Ontario is getting ready to re-open following the COVID-19 pandemic, and Premier Doug Ford has advised residents and businesses to “get ready.”

On April 30, the Ontario Government released more than 60 sector-specific guidelines businesses will be expected to follow as and when the province returns to economic activity. Among them are directives for those working in manufacturing, food manufacturing and processing, restaurant and food service, and the agricultural sectors. The measures build on those already developed by health and safety associations for such sectors as construction, retail, health care, transportation, police services, firefighters, and transit. 

"We all want to reopen our businesses, services and favourite places across the province, but we must do it in a safe and responsible way," said Ford. "That's why we are providing clear guidelines to employers, with practical measures to help them keep staff and customers safe while preventing the spread of COVID-19. By taking these steps, we will be prepared to get people back to work when the time is right."

The new guidelines feature actions employers can begin to put in place for as they prepare to adapt to re-opening operations during COVID-19. They including ways to ensure physical distancing, changes to the workplace that could include increasing air intake on building heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, and promoting proper workplace sanitization.

Construction-sector guidelines include information on on-site best practices for protecting workers, reporting COVID-19 illnesses, reporting requirements from the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development, and recommendations for physical distancing and site sanitation.

In addition, the Infrastructure Health and Safety Association (IHSA) has created a list of construction resources that includes guidelines and best practices documents for responding to suspected COVID-19 exposures, facility hygiene, fuelling and cleaning and sanitizing vehicles, and handling paperwork. The IHSA site also includes a series of posters for display at worksites on such topics as cleaning tools, holding meetings outdoors, cleaning work surfaces, and more.

"We are truly in extraordinary times and employers and employees are facing situations they have never had to deal with before," said Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development Monte McNaughton. "It is incumbent on our government, with the advice of health officials, to provide the guidance and tips outlining the safest ways to reopen workplaces and help prevent the spread."

The government has said it will issue further workplace safety guidelines for more sectors in the coming days and weeks.

The province also announced on April 30 that it has hired an additional 58 workplace inspectors that will communicate COVID-19 safety guidelines to essential workplaces and enforce emergency measures. These inspectors include workers from the Technical Standards and Safety Authority and the Ontario College of Trades.

"Protecting the health and well-being of Ontarians during the COVID-19 outbreak has been and will always be our government's number one priority," said Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Christine Elliott. "These guidelines will help employers begin to plan for their safe reopening based on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health and in alignment with our framework to ease public health measures and restart our economy. In doing so, we can ensure we continue to stop the spread of COVID-19 and keep workers safe."

On April 27, the government announced a framework for reopening the province for business during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the framework did not announce a specific timetable to restore the economy, it listed a series of parameters, each lasting between two and four weeks, for a staged re-opening.

"This pandemic has turned our lives upside-down. It has put our will and resolve to the test but we are winning this fight and we will win this fight,” Ford said.

"Ontario will come out of this stronger than ever before."