Premier Doug Ford is asking the Ontario Legislature to extend the State of Emergency until June 2nd.
Ford says this extension will help enforce important public health measures.
“While we have made significant progress we still have a long way to go,” Ford said.
The emergency declaration will allow Ontario to continue to enforce current emergency orders, such as restricting retirement and long-term care home employees from working in more than one facility and prohibiting events and gatherings of more than five people. Since the emergency was first declared on March 17, the government has taken over 150 actions to help protect individuals, families, and businesses from the impacts of COVID-19.
A full list of emergency orders can be found on the e-Laws website, under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act.
During the emergency sitting of the House, politicians also passed the COVID-19 Response and Reforms to Modernize Ontario Act, 2020, which will help people conduct business while practising physical distancing by:
- Providing authority to address in-person attendance rules for school board trustees’ meetings in regulation. This would provide the flexibility in certain emergency situations to allow trustees to meet virtually during school closures;
- Enabling corporations to call and hold meetings virtually, as applicable, and extending the time period in which annual meetings must be held in specific circumstances;
- Allowing designations of a beneficiary to be provided electronically for Retirement Savings Plans, Retirement Income Funds, Locked-in Retirement Accounts, Life Income Funds and Tax-Free Savings Accounts;
- Allowing electronic filing of business registration documents, and the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services to accept copies of business registration documents and e-signatures;
- Allowing for regulations to set out the parameters for remotely commissioning or notarizing a document;
- Extending, on a one-time basis for 2020, the legisl ated four-year period during which a Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) election is mandated to be held to give more time to support remote voting.
Ford expects to make further announcements on Thursday about the next phase of reopening businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
