Full list of what's reopening in Ontario and when as COVID-19 restrictions gradually lift
The Ontario government has announced it will slowly ease public health measures that have been in place to curb the spread of the highly-contagious Omicron variant.
Premier Doug Ford said during a news conference on Thursday that the province’s approach to winding back on restrictions, which took effect on Jan. 5, will be “cautious and gradual.”
The province detailed the reopening will take place over the course of three months with 21 days between each of the three stages.
CTV News Toronto has compiled a list of what’s reopening, at what capacity and when.
Jan. 31
- Social gatherings will be increased to 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors.
- Sporting events, concert venues and theatres will be able to operate at 50 per cent seated capacity or 500 people, whichever is less.
- Restaurants, bars and other food or drink establishments without dance facilities will be able to operate with 50 per cent capacity indoors.
- Retailers, including grocery stores and pharmacies, as well as shopping malls, can operate with 50 per cent capacity indoors.
- Non-spectator areas of sports and recreational fitness facilities, including gyms, can operate with 50 per cent capacity indoors.
- Movie theatres, meeting rooms and event spaces can operate with 50 per cent capacity indoors.
- Recreational amenities and amusement parks, including water parks, can operate with 50 per cent capacity indoors.
- Museums, galleries, aquariums, zoos and similar attractions, as well as casinos, bingo halls and other gaming establishments can open at 50 per cent capacity indoors.
- Indoor religious services, rites, or ceremonies can take place at 50 per cent capacity.
- The province said enhanced proof of vaccination, and other requirements would continue to apply in existing settings.
Feb. 21
- Social gathering limits will increase to 25 people indoors and 100 people outdoors.
- Capacity limits will be lifted in indoor public settings where proof of vaccination is required.
- Spectator capacity at sporting events, concert venues, and theatres will increase to 50 per cent capacity.
- Capacity is limited in most remaining indoor public settings where proof of vaccination is not required to the number of people that can maintain two metres of physical distance.
- Indoor religious services, rites or ceremonies are limited to the number of people that can maintain two metres of physical distance, with no limit if proof of vaccination is required.
- Indoor capacity limits will be increased to 25 per cent in the remaining higher-risk settings where proof of vaccination is required, including nightclubs, wedding receptions in meeting or event spaces where there is dancing, as well as bathhouses and sex clubs.
- Enhanced proof of vaccination, and other requirements would continue to apply in existing settings.
March 14
- Social gathering limits will be increased to 50 people indoors with no limits for outdoor gatherings.
- Capacity limits will be lifted in all indoor public settings. Proof of vaccination will be maintained in existing settings in addition to other regular measures.
- Remaining capacity limits on religious services, rites, or ceremonies will be lifted.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Western University researchers unlock potential 'cure' for ALS
New research out of London, Ont.'s Western University is shedding light on a potential cure for ALS, in which the targeting of the interaction between two proteins can halt or fully reverse the disease's progression.
Police release 3D images of young child found in an Ontario river two years ago
Police have released a three-dimensional image of a young child whose remains were discovered in the Grand River in Dunnville, Ont. almost two years ago.
Collapsed Baltimore bridge span comes down with a boom after crews set off chain of explosives
Crews conducted a controlled demolition Monday to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
A child killer legally changed his name in B.C. The province is trying to stop that from happening again
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Kamala Harris drops F-bomb during White House live-stream
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris used a profanity on Monday while offering advice to young Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders about how to break through barriers.
Mortgage companies could intensify the next recession, U.S. officials warn
U.S. officials worry the next recession could be intensified by a cascading series of failures in the mortgage industry caused by crashing home prices, frozen financial markets and soaring delinquencies.
What Michael Cohen said on the stand in Trump hush money case
The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial took the stand Monday with testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president.
Security video caught admitted serial killer disposing of bodies in Winnipeg garbage bins
Security video caught admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki on multiple late-night outings, disposing of body parts in nearby garbage bins and dumpsters in the middle of the night.
Behind the barricades: How protesters spend their first days in a new encampment
Students in Montreal describe life in a newly erected encampment in Montreal as a whirlwind of preparations, from facing rain and a potential police crackdown to setting up a space for the exchange of ideas.