Effective Thursday February 17th (technically 11:59pm February 16^th) most of the Omicron restrictions implemented in December will be lifted including most measures impacting restaurants and bars. The restrictions that will be lifted include:

• Restaurant two meter physical distancing (or physical barrier) and six person table capacity restrictions eliminated. Guests no longer need to remain seated.
• Nightclubs allowed to reopen at full capacity with dancing and other interactive activities allowed.
• Capacity limits on both personal indoor gatherings and organized indoor and outdoor gatherings eliminated allowing for the full resumption of wedding and funeral receptions etc.

However, the BC Vaccine Card program scheduled to expire June 30th remains in place for now but will be re-examined in the coming weeks. COVID-19 safety plans must also remain in place.

Indoor masking restrictions will also remain in place until further notice.

Mandatory Masking Indoor Public Spaces

Under the current public health order, masking is mandatory in all indoor public spaces including schools, and proof of vaccination or negative test requirements are in place for public access to a list of establishments, businesses and event venues.

Indoor public spaces are any enclosed space other than a private home or dwelling. This may include but is not exclusive to workplaces, retail locations, recreational venues, eating and dining establishments and professional buildings. Indoor public spaces include those areas of a business or venue that are restricted to staff only (areas where there is no access for the public).

This public health order will be removed at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, February 28th.

Mandatory Self-Isolation

Immediate self-isolation is required for:

• anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 through a PCR or at-home rapid antigen test. 

This public health order will be removed at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, February 28th.

Proof of Vaccination no longer required

The public health order requiring proof of vaccination or a negative test for public access into specific places is no longer in effect as of 12:01 a.m. February 14.  In addition, employees of provincially regulated organizations no longer have to provide proof of vaccination or a negative test. 

Municipalities, businesses, workplaces and event organizers may choose to continue requiring proof of vaccination or negative testing even without the public health order. 

The Manitoba Government announced that they are accelerating the plan to reduce restrictions and will be moving to the Yellow (Caution) phase on Tuesday, February 15^th.

For the foodservice industry, as of 12:01 am on Tuesday, February 15^th:

• There will be no capacity limits to restaurants, licensed premises and food courts
• The limits on table sizes will be removed
• Liquor sales will return to normal hours of operation
• Proof of vaccination is still required for those 12 years of age and older
• Sporting events, performing arts, movie theatres and concert halls will no longer have capacity limits

More information can be found in the Backgrounder to the updated Public Health Orders: here

The requirement for masks in all indoor settings was re-confirmed on February 15th. No timeline for lifting masking mandate.

Effective February 17, 2022

Ontario will further ease public health measures, including, but not limited to:

• Increasing social gathering limits to 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors
• Increasing organized public event limits to 50 people indoors, with no limit outdoors
• Removing capacity limits in the following indoor public settings where proof of vaccination is required, including but not limited to:
  • Restaurants, bars and other food or drink establishments without dance facilities
  • Non-spectator areas of sports and recreational fitness facilities, including gyms
  • Cinemas
  • Meeting and event spaces, including conference centres or convention centres
  • Casinos, bingo halls and other gaming establishments
  • Indoor areas of settings that choose to opt-in to proof of vaccination requirements.
• Allowing 50 per cent of the usual seating capacity at sports arenas
• Allowing 50 percent of the usual seating capacity for concert venues and theatres
• Increasing indoor capacity limits to 25 per cent in the remaining higher-risk settings where proof of vaccination is required, including nightclubs, restaurants where there is dancing, as well as bathhouses and sex clubs
• Increasing capacity limits for indoor weddings, funerals or religious services, rites, or ceremonies to the number of people who can maintain two metres physical distance. Capacity limits are removed if the location opts-in to use proof of vaccination or if the service, rite, or ceremony is occurring outdoors.

Capacity limits in other indoor public settings, such as grocery stores, pharmacies, retail and shopping malls, will be maintained at, or increased to, the number of people who can maintain two metres physical distance.

Effective March 1, 2022

Ontario intends to take additional steps to ease public health measures if public health and health system indicators continue to improve. This includes lifting capacity limits in all remaining indoor public settings.

Ontario will also lift proof of vaccination requirements for all settings at this time. Businesses and other settings may choose to continue to require proof of vaccination.

Masking requirements will remain in place at this time, with a specific timeline to lift this measure to be communicated at a later date.

To manage COVID-19 over the long-term, public health units can deploy local and regional responses based on local context and conditions.

February 28, 2022

• Restaurants, bars and casinos open at 50%, but dance and karaoke remain prohibited.
• Last call for food and alcohol sales: midnight
• Restaurants dining room closing time: 1 a.m.

March 14, 2022

• Restaurants, bars and performance halls open 100%, dancing and karaoke permitted.
• Last call for food and alcohol sales: Back to regular time
• Restaurants dining room closing time: Back to regular time

Vaccine passport will no longer be required for:

• All locations (restaurants, businesses, stores, and others)
• All activities

* Exception : International travels

Masks are currently required everywhere indoors. No timeline for lifting masking mandate.

Specifically to restaurants:

• Employees must wear it at all times;
• Clients need to wear it while walking in the establishment, and can take it off when sitting at their tables.

The government of Newfoundland and Labrador has announced their COVID-19 re-opening plan. The next easement of restrictions will be February 21 with all restaurant restrictions lifted on March 14. 

February 21

• Restaurants can open for in-person dining at 75 per cent capacity.
• Bars and lounges can open at 50 per cent capacity as long as physical distancing can be maintained between patrons seated at adjacent tables. There is a maximum of 10 people per table.
• Eating or drinking is permitted only while seated. Masks may only be removed to eat or drink.
• Dance floors are not permitted.
• Self-serve buffets are prohibited.
• Proof of vaccination required

February 28

• Restaurants, bars and lounges can open for in-person dining at 75 per cent capacity.
• Eating or drinking is permitted only while seated. Masks may only be removed to eat or drink.
• Dance floors are permitted. Masks must be worn while dancing.
• Self-serve buffets are prohibited
• Proof of vaccination required

March 14

• All restrictions lifted

Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.nl.ca/covid-19/restrictions/planned-restrictions/

The Government of New Brunswick announced that restrictions will be eased and the province will move to Level 1 of the Winter Plan.  This change will come into effect 11:59 PM Friday, February 18^th.

Businesses that were required to reduce their capacity under Level 2, including restaurants, will be able to open to full capacity under Level 1. However, they must still require patrons to show proof of full vaccination. Masking continues to be mandatory in all indoor public spaces. Take-out and delivery can continue as usual.

Alert Level Guidance:
https://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Corporate/Promo/COVID19/alertlvls/docs/Alert-Level-Guidance.pdf

Effective February 16th, 2022, restaurants and liquor licensed establishments will no longer be required to have a minimum physical distance of 2 metres between tables.  Restaurateurs can operate at a maximum capacity (currently 75 percent) and make best efforts to maximize physical distancing between tables. It is expected that these limits will continue into Phase 2.

Enforcement officials will continue to enforce overall capacity, proof of vaccination and masking.