Restaurants, hair salons, shopping malls and more to reopen in parts of Ontario on Friday

Elisabetta Bianchini
Updated ·3 min read

Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced 24 regions in the province will be able to move into Stage 2 of reopening on Friday.

Ontario reopening: Regions entering Stage 2
Ontario reopening: Regions entering Stage 2

Exempt regions include Toronto, Halton, York, Durham, Peel, Hamilton, Windsor-Essex, Niagara, and Haldimand-Norfolk. Areas of the province that can reopen include Ottawa, Kingston, Peterborough and Waterloo.

Ontario reopening: Regions remaining in Stage 1
Ontario reopening: Regions remaining in Stage 1

The limit on social gatherings has been expanded from five to 10 people for all regions, both inside and outside, with the two-metre physical distancing rule still in place.

The following businesses and services are permitted to reopen in Stage 2:

  • Outdoor dine-in services at restaurants, bars and other establishments, including patios, curbside, parking lots and adjacent properties

  • Select personal services 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

Ontario reopening: Map of Stage 1 and Stage 2 regions
Ontario reopening: Map of Stage 1 and Stage 2 regions

Premier Ford said there will be no travel restrictions in place across the province, including travel to camp grounds and cottage country.

Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, said the province will provide a progress report every Monday on the public health units remaining in the first stage.

“If public health indicators improve at a local level, regions will be given the green light to enter Stage 2 that following Friday,” Elliott said.

She added the province is still looking at the possibility of “bubbling” close contacts in Ontario but for the time being, physical distancing must be maintained between households.

Dr. David Williams, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, confirmed he hopes to bring some information forward this week about possibly “bubbling” households, following the announcement that some regions of the province will move into the next stage of reopening on Friday.

He indicated this is a “very important” measure to include as there are concerns about the “social wellbeing” of people in the province who need that “closer family contact.”

“It takes a good amount of communication to get that clearly out to the public, what do we mean in Ontario and what’s the Ontario version of bubbling,” Dr. Williams said. “We want to use this concept of social bubbling as a continual incremental growth process over the next number of steps.”

Ontario's chief medical officer of health said this would be a “province-wide” measure, once implemented, as opposed to regionally executed.