Ontario Construction News staff writer
All non-essential construction sites across Ontario must shut down at midnight tonight as Ontario tightens restrictions to battle the spiking third wave of COVID-19.
New restrictions include checkpoints at borders with Manitoba and Quebec and prohibiting all outdoor gatherings.
Restrictions on construction activity are similar to the two periods when restrictions were imposed, at the start of the pandemic, and during the more recent “lockdown”. Notably residential construction work can continue and government/public construction is allowed, including schools and municipal works.
List of construction activities allowed to continue under the current emergency regulations
At the Friday press conference, Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development, said construction at shopping malls, hotels, and office towers will be halted
He said projects that are “critical to our health” will continue such as building on homes, hospitals, assessment centres, and long-term care homes.
“We need to ensure that those on these sites are being kept safe,” McNaughton said.
The premier said the province is struggling in its battle “between the variants and vaccines” and that stronger measures were necessary to curb the spread of COVID-19 and its variants of concern.
Dr. Adalsteinn Brown, the co-chair of the group of experts that advises the government on the pandemic, presented the table’s latest modelling on Friday — the same day health officials reported a new daily record of 4,812 COVID-19 cases, surpassing the 4,736 cases recorded the previous day.
The expert panel believes Ontario needs a six-week stay-at-home order and to sustain a vaccination rollout of at least 100,000 doses per day.
Adalsteinn Brown, co-chair of Ontario’s COVID-19 science advisory table, Brown urged Ontarians to strictly follow public health measures and to get vaccinated as soon as they are eligible.
Employers providing letters confirming employment for workers to show police