List of emergency orders issued intended to support business during the COVID-19 emergency:

O. Reg. 128/20 (Pickup and Delivery of Cannabis)

Description:

  • This emergency order allowed authorized cannabis retailers to offer delivery services and curbside pickup to support continued access to safe and regulated recreational cannabis products.
  • It came into effect on April 7, 2020.

Why the emergency order was needed:

  • Private cannabis retail stores were among the businesses ordered to close as of April 4, 2020. Ontario’s cannabis retail framework did not permit delivery services or curbside pickup services to be offered by cannabis retail stores. Only the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) is permitted to deliver recreational cannabis directly to consumers.
  • The order was needed to enable authorized cannabis retailers to continue to help fulfill consumer demand for recreational cannabis. Without permitting cannabis retail stores to offer delivery and curbside pick-up in a timely way, it is likely there would have been additional market capture by illicit operators. The approach taken allowed the legal market to more nimbly support access to safe and regulated recreational cannabis products.
  • This order was a reasonable measure relative to others because it provided the timeliest response and most consistent approach. It would not have been timely or feasible to make legislative amendments to multiple statutes and their supporting regulations to support delivery services and the curbside pickup of safe and regulated recreational cannabis products.

Amendments:

  • The emergency order was amended on July 15, 2020, to make technical changes to the language. The amendment did not change the substance of the order.

Revocation/continuation under Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020 (ROA):

  • The order was revoked on July 23, 2020.

O. Reg. 345/20 (Patios)

Description:

  • This emergency order allowed municipalities to permit the temporary establishment and expansion of patios for restaurants and bars in an expedited manner in order to meet public health physical distancing requirements.
  • It came into effect on July 2, 2020.

Why the emergency order was needed:

  • The order was needed by the hospitality sector to optimize the time-limited and critical summer patio season, support small businesses across the province and help maintain and create hospitality sector jobs.
  • Restaurants and bars were allowed to temporarily create or extend outdoor patio spaces prior to this order under the Liquor Licence Act to safely accommodate patrons and staff once licensed establishments were permitted to reopen for business. However, in some instances it was not possible to navigate the municipal land use planning legislative requirements to quickly establish or expand patios, especially where businesses wanted to create or expand patios on private property.
  • This order was a reasonable measure relative to others because it provided the timeliest response and most consistent approach. The existing requirements for public notice, consultation and rights of appeal under the Planning Act did not support expediting temporary use by-laws needed to establish and expand patios for restaurants and bars.

Amendments:

  • The emergency order was amended on July 15, 2020, to make technical changes to the language. The amendment did not change the substance of the order.

Revocation/continuation under ROA:

  • The emergency order remained in place for the duration of the declared provincial emergency because the circumstances that required its creation remained.
  • The order was continued under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020.

O. Reg. 191/20 (Order Under Subsection 7.0.2(4) of the Act - Global Adjustment for Market Participants and Consumers)

Description:

  • This emergency order deferred a portion of Global Adjustment (GA) charges for industrial and commercial electricity consumers that do not participate in the Regulated Price Plan. This initiative was intended to provide businesses with relief on their monthly electricity bills in April, May and June 2020.
  • It came into effect on May 1, 2020.

Why the emergency order was needed:

  • Ontario was experiencing lower non-residential electricity consumption due to COVID-19. This lower consumption would have resulted in a substantial increase in electricity costs for more than 50,000 industrial (i.e. Class A) and commercial (i.e. Class B) electricity consumers. Without this emergency order, a small industrial or commercial consumer could have seen bills increase by 15 per cent or more.
  • Industrial consumers that had reduced or shut down operations due to COVID-19 would have continued to be billed their monthly GA charge based on their proportion of total electricity consumption during the top five electricity demand peaks in 2018-19. This amount may have been substantial and would not have changed based on actual monthly consumption at the facility.
  • Commercial consumers would have seen their commodity unit rate (i.e. cents per kilowatt hour) increase substantially due to reduced electricity demand with a high proportion of fixed electricity system costs.
  • Note: The May 1, 2020, effective date permitted deferral of GA charges in April 2020, as the Independent Electricity System Operator determines the final GA rate for each month on the tenth business day of the following month. A subsequent regulatory amendment permitted deferral of GA charges in June 2020, despite the revocation of the emergency order on June 1, 2020.
  • This order was a reasonable measure relative to others because it provided the timeliest response and most consistent approach. The existing governing frameworks did not support deferring GA costs. It would not have been timely or feasible to make regulatory amendments to avoid price spikes for commercial/industrial consumers immediately following the declared provincial emergency. Subsequent regulatory amendments under the Electricity Act were made to establish a GA rate cap for June 2020.

Amendments:

  • The emergency order was amended on May 29, 2020, to permit the GA Deferral initiative to continue up until the month of May 2020.

Revocation/continuation under ROA:

  • The emergency order was revoked on June 1, 2020, to coincide with regulatory amendments to O. Reg. 429/04 made under the Electricity Act, 1998, to extend the GA Deferral initiative to June 2020, making the emergency order no longer necessary.