Ontario Starts to Lift COVID-19 Restrictions

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Monday, 31 January 2022 06:24

Gyms, movie theatres, casinos and restaurant dining rooms will reopen across Ontario today.

ONTARIO - The Ford Government will be lifting some of the COVID-19 restrictions across the province today.

The social gathering limit is now 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors.

Indoor recreation facilities, gyms, movie theatres, casinos, museums and restaurant dining rooms will be able to reopen at 50 percent capacity today. Sporting events, concert venues and theatres can also reopen at 50 percent seated capacity or a 500 person limit, whichever is lower.

Proof of vaccination will be required for these settings and you will need to have the enhanced proof of vaccination QR code. The enhanced certificates became mandatory on January 4th, right before the province entered stage 2 lockdown. You can access your QR code online here. All you have to do is answer the questions provided and a link will pop-up at the bottom of the page. Once you click on that link, it will take you another page with instructions on how to download your enhanced proof of vaccination QR code.

The Ford Government announced it's plan to gradually reopen the province on January 20th and you can find more details below.

January 31, 2022

- Increasing social gathering limits to 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors.
- Increasing or maintaining capacity limits at 50 per cent in indoor public settings, including but not limited to:
- Restaurants, bars and other food or drink establishments without dance facilities;
- Retailers (including grocery stores and pharmacies)
- Shopping malls;
- Non-spectator areas of sports and recreational fitness facilities, including gyms;
- Cinemas;
- Meeting and event spaces;
- Recreational amenities and amusement parks, including water parks;
- Museums, galleries, aquariums, zoos and similar attractions; and
- Casinos, bingo halls and other gaming establishments
- Religious services, rites, or ceremonies.
- Allowing spectator areas of facilities such as sporting events, concert venues and theatres to operate at 50 per cent seated capacity or 500 people, whichever is less.

February 21, 2022

- Increasing social gathering limits to 25 people indoors and 100 people outdoors.
- Removing capacity limits in indoor public settings where proof of vaccination is required, including but not limited to restaurants, indoor sports and recreational facilities, cinemas, as well as other settings that choose to opt-in to proof of vaccination requirements.
- Permitting spectator capacity at sporting events, concert venues, and theatres at 50 per cent capacity.
- Limiting capacity 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 limited to the number that can maintain two metres of physical distance, with no limit if proof of vaccination is required.
- Increasing indoor capacity limits 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.

March 14, 2022

- Lifting capacity limits in all indoor public settings. Proof of vaccination will be maintained in existing settings in addition to other regular measures.
- Lifting remaining capacity limits on religious services, rites, or ceremonies.
-Increase social gathering limits to 50 people indoors with no limits for outdoor gatherings.