List of businesses now given green light to reopen in Ontario

As the province continues its fight against COVID-19, more businesses and activities are being given the green light to reopen, while adhering to specific public health measures.

Here is the list of the businesses that can reopen as per the government's website.

We will continue to add to this list as more information becomes available.

June 12

According to Ontario's regional approach to reopening the provincial economy, municipalities outside the GTA, Hamilton, and the regions of Haldimand-Norfolk, Lambton, Niagara, and Windsor-Essex will be permitted to reopen the following services:

• Outdoor dine-in services at restaurants, bars and other establishments, including patios, curbside, parking lots and adjacent properties
• Select personal and personal care services with the proper health and safety measures in place, including tattoo parlours, barber shops, hair salons and beauty salons
• Shopping malls under existing restrictions, including food services reopening for take-out and outdoor dining only
• Tour and guide services, such as bike and walking, bus and boat tours, as well as tasting and tours for wineries, breweries and distilleries
• Water recreational facilities such as outdoor splash pads and wading pools, and all swimming pools;
• Beach access and additional camping at Ontario Parks
• Camping at private campgrounds;
• Outdoor-only recreational facilities and training for outdoor team sports, with limits to enable physical distancing
• Drive-in and drive-through venues for theatres, concerts, animal attractions and cultural appreciation, such as art installations
• Film and television production activities, with limits to enable physical distancing
• Weddings and funerals, with limits on social gatherings to 10 people

The Greater Toronto Area, and several other regions, will be held back from reopening the services listed above by another week, meaning those services will not be available until June 19 at the earliest. Public health units in the Greater Toronto Area account for 67.3 per cent of all COVID-19 cases in Ontario.

However, the province will increase the limit on social gatherings from five to 10 people, regardless of whether a region has moved to Stage 2 or not.

Similarly, all places of worship in Ontario will also be permitted to open with physical distancing in place and attendance limited to no more than 30 per cent of the building's capacity.

June 1

Backcountry camping

• Backcountry camping, including access points, paddle and portage routes and hiking trails reopened on June 1. The province also expanded day-use activities to include picnicking and off-leash pet areas.
• Backcountry camping activities involve hiking or paddling through park lands and setting up camp in remote areas. The province said these campers are “typically in small groups, fully equipped with supplies, and do not normally require the use of any facilities, such as washrooms, showers or other amenities.”
• All other overnight camping and some day-use activities at provincial parks and conservation reserves will continue to be closed until June 14.

May 31

Drive-in theatres

• Existing drive-in theatres can reopen following strict guidelines.

Batting cages

• Batting cages are permitted to open following strict guidelines to keep customers safe.

May 19

Construction

• All construction to resume and essential workplace limits lifted, includes land surveyors.

Retail

• In addition to retail operating online, or with curbside pickup and delivery, all retail can open under the following restrictions and guidelines:
• No indoor malls
• Must have a street-front entrance
• Open in-store by appointment and/or by limiting the number of people in the store at any one time. Retailers would need to restrict the number of customers per square metre to ensure physical distancing of 2 metres at all times.
• Only fitting rooms with doors would be used, not curtains, to facilitate disinfecting. Retailers will nee to restrict use to every second fitting room at any one time to allow for cleaning after use and ensure physical distancing.

Vehicle dealerships and retailers

• New and used car, truck, and motorcycle dealers.
• Recreational vehicle (RV) dealers (e.g., campers, motor homes, trailers, travel trailers).
• Boat, watercraft and marine supply dealers.
• Other vehicle dealers of motorized bicycles, golf carts, scooters, snowmobiles, ATVs, utility trailers, etc.

Media operations

• Office-based media operations involving equipment that does not allow for remote working. This includes:
• Sound recording, such as production, distribution, publishing, studios
• Film and television post-production, film and television animation studios
• Publishing: periodical, book, directory, software, video games
• Interactive digital media, such as computer systems design and related services (e.g., programming, video game design and development)
• Media activities that can be completed while working remotely have been encouraged to continue during the Restart phase
• Filming or other on-site activities, especially those that require the gathering of workers, performers or others are not permitted to resume in Stage 1

Scheduled surgeries (public and private facilities)

• Non-emergency diagnostic imaging and surgeries in public hospitals, private hospitals and independent health facilities, clinics, and private practices to resume based on ability to meet specified pre-conditions including the MOH framework: A Measured Approach to Planning for Surgeries and Procedures During the COVID-19 Pandemic, contains clear criteria that must be met before hospitals can resume scheduled surgeries.
• Scheduled surgical and procedural work to resume once “Directive #2 for Health Care Providers (Regulated Health Professionals or Persons who operate a Group Practice of Regulated Health Professionals)” is amended or revoked, which relies on hospitals meeting criteria outlined in A Measured Approach to Planning for Surgeries and Procedures During the COVID-19.

Health services

• 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.
• In-person counselling to resume including psychotherapy and other mental health and support services. Some of these services were available in-person for urgent needs. For example: Addiction counselling, crisis intervention, family counselling, offender rehabilitation, palliative care counselling, parenting services, rape crisis centres, refugee services

Community services

• Libraries for pick-up or delivery

Outdoor recreational amenities

• Marinas can resume recreational services
• Pools will remain closed

Individual recreational sports

Outdoor recreational sports centres for sports not played in teams will open with limited access to facilities (e.g., no clubhouse, no change rooms, washrooms and emergency aid only). Examples of sports centres include:

• Tennis courts
• Rod and gun clubs
• Cycling tracks (including BMX)
• Horse riding facilities
• Indoor rod and gun clubs and indoor golf driving ranges

Individual sports competitions without spectators

• Professional and amateur sport activity for individual/single competitors, including training and competition conducted by a recognized Provincial Sport Organization, National Sport Organization, or recognized national Provincial training centres (e.g., Canadian Sport Institute Ontario) with return to play protocols in place and no spectators, except for an accompanying guardian for a person under the age of 18 years.
• This includes indoor and outdoor non-team sport competitions that can be played under physical distancing measures. This includes water sports on lakes and outdoor bodies of water and racquet sports, such as tennis, ping pong, and badminton
• Animal-related sports, such as dog racing, agility, horse racing
• Other sports such as: track and field, car and motorcycle racing, figure skating, fencing, rock climbing, gymnastics, etc.
• Swimming pools will remain closed. As a result, water-based sports competitions are excluded if not conducted on lakes or outdoor bodies of water.
• High-contact sports are not allowed even if they are non-team. These include sports where physical distancing cannot be practiced such as racquetball, squash, boxing, wrestling sports, martial arts, etc.

Professional services related to research and development

• Professional services related to conducting research and experimental development in physical, engineering and life sciences including electronics, computers, chemistry, oceanography, geology, mathematics, physics, environmental, medicine, health, biology, botany, biotechnology, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, pharmacy, veterinary and other allied subjects. For example:
• Agriculture, food research, horticulture or botany, entomological, forestry, livestock, veterinary research and development laboratories.
• Bacteriological, biotechnology, chemical, nanobiotechnology, pharmacy, genetics, genomics, computational biology, research and development laboratories.
• Computer and related hardware, electronic, telecommunication research and development services.
• Geology, oceanographic, pollution research and development, and astronomical observatories.
• Mathematics research and development.
• Industrial research and development laboratories.

These examples are listed for clarity. Most if not all these services are already permitted under the “Research” section of the List of Essential Workplaces.

Emissions inspection facilities

• All emissions inspection facilities for heavy diesel commercial motor vehicles, including mobile inspection facilities.

Veterinary services

• Veterinary services can resume all services by appointment.

Animal services

• Pet grooming services
• Pet sitting services
• Dog walking services
• Pet training services
• Training and provision of service animals
• Effective May 16, 2020, businesses that board animals (e.g., stables) may allow boarders to visit, care for, or ride their animal

Indoor and outdoor household services

• Private households could now employ workers on or about the premises in activities primarily concerned with the operation of the household such as:
• Domestic services: housekeepers, cooks, maids, butlers, personal affairs management, nanny services, babysitters, other domestic personnel, etc.
• Cleaning and maintenance service: house cleaning, indoor/outdoor painting, window cleaning, pool cleaning, general repairs.

Maintenance

• General maintenance, and repair services can resume, and are no longer limited to “strictly necessary” maintenance.

May 16

• 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.

May 11

• Retail stores with a street entrance can open for curbside pick-up
• Below-grade, multi-unit residential construction projects like apartments and condominiums

May 9

• Hardware stores and safety supply stores

May 8

• Garden centres and nurseries

May 4

• Lawn care and landscaping
• Essential construction projects, including: Shipping and logistics, broadband, telecommunications, and digital infrastructure, any other project that supports the improved delivery of goods and services, municipal projects, colleges and universities, child care centres, schools and site preparation, excavation, and servicing for institutional, commercial, industrial and residential development
• Automatic and self-serve car washes
• Auto dealerships, open by appointment only
• Golf courses are allowed to prepare for their upcoming season but must remain closed to the public
• Marinas can begin preparing for the recreational season by servicing boats and other watercraft. Boats can be placed in the water, but must be secured to a dock at all times until public access is allowed.