate 24/7 for time-of-use customers for 45 days.
• Ontario sees first two deaths in long-term care homes related to COVID-19.
• Issued a temporary order to give long-term care homes the ability to free-up valuable staff, identify staffing priorities, and develop, modify and implement redeployment plans in response to COVID-19.

March 23

• Launched enhanced interactive online self-assessment tool.
• Ordered the mandatory closure of all non-essential workplaces effective as of Tuesday, March 24th at 11:59 p.m. to help slow the spread of COVID-19. The closure will be in effect for 14 days with the possibility of extension. A list of essential workplaces was released.
• Providing $200 million in social services relief funding to help protect the health and safety of the province’s most vulnerable people in response to COVID-19. $148 million in funding will help municipalities and social service providers such as shelters, food banks, emergency services, charities and non-profits continue to deliver critical services. The remaining $52 million will help provide emergency assistance through Ontario Works to those families and individuals who don’t qualify for federal emergency benefits.

March 22

• Closed all full-time DriveTest Centres and part-time Travel Point locations until further notice.
• Announced free local child care and the opening of select child care centres for frontline health care workers and first responders.

March 21

• Launched Ontario Together, a procurement portal to help businesses work with the province to provide much-needed supplies in response to COVID-19.
• Issued a temporary order to give hospitals the ability to cancel and postpone services to free-up space and valuable staff, identify staffing priorities, and develop, modify and implement redeployment plans in response to COVID-19.

March 20

• Expanded health coverage by waiving the three-month wait period for OHIP. Additionally, COVID-19 treatment will be covered for those who are uninsured and may not qualify for OHIP.
• Longer-term temporary absences will be allowed for inmates and non-violent offenders who are near the end of the sentences and who are at low risk to reoffend will be eligible for early release.
• The Ontario Parole Board will hold electronic hearings to reduce in-person contact.
• Announced the first phase of Learn at Home, an online portal that offers free, bilingual at-home learning resources in line with the Grades K-12 curriculum to during the school closure.
• U.S. – Canada border crossings close at midnight to all non-essential travel. Trade and commerce will not be affected. The closure will be in effect for 30 days and be re-evaluated at that time.

March 19

• Called an emergency session and passed critical legislation, including job-protected leave, 24/7 deliveries for businesses, and permitting virtual meetings for municipalities, with all-party support. Also implemented special measures to enable physical distancing in the Ontario legislature.
• Extended the validity period for driver’s licences, ID cards and health cards about to expire. Customers are advised not to visit ServiceOntario centres unless absolutely necessary and use online services instead.
• Ontario courts will limit in-person proceedings where possible. Video and audio conferencing will be used instead. All Tribunals including Local Planning Appeal Tribunals, Human Rights Tribunals, and Landlord and Tenant Board Tribunals are postponed to a later date. Small Claims Court is suspended until further notice. All non-urgent matters before the Ontario Court of Justice and the Superior Court have been adjourned.
• Closed all provincial parks from March 19 to April 30, including for day use.

March 18

• Recommended that retirement homes only allow essential visitors, such as those visiting the very ill or end-of-life visits, upon the advice of the CMOH.
• Announced the province is increasing its COVID-19 testing capacity from 2,000 tests per day to 5,000 per day by early April.
• Ordered an additional 300 ventilators.

March 17

• Declared a state of emergency.
  • The first order is to close bars and restaurants (excepting take-out and delivery), public recreation centres, libraries, private schools, child care centres, theatres, and concert venues. All public events of more than 50 people are cancelled including services at places of worship. These measures are effective until March 31.
  • Essential services, such as grocery stores, convenience stores, pharmacies, public transit, manufacturing facilities, and supply chain companies remain open/operational.
  • The Liquor Control Board of Ontario and The Beer Store affirm their stores will remain open, while they adopt enhanced cleaning measures.
• Enhanced the province’s response to COVID-19 with up to $304 million in funding including building additional hospital capacity, supporting public health units with testing and screening, purchasing additional personal protective equipment for frontline workers and ventilators, providing 24/7 screening at long-term care homes, and dedicated supports for rural, remote, Northern, and Indigenous communities.
• A deceased patient is posthumously diagnosed with COVID-19, potentially becoming the province’s first casualty. The coroner is investigating the cause of death.

March 16

• Announced legislation to provide job-protected leave for workers with symptoms of COVID-19 or who have been asked to self-isolate for a 14-day period, and for those who need to take a leave to take care of children during school and day care closures; employees with symptoms or asked to self-isolate will not be required to obtain a doctor’s note.
• Announced a fiscal and economic update on March 25, instead of a full budget, to respond to the current situation and provide relief to families and businesses.
• Expanding Telehealth resources to help reduce call wait times and manage higher-than-usual call volumes.
• Suspending all personal visitors and cancelling volunteer activities at youth justice centres.
• Limited non-essential visits to long-term care homes, with the exception of people visiting residents who are very ill or require end-of-life care.
• Requested the closure of libraries, recreational programs, private schools, day cares, places of worship, bars and restaurants, with the exception of takeout and delivery services, on the recommendation of the CMOH.
• Suspended eviction notices and enforcement until further notice.
• Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation closes all casinos in response to the recommendation of the CMOH regarding the avoidance of gatherings of over 250 people.

March 15

• Announced the ramping down of elective surgeries at Ontario hospitals in order to preserve capacity upon the recommendation of the CMOH.
• Ontario Parks has cancelled all public events and closed all visitor centres until further notice. Camp sites and day use will still be available.
• Metrolinx releases a reduced schedule effective March 18 for GO Transit rail and bus services.

March 14

• Released a statement assuring that Ontario’s food distribution system will continue to operate and meet Ontarians needs.

March 13

• Announced that intermittent inmates serving weekend sentences will be given a temporary absence of custody and allowed to return home in order to reduce COVID-19 transmission in correctional facilities.
• Suspended all gatherings of over 250 people upon recommendation from the CMOH. This impacts the province’s attractions agencies and convention centres that will be required to take appropriate measures. Many of these venues have voluntarily closed.
• Worked with Ontario’s post-secondary institutions to ensure they have a COVID-19 response plan in place to ensure academic continuity.

March 12

• Closed all publicly funded schools in Ontario from March 14 through until April 5 by ministerial order upon the advice of the CMOH.
• Enhanced access to COVID-19 screening and expanding lab-testing capacity.
• Launched a province-wide public education campaign and website. Fact sheets on the virus are provided in 30 languages.
• Extended one-time mitigation funding for municipal public health units for an additional year in order to provide stability and resources necessary for the COVID-19 public health response.

March 11

• Instructed long-term care homes to begin active screening of visitors, volunteers, staff and new residents for symptoms of COVID-19.
• Long-term care home respiratory tests will now be additionally screened for COVID-19.

March 9

• The province’s COVID-19 website is now updated twice daily at 10:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

March 2

• Created an enhanced response structure, including a Command Table to serve as a single point of oversight on the province’s COVID-19 response.

February 12

• Confirmed the third case of COVID-19 is resolved and the patient has recovered.

January 31

• The third case of COVID-19 is confirmed in Ontario.

January 27

• The second case of COVID-19 is confirmed in Ontario.

January 26

• CMOH briefed Ontario’s directors of education on COVID-19 on the province’s protocols to monitor, detect, and contain cases of the virus.

January 25

• The first case of COVID-19 is confirmed in Ontario.

January 24

• The Federal government introduced enhanced screening and detection measures at Pearson International Airport for any travellers who had been to Wuhan, China in the previous 14 days.

January 22

• Made COVID-19 a designated reportable disease under Ontario’s public health legislation.