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On May 20, 2021, the Ontario government announced a “Three-Step Roadmap to Safely Reopen the Province” which outlines its plan to gradually lift COVID-19 public health restrictions based on province-wide vaccination rates and improvements in key public health and health care indicators. The full announcement can be found here, which includes a link to the Roadmap.

The Roadmap outlines three steps to easing public health measures, guided by the following principles:

  • Step 1: An initial focus on resuming outdoor activities with smaller crowds where the risk of transmission is lower, and permitting retail with restrictions. This includes allowing outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people, outdoor dining with up to four people per table and non-essential retail at 15% capacity.
  • Step 2: Further expanding outdoor activities and resuming limited indoor services with small numbers of people where face coverings are worn. This includes outdoor gatherings of up to 25 people, outdoor sports and leagues, overnight camps, personal care services where face coverings can be worn and with capacity limits, as well as indoor religious services, rites or ceremony gatherings at 15% capacity.
  • Step 3: Expanding access to indoor settings, with restrictions, including where there are larger numbers of people and where face coverings cannot always be worn. This includes indoor sports and recreational fitness; indoor dining, museums, art galleries and libraries, and casinos and bingo halls, with capacity limits.

The province will remain in each step for at least 21 days. If at the end of the 21 days, the following vaccination thresholds have been met, along with positive trends in other key public health indicators, the province will move to the next step:

  • Step 1: 60% of adults vaccinated with one dose.
  • Step 2: 70% of adults vaccinated with one dose and 20% vaccinated with two doses.
  • Step 3: 70 to 80% of adults vaccinated with one dose and 25% vaccinated with two doses.

At this time, the province expects to enter Step 1 of the Roadmap the week of June 14, 2021. The province will confirm closer to the expected start of Step 1. Further, effective May 22, the province will reopen certain outdoor recreational amenities, including golf courses, driving ranges, tennis and basketball courts, and soccer fields. Otherwise, the restrictions imposed by the province-wide emergency brake and Stay-at-Home Order will remain in effect. See here for our discussion of the current Stay-at-Home-Order in place in Ontario.