Ford considering moving Ontario to Step 2 of reopening on June 30, sources say
Premier Doug Ford is considering moving up the second step of Ontario's economic reopening by two days and is set to make the final decision during a cabinet meeting scheduled for Wednesday, CTV News Toronto has learned.
If approved, sources say Step 2 of the economic reopening would be bumped up to June 30, allowing personal care services and larger outdoor gatherings to resume.
It was originally scheduled for July 2, which is 21 days since Ontario entered Step 1.
Premier Ford was asked about speeding up the reopening process on Wednesday, while announcing the ground-breaking of the future three-stop Scarborough subway extension in Toronto.
“We’re working to get to Stage 2 as quickly as possible and Step 3, as soon as it’s safe, after that,” Ford said.
The news comes amid a surge in vaccination rates and as COVID-19 cases across Ontario continue to trend downwards in recent weeks.
In fact, on Tuesday, Ontario met the vaccination thresholds required to enter the third and final step of its economic reopening weeks ahead of schedule, with 76 per cent of residents aged 18 and above having received their first dose, while 25 per cent of the adult population has been fully vaccinated.
However, the province’s top health officials have made clear that the province would wait a minimum of 21 days before advancing to the next stage of reopening.
Ford said that Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams and Minister of Health Christine Elliott are currently reviewing Ontario’s COVID-19 case data as it pertains to reopening.
He said the pair will be coming out with an announcement on the matter “very shortly.”
Based on the original schedule, Ontarians had been expecting to enter Step 3, which allows for the most lenient of public health restrictions, on July 23 at the earliest.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.