Ontario extends pandemic emergency orders for another month

The Ontario government has officially extended the pandemic emergency orders in place under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020 (ROA) until at least Sept. 22. 

These orders provide the province with the flexibility to continue addressing the risks of the pandemic while protecting the most vulnerable populations, including seniors and people with disabilities.

The long list of emergency orders was originally put in place under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMCPA) along with the declaration of the state of emergency, but Solicitor General Sylvia Jones introduced legislation earlier this summer to allow the government to extend or change some emergency orders for a month at a time, even after the state of emergency was lifted on July 24.

Ontario is extending orders in force under the Reopening Ontario Act until September 22. The province will continue on the safe and gradual path to recovery while tackling the ongoing effects of the pandemic. Learn more: https://t.co/Xg1m9BoNNe #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/hEVRhn6JoX

— Ministry of the Solicitor General (@ONsafety) August 20, 2020

This new act, the ROA, was passed into law on July 21 "to ensure important measures remained in place to address the sustained threat of COVID-19 once the provincial Declaration of Emergency came to an end," notes a government release. 

As a result, all orders under the ROA have been extended to Sept. 22, with the exception of the Education Sector order, which will end on Aug. 31, and the Limitation Periods order. 

The orders that remain in force for at least another month include Work Deployment Measures in Long-Term Care Homes, Limiting Work to a Single Long-Term Care Home, Patios, Rules of Areas in Stage 3, and more.

Under the ROA, orders can be extended or amended, but new orders cannot be created.

"We've seen great progress in our fight against COVID-19 in recent weeks, but now is not the time to let our guard down," said Jones in a statement. 

"We must continue safely and gradually down the path to recovery while tackling the ongoing effects of this pandemic. We're conducting an ongoing review and assessment of all orders to determine if they are still necessary and will relax restrictions or lift orders when it is safe to do so."