Ontario releases broad outline of how the province’s economy will reopen

Framework for easing rules is a road map, not a calendar, Ford says

TORONTO—Ontario Premier Doug Ford released a broad outline Monday of how — but not when — the province’s economy will reopen, while predicting there will never be a complete return to the old way of life.

The three-step framework for easing restrictions introduced because of the COVID-19 pandemic is “not a calendar, it’s a road map,” Ford said.

“The steps we are taking are working,” Ford said Monday, as figures on COVID-19 in the province showed a third consecutive day of falling growth rates in new cases.

“But progress doesn’t mean we can quit now. That’s why I won’t set hard dates until we’re ready, because the virus travels at its own speed.”

The three stages will see businesses and workplaces reopen at different times, though likely with distancing measures in place, and restrictions on gatherings eased, though even the final stage doesn’t contemplate a return to large sporting events and concerts.

There will be a new normal in Ontario, Ford said.

“I don’t think it will ever go back to where it was before, because our lives have changed and we’re doing things differently,” he said.

Stage one in the framework could include opening select workplaces that can modify operations, such as providing curbside pickup or delivery, opening parks, allowing for more people at certain events such as funerals, and having hospitals resume some non-urgent surgeries.

Cancer surgeries are at the top of that list, Health Minister Christine Elliott said.

Stage two could include opening more businesses, such as service, retail or office workplaces, opening more outdoor spaces, and allowing some larger public gatherings.

Stage three would include having all workplaces open and further relaxing rules on public gatherings — though large ones would still be restricted.

“No one loves sports more than I do and everyone loves a good concert, but again, we’re working with these areas,” Ford said.

“I don’t believe when sports come back they’re going to come back with a full stadium anywhere in North America. I think there will be empty stadiums at the beginning.”

Each of the three stages will last about two to four weeks, and whether Ontario moves to the next stage will depend on advice from the chief medical officer of health.

Dr. David Williams said Monday that the province is still in the “pandemic phase.”

“We have a ways to go before we start our first two-week period,” he said.

Williams will be looking for a consistent, two-to-four week decrease in the number of new cases and a decrease in cases that can’t be traced back to a source, the framework states.

Ontario on Monday reported 424 new COVID-19 cases and 57 new deaths. That brings the total of cases in the province to 14,856, a 2.9 per cent increase over Sunday’s total, a third day of falling growth rates.