Provincewide Declaration of Emergency and & Stay at Home Order to Stop Spread of COVID-19
As COVID-19 cases continue to rise at an alarming rate across the province, the Ontario government is imposing a provincewide declaration of emergency and stay-at-home order as of Thursday, April 8, 2021, at 12:01 a.m. The government intends to keep this in place for at least four weeks.
The Stay-at-Home order requires everyone to remain at home except for essential purposes, such as going to the grocery store or pharmacy, accessing health care services (including getting vaccinated), for outdoor exercise, or for work that cannot be done remotely.
In addition, the province is also strengthening public health and workplace safety measures for non-essential retail under the provincewide emergency brake.
During the declaration of emergcency and stay-at-home order, schools will remain open for in-person learning with strict safety measures in place. The spring break will continue as planned for the week of April 12. In order to support working families, child care will remain open during the shutdown. Child care settings will continue to adhere to stringent health and safety measures so that they remain safe places for children and staff.
The current COVID-19 Response Framework: Keeping Ontario Safe and Open will be paused when the provincewide emergency brake shutdown comes into effect. The impacts of these time-limited measures will be evaluated throughout the next four weeks to determine if it is safe to lift any restrictions or if they need to be extended.
To learn about sector-specific restrictions that will be put in place under the Provincewide Shutdown, please see: COVID-19: provincewide shutdown. For additional measures that apply to the Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU) region, please see: Public Health Orders, Public Health Advice and Additional Public Health Measures for All Sectors.
Additional Resources
- COVID-19 Self-Assessment – Online screening tool and recommendations from Ontario's Ministry of Health
- Preventing COVID-19 in the Workplace: Employers, employees and essential service workers
- Ontario Ministry of Health: Sector-specific guidelines and resources
- Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety: COVID-19 Tip Sheets by sector
- Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020 & O. Reg. 82/20
- “Stop the Spread” Business Information Telephone Line – Toll-free line for businesses who have questions about how to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic (Government of Ontario)
