50 per cent capacity indoor dining returns January 31 in Ontario
🕘 5 min read
Today the Ontario government, in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, released details of steps to cautiously and gradually ease public health measures at the end of the month.
Premier Doug Ford said, “The evidence tells us that the measures we put in place to blunt transmission of Omicron are working. We can be confident that the worst is behind us and that we are now in a position to cautiously and gradually ease public health measures. While February will continue to present its own challenges, given current trends these are challenges we are confident we can manage.”
In the absence of concerning trends in public health and health care indicators, Ontario will follow a cautious and phased approach to lifting public health measures, with 21 days between each step. Ontario will begin the process of gradually easing restrictions, while maintaining protective measures, including but not limited to:
Monday January 31, 2022
- Restaurants, bars and other food or drink establishments without dance facilities
- Retailers including grocery stores
- 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
- Casinos, bingo halls and other gaming establishments
- 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.
Social gathering limits:
Indoors - Increase to 10 ppl
Outdoors – Increase to 25 ppl
Enhanced proof of vaccination, and other requirements would continue to apply in existing settings.
Monday February 21, 2022
Effective February 21, 2022, Ontario will lift public health measures, including:
- 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.
- 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.
Social gathering limits:
Indoors - Increase to 25 ppl
Outdoors – Increase to 100 ppl
Enhanced proof of vaccination, and other requirements would continue to apply in existing settings.
Monday March 14, 2022
- Lifting capacity limits in all indoor public settings.
Social gathering limits:
Indoors - Increase to 50 ppl
Outdoors – No limits
Proof of vaccination will be maintained in existing settings in addition to other regular measures.
To manage COVID-19 over the long-term, local and regional responses by public health units may be deployed based on local context and conditions.
Dr. Kieran Moore, Chief Medical Officer of Health said, “Thanks to the efforts of Ontarians going out to get their booster dose and adhering to current public health and workplace safety measures, we are in a position where we can begin planning to gradually and cautiously ease restrictions. The months ahead will require continued vigilance, as we don’t want to cause any further disruption to people’s everyday lives. We must continue to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 in our communities by following the measures in place and by vaccinating those who have not yet received their doses.”
Read the complete news release. View the previous government timeline.
Stay tuned for updates.
For more information about COVID-19 and vaccinations, visit the Ontario Health website.
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