ONTARIO – At a news conference on Thursday, Feb. 11, Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced that March Break would be postponed this year to the week of April 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Postponing March Break, not cancelling it, is an important way that schools can help fight community transmission,” Lecce said, connecting the cancelling of March Break with fighting community spread through holiday travel. “It is of the upmost importance that we do not travel at this time. As our chief medical officer of health, schools have been safe for kids and this will keep them that way.”
Lecce also stated that there was concern around new strains of the COVID-19 virus and that the decision to postpone March Break was made with stopping the spread of these variants in mind.
New, more contagious strains of the virus that were first detected in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil have been detected this month in both Toronto and Montreal.
“The decision to postpone March Break, has not been an easy one, but is the best decision to protect them from this strain,” Lecce said.
This is the second year that March Break has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the Doug Ford government announced that March Break would be extended as the province entered its first pandemic lockdown.
“I recognize that this is one more change in a year that has been so challenging for students and education staff who have worked so hard. It is one made on the best advice of our public health officials to keep them safe and to keep our schools open in our province,” Lecce said.
