O. Reg. 8/21 – Enforcement of Measures

Description

  • This emergency order provided the following authority for all provincial offences officers, including police officers, First Nations constables, special constables, municipal law enforcement officers, by-law enforcement officers, provincial workplace safety inspectors and any other persons designated as provincial offences officers:
    • If they have reasonable and probable grounds to believe an individual has committed an offence under s. 7.0.11 of the EMCPA they may require the individual to provide the officer with the individual’s correct name, date of birth and address.
    • May order an individual attending an organized public event or other gathering that is prohibited under the ROA to cease attending the organized public event or gathering, as applicable, and may order individuals at the organized public event or gathering to disperse.
    • May order premises be temporarily closed if they have reasonable grounds to believe an organized public event or other gathering is occurring at the premises and that the number of people in attendance exceeds the number permitted under the ROA.
  • This emergency order came into effect January 12, 2021.

Why the emergency order was needed

  • Effective enforcement tools are essential to support compliance with the emergency orders, which are designed to limit the impacts of the COVID‑19 pandemic and reduce the risk of COVID‑19 transmission. This order provided provincial offences officers with the tools to assist in the enforcement of the public health and workplace safety measures that were put in place to manage the pandemic.
    • For example, the correct name, date of birth and address are essential pieces of information in order to lay a charge. Without this emergency order, there would have been no duty on individuals to provide their name or any other information to a provincial offences officer when they were seeking to lay a charge under the EMCPA.
      • The provincial offences officer had to have had reasonable grounds to believe the individual committed an offence under the EMCPA before compelling the individual to provide this identifying information.

Amendments

  • The emergency order was amended on February 1, 2021 to allow provincial offences officers to require individuals to identify themselves with their correct name, date of birth and address if the provincial offences officer has reasonable and probable grounds to believe the individual committed an offence by failing to comply with a COVID‑19 related order under s. 22 of the Health Protection and Promotion Act (HPPA).
  • Without this amendment provincial offences officers would not have had the ability to compel individuals to identify themselves when attempting to enforce orders made under the HPPA as they do under the ROA and the EMCPA.

Revocation/continuation under the EMCPA

  • The emergency order was continued after the termination of the second declared emergency. As of May 13, 2021 this emergency order is still in effect

O. Reg. 13/21 – Residential Evictions

Description

  • This emergency order temporarily paused the enforcement of residential evictions to ensure people were not forced to leave their homes during the declaration of emergency and while the Stay-At-Home order remained in force.
  • This emergency order came into effect on January 13, 2021.

Why the emergency order was needed

  • A temporary suspension of the enforcement of residential evictions was considered necessary to help reduce the potential spread of COVID‑19 by ensuring people would not be forced to leave their homes when they should stay in place.
  • The emergency order paused the enforcement of evictions under the Residential Tenancies Act, as well as the enforcement of writs of possession for residential properties.
  • The Landlord and Tenant Board continued to process applications and conduct hearings to allow a range of tenant and landlord concerns to be addressed. This allowed landlords to give eviction notices, file eviction applications with the Board, attend hearings and obtain eviction orders (although the eviction orders could not be enforced while the temporary pause was in place).
  • Due to an imminent public health risk, the emergency order was a reasonable measure relative to others, because it provided the timeliest response to the predicted increases in COVID‑19 cases.

Amendments

  • The emergency order was amended on February 8, 2021 to apply only to residential premises in PHU regions where the Stay-At-Home Order applied.
  • This amendment ensured the emergency order applied only where necessary, as it ceased to apply to those PHUs where the Stay-At-Home Order was no longer in effect.

Revocation/continuation under the EMCPA

  • The emergency order was continued after the termination of the second declared emergency, applying only to PHUs where the Stay-At-Home Order was in effect.
  • The emergency order was revoked on March 8, 2021 as it was no longer necessary with the revocation of all remaining emergency orders applying terms of O. Reg. 11/21 (Stay-At-Home Order) to individual PHU regions.

O. Reg. 55/21 – Compliance Orders for Retirement Homes

Description

  • This emergency order allowed the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority (RHRA) to issue a compliance order to a retirement home for the purpose of preventing, responding to or alleviating the effects of COVID‑19.
  • This emergency order came into effect February 5, 2021.

Why the emergency order was needed

  • The emergency order was needed to enhance compliance authority as currently set out in the Retirement Homes Act, 2010 to allow the Registrar of the RHRA to require a retirement home to implement measures to prevent, respond or alleviate the effects of COVID‑19 where there is a risk of harm to residents.
  • These measures could include requiring compliance with recommendations made by an appointed manager and community partners, such as local medical officers of health or hospitals.
  • The emergency order was a reasonable measure relative to others, because it allowed the government, and the RHRA, to take immediate action to support retirement homes and protect residents and staff.

Amendments

  • No amendments were made to this emergency order.

Revocation/continuation under the EMCPA

  • The emergency order was continued after the termination of the second declared emergency. As of May 13, 2021 this emergency order is still in effect.