Here's how Toronto spent its first weekend in Step 3 of Ontario's reopening
This weekend, the sidewalks in Toronto are a little busier, the patios are full, and, as resident Lucie Malbeteau describes it, there’s a sense of “freedom” in the air.
As she sits in a Queen Street West cafe having brunch on Sunday, Malbeteau is experiencing the city for the first time, having moved here from France nine months ago.
"It's an amazing day, an amazing weekend," Malbeteau said.
She says the simple act of having brunch indoors feels both normal and wonderful at the same time.
"It's like, I don't know, like freedom," she explained.
The cafe, called Marvellous by Fred, is busy with a lot of walk-in traffic, and people wanting to sit down.
"It's just like something that we used to have, and now we just discover how good it is to have it back," store supervisor Melanie Ven Der Horst said.
Ontario entered Step 3 of its reopening plan on Friday, which once again allows for indoor dining and a host of other loosened public health restrictions. There’s no limit on the number of people per table, but restaurants must allow for social distancing between groups.
Gyms and movie theatres also reopened their doors Friday with capacity limits in place.
Outside Scotiabank Theatre, Davin Lengyel is about to go see the newest installment in the “Fast and Furious” franchise, “F9.”
Lengyel said he can't wait to share in the experience with other people in the audience.
"Movies are always a communal experience in the first place. That's what they're for," he said.
And as moviegoers trickle in on a hot July afternoon, Lengyel says watching movies and TV at home during the pandemic just can't compete with the theatre.
"It’s the large screen," he says. "It's the experience of seeing it with a group of other people you can hear them appreciate it, you can hear the ‘oohs’ and the ‘awes.’"
At an F45 gym in Etobicoke, owner Adam Meghji was cleaning up, after a weekend of nearly full classes.
He says the feeling inside was “jovial."
"The mood is just so excited. I think people are not only excited to come back into the studio to work out but also just to see other people,” Meghji explained.
After being closed for nearly nine months, gym staff said they were prepared to reopen and pick up where they left off.
"I feel like there's more optimism this time around the reopening that we're going to stay open," Meghji said.
A little more freedom, a little more optimism, and a lot of hope that there will be no looking back.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.