On March 30, 2022, the Head of Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table stated to various news outlets that Ontario is now in its sixth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently, during a news conference on March 31, 2022, the Ontario government announced that it will proceed with its reopening plans as scheduled, and will not reintroduce mandatory masking requirements.
In our previous blog, we summarized Ontario’s original reopening plan which consisted of three milestone dates to mark the graduated lifting of various public health measures. On March 9, 2022, Ontario released its “Living with and Managing COVID-19” plan (the “Plan”) and Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health announced that the government will lift all remaining COVID-19 public health measures, directives, and orders as of April 27, 2022. In accordance with the Plan, Ontario lifted its mask mandate on March 21, 2022 for most indoor settings including gyms, schools, retail centres, and restaurants.
Takeaways for Employers
Current public health indicators indicate that Ontario is now in its sixth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been confirmed by public health experts. Ontario has not announced any plans to reintroduce mandatory masking requirements or to otherwise revert to an earlier stage in its reopening plan.
While mask mandates are no longer in effect, employers should ensure that they continue to comply with their duty to take all reasonable steps to protect the health and safety of its employees, per the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act. Employers should continually assess and action best practices to curb the risk of transmission of COVID-19 in their workplaces.
We will continue to monitor for any news related to COVID-19 and will promptly post about any updates that are relevant to employers.