GOVERNMENT NEWS & RELEASES
Ontario’s Action Plan: Responding to COVID-19
Ministry of Finance
Finance Minister Rod Phillips released Ontario’s Action Plan: Responding to COVID-19 (March 2020 Economic and Fiscal Update).
Related:
- Ontario will spend $17B over the next year to help battle COVID-19 pandemic (CTV News)
- How COVID-19 blew up the Doug Ford government’s budget (CBC News)
- Here’s who will receive assistance under Ontario’s $17B coronavirus aid package (Global News)
The COVID-19 Emergency Response Act Receives Royal Assent
Department of Finance Canada
The Government of Canada is taking strong, immediate and effective action to protect Canadians and our economy from the impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic
Related:
- Emergency COVID-19 bill, upping $27 billion in direct support to $52 billion, gets royal assent (National Post)
- Trudeau’s $82B coronavirus support package gets royal assent, officially passes (Global News)
- Federal bill with more than $100 B in COVID-19 aid gets royal assent, is now law (CP24)
Ontario Orders the Mandatory Closure of All Non-Essential Workplaces to Fight Spread of COVID-19
Office of the Premier
To further contain the spread of COVID-19, the Ontario Government will order the mandatory closure of all non-essential workplaces effective as of Tuesday, March 24th at 11:59 p.m. This closure will be in effect for 14 days with the possibility of extending this order as the situation evolves. A full list of businesses that are permitted to stay open will be released tomorrow.
Office of the Premier Ontario Providing Electricity Relief to Families, Small Businesses and Farms During COVID-19
To support Ontarians through the rapidly evolving COVID-19 situation, the Government of Ontario is providing immediate electricity rate relief for families, small businesses and farms paying time-of-use (TOU) rates.
Ontario Significantly Enhancing COVID-19 Screening Measures and Supports
Ministry of Health
With the increasing severity of the COVID-19 outbreak, Ontario has now launched an enhanced and interactive self-assessment tool.
Province Takes Steps to Ensure Frontline Staff Can Continue to Work
Ministry of Education
In order to support health care and frontline workers during this COVID-19 outbreak, Ontario plans to exempt certain child care centres from the order to close all licensed child care centres pursuant to the state of emergency declared earlier this week. This initiative is being done in partnership with service system managers and First Nations partners.
Ontario Urges Business to Join the Fight Against COVID-19
Office of the Premier
The Ontario Government is launching Ontario Together, a new website that will help businesses and their employees work with the province to meet the challenges of COVID-19. This initiative will remove barriers allowing Ontario’s manufacturing sector to redeploy capacity towards the production of essential equipment like ventilators, masks and swabs.