Ontario is in Step 3 of the Roadmap to Reopen. On October 22, the province released a plan to lift remaining public health and workplace safety measures by March 2022. Continue to follow public health measures including masking.
October 22, 2021 Update:
On October 22, 2021, the Ontario government, in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, released A Plan to Safely Reopen Ontario and Manage COVID-19 for the Long-Term.
This plan outlines Ontario’s cautious and gradual approach to lifting remaining public health and workplace safety measures by March 2022. It will be guided by the ongoing assessment of key public health and health care indicators and supported by local or regional tailored responses to covid 19.
Over the next six months, Ontario will slowly and incrementally lift all remaining public health and workplace safety measures, including:
- wearing face coverings in indoor public settings
- removing the provincial requirement for proof of vaccination
To ensure that public health and workplace safety measures are lifted safely, this phased approach will be guided by the ongoing assessment and monitoring of key public health and health care indicators, such as:
- the identification of any new covid 19 variants
- increases in hospitalizations
- ICU occupancy and rapid increases in transmission
In the absence of concerning trends, public health and workplace safety measures will be lifted based on the proposed following milestones (PDF).
August 17, 2021 Update:
Pausing the exit from the Roadmap to Reopen
In response to evolving data around the Delta variant and based on the recent experiences of other jurisdictions, the government, in consultation with Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, is pausing the exit from the Roadmap to Reopen.
The Chief Medical Officer of Health and other health experts will continue to monitor the data to determine when it is safe to exit the Roadmap and lift the majority of public health and workplace safety measures currently in place.
The Roadmap to Reopen is is a three-step plan to safely and cautiously reopen the province and gradually lift public health measures.
The plan is based on:
- the provincewide vaccination rate
- improvements in key public health and health care indicators
News releases:
- October 22, 2021: Ontario Releases Plan to Safely Reopen Ontario and Manage COVID-19 for the Long-Term
- August 17, 2021: Ontario making COVID-19 vaccination policies mandatory in high-risk settings, pausing the province’s exit from the Roadmap to Reopen and providing third doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to vulnerable populations
- July 9, 2021: Ontario Moving to Step Three of Roadmap to Reopen on July 16
- June 24, 2021: Ontario Moving to Step Two of Roadmap to Reopen on June 30
- June 7, 2021: Ontario to Move to Step One of Roadmap to Reopen on June 11
- May 20, 2021: Ontario Releases Three-Step Roadmap to Safely Reopen the Province