ONTARIO – The province of Ontario’s emergency stay-at-home order is set to expire on June 2 at 12:01 a.m. that day. The lifting of the stay-at-home order means that residents will be permitted to leave their homes for non-essential reasons, but much of the province’s other public health restrictions around public gatherings, and business closures, will remain in place.
“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 Solicitor General Sylvia Jones. “With the Stay-At-Home order set to expire, we need to provide people with certainty so that they can continue to follow public health guidance. Doing so will help us to meet our goal of starting to gradually lift some restrictions when we enter Step One of the Roadmap when it is safe to do so.”
Public health restrictions that remain in place include limiting indoor gatherings to members of the same household, limiting outdoor gatherings to five people with social distancing with some exceptions, and limiting essential businesses to 25 per cent capacity. One thing that will end with the stay-at-home order is the province’s moratorium on residential evictions.
“As we continue to accelerate second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for Ontarians, maintaining public health measures will ensure we continue to protect our hospital capacity and help stop the spread of COVID-19 variants,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “As we look towards Step One of Ontario’s Roadmap and begin to gradually lift public health measures, it remains critical that all Ontarians continue to follow public health advice and roll up their sleeves to receive the vaccine. Every dose administered means we are one step closer to the end of the pandemic.”
The stay-at-home order was put in place nearly two months ago on April 7.
