Premier Ford Announces More Businesses That Can Open on Saturday

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Thursday, 14 May 2020 13:48

Golf courses, campgrounds and marinas are among a list of businesses that can open on Saturday. Then on Tuesday more businesses will be allowed to open, including pet grooming, by appointment only.

ONTARIO - Premier Doug Ford announced the next phase of reopening the Province today.

Starting on Saturday, golf courses, private parks, campgrounds, businesses that board animals, boat clubs and marinas will be allowed to open.

Premier Ford says Stage 1 will officially start on Tuesday May 19 with more restrictions lifted.

"We can reopen retail stores with street entrance that are not located in shopping malls with strict social distancing measures in place. Certain seasonal venues including outdoor sports fields, tennis courts, off leash dog parks. Vets and other pet services, such as pet grooming by appointment only, animal shelters, household services such as cleaning and maintenance, certain health and medical services, including scheduled surgeries and in person counselling. We will also lift the essential construction limits, to allow all construction to resume."

Ford says he wants to be clear that businesses should only open if they are ready. Ford says we can't fully predict where things will go.

"So we need to be ready to react if we see a sudden increase in cases, we cannot let our guard down now, we must watch our trends like a hawk and we need to remember as we ramp up more daily testing, as we get more and more people back to work, the risk of flare ups is real. So we need to stay vigilant, we can't take our progress for granted."

Ford says they will react and make changes and responds to flare ups if the numbers do not stay on course. If the numbers do stay down, the Government will be prepared to open more businesses.

As soon as 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, May 16, 2020 the following businesses can open under certain restrictions:

Golf courses will be able to open, with clubhouses open only for washrooms and restaurants open only for take-out.
Marinas, boat clubs and public boat launches may open for recreational use.
Private parks and campgrounds may open to enable preparation for the season and to allow access for trailers and recreational vehicles whose owners have a full season contract.
Businesses that board animals, such as stables, may allow boarders to visit, care for or ride their animal.

Ontario's first stage of reopening will begin on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 at 12:01 a.m. and will include:

Retail services that are not in shopping malls and have separate street-front entrances with measures in place that can enable physical distancing, such as limiting the number of customers in the store at any one time and booking appointments beforehand or on the spot.

Seasonal businesses and recreational activities for individual or single competitors, including training and sport competitions conducted by a recognized national or provincial sport organization. This includes indoor and outdoor non-team sport competitions that can be played while maintaining physical distancing and without spectators, such as tennis, track and field and horse racing.

Animal services, specifically pet care services, such as grooming and training, and regular veterinary appointments.

Indoor and outdoor household services that can follow public health guidelines, such as housekeepers, cooks, cleaning and maintenance.

Lifting essential workplace limits on construction.

Allowing certain health and medical services to resume, such as in-person counselling and scheduled surgeries based on the ability to meet pre-specified conditions as outlined in A Measured Approach to Planning for Surgeries and Procedures During the COVID-19 Pandemic, as well as resuming professional services such as shifting Children's Treatment Centres from virtual to in-person.

You can find a more detailed list of the Stage 1 openings online here.

Businesses will be required to follow the Provincial guidelines laid out here.

You can listen to Premier Ford's statement below: