23 Mar 2020

Ontario Premier Doug Ford announces the shutdown
of non-essential businesses in the province,
flanked by several ministers in his cabinet on March 23, 2020.

Ontario orders shutdown of all non-essential businesses | Canada's National Observer: News & Analysis
https://www.nationalobserver.com/20...-orders-shutdown-all-non-essential-businesses

Ontario orders shutdown of all non-essential businesses

By Emma McIntosh | News, Politics | March 23rd 2020
#106 of 1611 articles from the Special Report:Coronavirus in Canada


Ontario Premier Doug Ford announces the shutdown of non-essential businesses in the province, flanked by several ministers in his cabinet on March 23, 2020. Photo from Premier of Ontario/YouTube

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has ordered all non-essential businesses in the province to shut down, a significant escalation in the fight to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The order will go into effect at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, and will last at least 14 days. On Tuesday, the government will release a list of the businesses that will be allowed to stay open, Ford said at a press conference Monday afternoon.
"We must get ahead of this virus to beat this virus," said a sombre Ford, speaking from Queen's Park. "We must slow the spread."

Ford said the public will still be able to access groceries, medicine and other essentials. Vital services such as power and telecommunications will also keep running.

Workplaces that can run with employees working remotely now have just under 36 hours to "adapt and prepare," Ford said. The province is prepared to extend the shutdown order if necessary, he added.

"This is not the time for half-measures," the premier said. "This decision was not made lightly. And the gravity of this order does not escape me."
Ford didn't say whether Ontario would offer compensation to businesses, saying the province would announce more details of its plans Tuesday morning.