The Ontario government announced it is temporarily moving to a modified version of its “Step 2” in the roadmap to reopening in an effort to control the surging Omicron variant. Time-limited measures, announced January 3rd, include returning to remote learning, further reducing indoor capacities at retail settings, closing gyms and restaurants, and requiring businesses and organizations to ensure employees work remotely unless their work requires them to be on-site.

“As we continue with our provincial vaccine booster efforts, we must look at every option to slow the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant,” said Premier Doug Ford. “Putting these targeted and time-limited measures in place will give us more opportunity to deliver vaccines to all Ontarians and ensure everyone has maximum protection against this virus.”

While less severe than other variants, evolving data is showing that the Omicron variant has higher transmissibility, resulting in a larger number of hospital admissions relative to ICU admissions. Staff absenteeism is also expected to rise and affect operations in workplaces across Ontario due to Omicron infection and exposure, including in hospitals and schools.

Effective Wednesday, January 5, 2022, at 12:01 a.m. for at least 21 days subject to trends in public health and health system indicators, the new measures include:

• Reducing social gathering limits to five people indoors and 10 people outdoors.
• Limiting capacity at organized public events to five people indoors.
• Requiring businesses and organizations to ensure employees work remotely unless the nature of their work requires them to be on-site.
• Limiting capacity at indoor weddings, funerals, and religious services, rites and ceremonies to 50 per cent capacity of the particular room. Outdoor services are limited to the number of people that can maintain 2 metres of physical distance. Social gatherings associated with these services must adhere to the social gathering limits.
• Retail settings, including shopping malls, permitted at 50 per cent capacity. For shopping malls, physical distancing will be required in line-ups. Loitering will not be permitted, and food courts will be required to close.
• Personal care services permitted at 50 per cent capacity. Saunas, steam rooms, and oxygen bars closed.
• Closing indoor meeting and event spaces with limited exceptions but permitting outdoor spaces to remain open with restrictions.
• Public libraries limited to 50 per cent capacity.
• Closing indoor dining at restaurants, bars and other food or drink establishments. Outdoor dining with restrictions, takeout, drive through and delivery is permitted.
• Restricting the sale of alcohol after 10 p.m. and the consumption of alcohol on-premise in businesses or settings after 11 p.m. with delivery and takeout, grocery/convenience stores and other liquor stores exempted.
• Closing indoor concert venues, theatres, cinemas, rehearsals and recorded performances permitted with restrictions.
• Closing museums, galleries, zoos, science centres, landmarks, historic sites, botanical gardens and similar attractions, amusement parks and waterparks, tour and guide services and fairs, rural exhibitions, and festivals. Outdoor establishments permitted to open with restrictions and with spectator occupancy, where applicable, limited to 50 per cent capacity.
• Closing indoor horse racing tracks, car racing tracks and other similar venues. Outdoor establishments permitted to open with restrictions and with spectator occupancy limited to 50 per cent capacity. Boat tours permitted at 50 per cent capacity.
• Closing indoor sport and recreational fitness facilities including gyms, except for athletes training for the Olympics and Paralympics and select professional and elite amateur sport leagues. Outdoor facilities are permitted to operate but with the number of spectators not to exceed 50 per cent occupancy and other requirements.
• All publicly funded and private schools will move to remote learning starting January 5 until at least January 17, subject to public health trends and operational considerations.
• School buildings would be permitted to open for childcare operations, including emergency childcare, to provide in-person instruction for students with special education needs who cannot be accommodated remotely and for staff who are unable to deliver quality instruction from home.
• During this period of remote learning, free emergency childcare will be provided for school-aged children of health care and other eligible frontline workers.

In addition, the Chief Medical Officer of Health will reinstate Directive 2 for hospitals and regulated health professionals, instructing them to pause all non-emergent and non-urgent surgeries and procedures in order to preserve critical care and human resource capacity.

The government is also expanding the new Ontario Business Costs Rebate Program. Eligible businesses  required to close or reduce capacity will receive rebate payments for a portion of the property tax and energy costs they incur while subject to these measures. Those required to reduce capacity by 50 per cent, such as smaller retail stores, will receive a rebate payment equivalent to 50 per cent of their costs, while businesses required to close for indoor activities, such as restaurants and gyms, will receive a rebate payment equivalent to 100 per cent of their costs. A full list of eligible business types will be made available when applications for the program open later this month.

Effective January 1, 2022, the government is providing up to $7.5 billion for a six-month interest- and penalty-free period for Ontario businesses to make payments for most provincially administered taxes, supporting businesses now and providing the flexibility they will need for long-term planning. It is also exploring more support options for businesses and workers impacted by the new measures, including grants.

“As cases continue to rise at a rapid rate and evidence on the Omicron variant evolves, additional time-limited measures are needed to help limit transmission as Team Ontario continues to get booster doses into arms,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “While this was not an easy decision, these measures will help preserve hospital bed capacity and prevent our hospitals from becoming overwhelmed.”