On November 16, 2020, the Ontario government implemented updates to its COVID-19 Response Framework, including lowered qualifying indicators and thresholds for each level. The government also moved certain public health unit regions to different levels. The government previously announced these changes on November 13, 2020 in response to updated modelling data showing that the province could see up to 6,500 new cases per day by mid-December.
The following public health unit regions were moved to the following levels in the Framework:
- Control (Red):
- Toronto Public Health, with additional enhanced health measures (for more information, see our previous blog post)
- Hamilton Public Health Services
- Halton Region Public Health
- York Region Public Health
- Restrict (Orange):
- Brant County Health Unit
- Durham Region Health Department
- Eastern Ontario Health Unit
- Niagara Region Public Health
- Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health
- Region of Waterloo Public Health
- Protect (Yellow):
- Huron Perth Public Health
- Middlesex-London Health Unit
- Public Health Sudbury & Districts
- Southwestern Public Health
- Windsor-Essex County Health Unit
Additionally, the indicators and thresholds for each level were lowered to create a stricter Framework. A comparison of these old and revised indicators and thresholds is set out below, with changes italicized.
| Old Framework | Revised Framework | |
| Prevent (Green) | Weekly incidence rate: Fewer than 10 cases per 100,000 people Test positivity rate: Under 1% |
Weekly incidence rate: Fewer than 10 cases per 100,000 people Test positivity rate: Under 0.5% |
| Protect (Yellow) | Weekly incidence rate: 10 to 39.9 cases per 100,000 people Test positivity rate: 1 to 2.5% |
Weekly incidence rate: 10 to 24.9 cases per 100,000 people Test positivity rate: 1 to 1.2% |
| Restrict (Orange) | Weekly incidence rate: 40 to 99.9 cases per 100,000 people Test positivity rate: 2.5 to 9.9% |
Weekly incidence rate: 25 to 39.9 cases per 100,000 people Test positivity rate: 1.3 to 2.4% |
| Control (Red) |
Weekly incidence rate: 100 or more cases per 100,000 people Test positivity rate: 10% or more |
Weekly incidence rate: 40 or more cases per 100,000 people Test positivity rate: 2.5% or more |
| Lockdown (Grey) | Trends continue to worsen after measures from Control level are implemented. | Trends continue to worsen after measures from Control level are implemented. |
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rapidly evolve, employers should ensure that they remain apprised of their public health unit’s classification and the corresponding public health guidance and restrictions. As always, we will continue monitoring the situation and post further updates as they become available.
This blog is provided as an information service and summary of workplace legal issues.
This information is not intended as legal advice.