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Ontario Extends and Amends COVID-19 Orders On October 19, 2020, the Ontario government amended the Extension of Orders regulations (O. Reg. 458/20) under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020 (the “ROA”). The ROA continued a number of the orders previously issued under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Extension of Orders regulations extend until November 21, 2020 a total of thirty-four orders currently in force pursuant to the ROA. Under the ROA, orders can be extended for up to 30 days at a time. The extended orders were previously set to expire on October 22, 2020. The Ontario government has also amended the Rules for Areas in Stage 2 regulations (O. Reg 263/20) and the Rules for Areas in Stage 3 regulations (O. Reg. 364/20) a number of times between October 9, 2020 to October 19, 2020. In accordance with the Stages of Reopening regulations (O. Reg. 363/20), last amended on October 19, 2020, the Rules for Areas in Stage 2 regulations only apply to the regions served by the City of Ottawa Health Unit, the City of Toronto Health Unit, the Peel Regional Health Unit and the York Regional Health Unit. The rest of the province is subject to the Rules for Areas in Stage 3 regulations. Of note, the Rules for Areas in Stage 2 regulations restrict social gatherings associated with a wedding, a funeral or a religious service, rite or ceremony held in a building or structure other than a private dwelling to 30% capacity of the particular room if held indoors or 100 people if held outdoors. However, for social gatherings associated with a wedding, a funeral or a religious service, rite or ceremony, such as wedding receptions, held at a private dwelling, the limit is 10 people if the gathering is held indoors and 25 people if the gathering is held outdoors. Similar limits apply with regard to the rental of meeting or event space for a wedding, funeral, religious service, rite or ceremony. The amendments to the Rules for Areas in Stage 2 regulations also clarify that the delivery of “dance classes” will be permitted to continue for the purpose of teaching or training amateur or professional dancers in dance techniques where all participants are pre-registered for the classes, no walk-ins are permitted, and other specified conditions are met. The recent amendments to the orders under the ROA also added a general compliance requirement for businesses and organizations in all stages of reopening. This is a requirement to ensure that, unless one of the listed exceptions in subsection 2(4) of the Rules for Areas in Stage 2 regulations apply, any person in the indoor area of the premises of the business or organization, or in a vehicle that is operating as part of the business or organization, wears a mask or face covering in a manner that covers their mouth, nose and chin during any period when they are in the indoor area. |
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