Provincial

The Ontario government is expanding the list of essential workers eligible to receive emergency child care. This will help additional frontline staff during the COVID-19 outbreak. An emergency order was issued which will offer support to those providing a variety of critical services including people who assist vulnerable communities, emergency response and law enforcement sector staff, more health and safety ...

The Ontario government has partnered with Rogers Communications and Apple to help meet the educational needs of students and families during the COVID-19 outbreak. iPad is being purchased and distributed by Ontario school boards, pre-equipped with free Rogers LTE wireless data. Apple is providing on-going support in French and English to teachers, parents and students, with a collection of resources to support ...

The Ontario government is enabling auto insurance companies to provide temporary insurance premium rebates to drivers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The province has amended a regulation under the Insurance Act to help ease the financial pressure on working people and families during this public health crisis. By amending this regulation, insurance companies would be able to provide auto insurance premium rebates to consumers for ...

To help stop the spread of COVID-19 among the province’s most vulnerable citizens and ensure frontline services can continue to be delivered in priority areas, the Ontario government has issued new temporary emergency orders under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act. “Every day, incredible sacrifices are being made by frontline workers in every region of the province to care for ...

The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) announced Tuesday, April 14, 2020 that it will defer setting new electricity prices for households and small businesses under the Regulated Price Plan (RPP). The OEB is also leaving the winter time-of-use (TOU) periods and winter residential tier threshold in place beyond May 1, 2020, to provide greater price stability for consumers when they are ...

The Ontario government is taking steps to better detect, plan and respond to the COVID-19 outbreak. In consultation with the Ontario Privacy Commissioner, the province is developing a new health data platform called the Pandemic Threat Response (PANTHR). This new platform will hold secure health data that will allow researchers to better support health system planning and responsiveness, including the ...

The Ontario government continues to ensure that patients, frontline health care workers and first responders have the critical equipment and supplies they need to protect themselves during the COVID-19 outbreak. Over the last five days, more than 13 million surgical and procedural masks, 200,000 N95 respirator masks, and 38 ventilators have been delivered to Ontario’s pandemic stockpile warehouses. Le gouvernement ...

To help stop the spread of COVID-19 and protect the health and safety of people across the province, the Ontario government has extended all emergency orders that have been put in place to-date under s.7.0.2 (4) of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act until April 23, 2020, including the closure of outdoor amenities in parks and recreational areas, non-essential ...

To stop the spread of COVID-19, the Ontario government is implementing the next phase of its strategy to significantly expand and enhance testing. In addition to the ongoing testing of the general public at any of the 100 assessment centres now established across the province, Ontario will be proactively testing several priority groups, including: Hospital inpatients; Residents of long-term care ...

During the COVID-19 outbreak, the Ontario government is temporarily preventing child care centres from collecting payments from parents, while also ensuring that their child care spaces are protected. Child care centres, with the exception of those accommodating health care and other frontline workers, were ordered closed to help prevent the spread of the virus and keep the children and child care staff safe. ...

The Government of Ontario is partnering with SPARK Ontario to help seniors and the most vulnerable stay connected and healthy as they self isolate during the COVID-19 outbreak. SPARK Ontario is the province’s first bilingual volunteer hub designed to direct volunteers to where they are needed most. The needs of each community vary, but groups across the province are looking ...

Today, Premier Doug Ford issued the following statement to mark Good Friday: “Christians across Ontario and around the world today will observe the sacred occasion of Good Friday and look forward with hope to the joy of Easter Sunday. Many of them will spend the day in prayer, fasting, and charitable giving to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. While ...

The Ontario government has launched a new Ontario Jobs and Recovery Committee which will focus on getting businesses up and running and people back to work after the COVID-19 pandemic is over. While the government’s primary focus is on combatting the virus, supporting frontline health care workers and providing immediate relief to people and businesses, this new committee will be ...

NDP Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath held a kitchen table chat by video conference with small business owners in Ontario who are struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Horwath heard from Mark Furukawa in Hamilton and Melissa Durrell in Waterloo. Furukawa is the Owner/Operator of Dr. Disc, an iconic Hamilton storefront that sells new and used CDs, LPs, and DJ ...

Today, Premier Doug Ford issued the following statement to mark the beginning of Passover: “This evening at sundown, the Jewish community across Ontario and around the world will begin the eight-day celebration of Passover. Passover commemorates the Exodus and liberation of the Israelites from bondage in ancient Egypt. It is a celebration of freedom, faith, and the tremendous perseverance of ...