Ontario to Allow Most Retailers to Reopen Under New Covid Rules

(Bloomberg) -- The Ontario government is allowing all retail stores with a street entrance to open for curbside pickup and delivery as of May 11, in another step toward restarting Canada's largest provincial economy.

It will also ease restrictions on garden centers on May 8 and hardware and safety supply stores on May 9 to permit in-store payment and purchases, the government said.

“We've been laying the groundwork for the safe, measured, and gradual reopening of our province,” said Ontario Premier Doug Ford. “As the trends improve, we can move forward with reopening more and more of our economy and getting people back to work.”

The government also said it will loosen constraints on the construction of apartments and condominiums.

Last week, Ford's government released more than 60 new guidelines for companies to operate safely amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The province must move cautiously and strike the right balance between getting people back to work and preventing further outbreaks, Minister of Economic Development Vic Fedeli said.

Quebec, which has seen the most infections and deaths in Canada, was forced to dial back plans for a full reopening of the retail sector. The high number of Covid-19 cases in Montreal hospitals caused Premier Francois Legault to postpone store openings by a week in the province's largest city.

Ontario -- Canada's most populous province -- allowed some businesses and workplaces to reopen earlier this week as long as they complied with strict public health measures.

Canada has seen more than 62,000 virus infections and about 4,100 deaths as of Wednesday morning. Ontario has reported 18,722 confirmed cases and 1,429 deaths.