Your guide to COVID-19 reopenings: what you can do — and when — in each province
Dining outdoors, dining indoors, getting a haircut — here’s when you’ll be able to get back to 'normal'
As COVID-19 vaccines continue rolling out across Canada, provinces are making tentative plans for reopening everything from indoor dining to personal services to gyms and casinos.
Most provinces moved to Phase 1 of their summer reopening plans at the end of May or beginning of June. Moving to Phase 2 varies by province, but as with entering Phase 1, Phase 2 is also tied to vaccine levels and maintaining stable or declining case and hospitalization numbers.
Most of Atlantic Canada has been widely open with capacity restrictions in place, including New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Here's a look at roughly when the other provinces will move to Phase 2.
Criteria for moving to Phase 2:
- British Columbia: At least 65 per cent of people 18+ vaccinated with a first dose, along with declining case counts and COVID-19 hospitalizations. The earliest date to move to Step 2 is June 15.
- Alberta: Two weeks after 60 per cent of Albertans 12+ have received at least one dose and hospitalizations are below 500 and declining. It is expected to go into effect June 10.
- Saskatchewan: Three weeks after 70 per cent of people age 30+ have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and three weeks have passed since the beginning of Step 1. Expected June 20.
- Manitoba: Manitoba's current critical level is in effect until at least June 12, though the province said it would allow outdoor gatherings of up to five people, beginning Saturday. It released its reopening plan June 10, pegged to targeted vaccination rates and summer legal holidays.
- Ontario: The province begins Phase 1 of reopening June 11 and will remain there for at least 21 days. It will then move to Phase 2 providing 70 per cent of adults are vaccinated with one dose, 20 per cent of adults have two doses and there are positive trends in public health and health system indicators.
- Quebec: Phased-in relaxation of restrictions began May 28, with further easing as of June 11. Changes pegged for June 25 would require 75 per cent of people 12+ to be vaccinated with a first dose.
- Nova Scotia: The province will move to Phase 2 two to four weeks after Phase 1 began, currently targeted for June 16. It will require 60 per cent of the eligible population to have one dose of vaccine with COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations declining.
Prince Edward Island is open to a great extent. The province plans to move to Phase 2 of its plan June 27, which will focus on easing travel restrictions within and outside of Atlantic Canada.
Most of Newfoundland and Labrador is open under Alert Level 2, with the exception of the St. George's-Stephenville-Port au Port Area, which is at Level 4.
New Brunswick will move to its fully open Green Phase once herd immunity is achieved with 75 per cent of the eligible population 12 years and older fully vaccinated, which it is hoping to achieve by Aug. 2.
In the Territories, where vaccine uptake has been high and cases relatively low, restrictions are not as tight as they are in the provinces.
Yukon eased many restrictions at the end of May allowing for things like full capacity at restaurants and larger indoor and outdoors gatherings, with weddings and funerals allowed to have up to 200 people.
The Northwest Territories unveiled an updated version of its "Emerging Wisely" reopening plan Wednesday. It includes bumping up outdoor gatherings to 200 people, and by early July, would see indoor gatherings of up to 200 people, with all restaurants, stores, offices and other businesses resuming regular capacity.
In Nunavut, most communities in the region are now able to have outdoor gatherings of up to 100 people, and residents are allowed to have up to 15 people in their house in addition to the people they live with. Masks remain mandatory. There are some restrictions still in place.
Tentative reopening plans
The following charts give a tentative outline of when the following activities could resume. Delays could arise based on high case counts or lower than expected vaccination rates. Check individual government plans for detailed restrictions.
The Canada-U.S. border
This week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave some insight into how Canada's border with the U.S. will be reopened. He revealed two key elements of the likely plan in public remarks June 7: that the reopening will happen in stages and that the first travellers entering Canada will have to be fully vaccinated.
A reopen date remains unclear, but it is likely to follow a phased-in approach, rather than a full, unrestricted move.
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