5. Providing cost relief to Ontarians

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List of emergency orders issued intended to provide cost relief to Ontarians during the COVID-19 emergency:

This emergency order prohibited retailers and persons who did not normally engage in the sale of necessary goods before March 17, 2020, from selling necessary goods for unconscionable prices. An “unconscionable price” was defined as a price that grossly exceeds the price at which similar goods are available to like-consumers, which is consistent with well-established principles from the Consumer Protection Act, 2020 (CPA).
It came into effect on March 27, 2020.

As confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario rose, necessary goods, including protective supplies such as masks and hand sanitizer, were in short supply and high demand. Some retailers and individuals were capitalizing on the demand for products by selling goods at prices higher than fair market values.
This order was reasonable relative to other measures that could have been taken because it provided the timeliest response and approach in the opening days of the declared provincial emergency. The existing CPA legislative and regulatory provisions address unconscionable pricing in the context of individual consumer transactions but do not address the type of behavior exhibited in the period leading up to the declared provincial emergency. Given the need to ensure consumer access to reasonably priced necessary goods and to address marketplace failures no other feasible and timely measure was identified. This ensured that consumers had the necessary goods required to protect the health and safety of themselves and their families.

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.

The emergency order remained in place for the duration of the declared provincial emergency as there continued to be a high demand for necessary goods and consumer concerns about price gouging.
The order is continued under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020.

This emergency order prohibited all child care providers from charging fees to parents where care was not being provided. It also prevented parents from being penalized (e.g. losing their child care space) as a result of fees not being paid during the closure period or parents withdrawing their children from care while the provider was open during the declared provincial emergency.
It came into effect on April 9, 2020.

Many parents were continuing to be charged fees by their child care providers for care that was not given during the declared provincial emergency.
Although home child care providers overseen by licensed agencies and unlicensed providers were able to continue providing care during the declared provincial emergency, the order prohibited child care providers from charging fees to parents whose children were not receiving care.
The order supported Ontario’s economic recovery plan as many parents were facing increased financial and personal hardship due to COVID-19. Being required to pay child care fees while child care was not being provided placed additional undue hardship on these families.
The order was a reasonable measure relative to others because it provided the timeliest response and most consistent approach to resolve parent concerns regarding fees and maintaining child care spaces. The existing governing framework, the Child Care and Early Years Act (CCEYA), has limited regulation making authority and does not authorize a regulation that captures all child care providers to address child care fees and spaces (e.g. unlicensed child care providers and home child care providers would not be captured in a regulation under the CCEYA).

The emergency order was amended on May 8, 2020, to ensure parents would not be penalized if they opted to withdraw their child from care during the declared provincial emergency.

The emergency order was revoked on June 12, 2020, to allow a phased and controlled approach to re-opening child care, as child care is a critical support for parents and families to return to work.

This emergency order temporarily enabled an off-peak price period for electricity consumers. The order applied the off-peak Time of Use (TOU) electricity rate of 10.1¢/kilowatt hour (kWh) to all periods of the day for Regulated Price Plan (RPP) customers paying TOU rates.
It came into effect on March 24, 2020.

The RPP TOU pricing plan has three pricing periods during the day (on-, mid- and off-peak) which are set to reflect the cost of producing power in those periods.
The order enabled the government to deliver savings as quickly and conveniently as possible when customers needed support the most, with the off-peak price being applied automatically to electricity bills without the need for customers to fill out an application form.
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 rate relief for residential customers who were asked to stay home and businesses that may have closed or saw significantly fewer customers while still incurring electricity costs. It would not have been timely or feasible to make legislative or regulatory amendments as an immediate response was required to address changes in energy consumption as a result of school and non-essential business closures and work from home policies.

The emergency order was amended on May 29, 2020, to transition RPP customers as of June 1, 2020, from the off-peak rate to a COVID-19 Recovery Rate, which was introduced to provide rate predictability and stability for residential, small business and farm customers during the COVID-19 recovery period.
The order was also amended on July 15, 2020, to make technical changes to the language. The amendment did not change the substance of the order.

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.

Updated: January 16, 2024

Published: October 14, 2020