Reopening Principles and Guidelines

On April 28, 2020, Prime Minister Trudeau released a joint statement with premiers across Canada on their shared public health approach to support reopening the economy. Governments will make decisions suited to their jurisdictions, geography, and disease activity. These decisions will be informed by experiences in other countries in Asia, Europe, and around the world – particularly those who had outbreaks earlier than Canada and who have achieved demonstrable successes. A shared key objective is to minimize the risk of another wave of COVID-19 that forces governments to re-impose severe restrictions, further damaging the social and economic fabric of communities.

The framework is guided by the following principles:

• Science and evidence-based decision-making
• Coordination and collaboration
• Accountability and transparency
• Flexibility and proportionality

The First Ministers agree that the following public health criteria will inform decisions to reopen the economy: Control the transmission of COVID-19; maintain the incidence of new cases at a level that the health care system can manage; sufficient public health capacity is in place to test; trace, and isolate new cases; expanded health care capacity for all patients, COVID-19 and non-COVID-19; supports in place for vulnerable groups/communities and key populations; workplace preventative measures; avoid risk of importation; and measures to engage and support communities in managing local disease activity.

Reopening Health and Safety Guidelines

While the Government of Canada has not outlined specific health and safety resources for the opening of the economy, the government website continues to provide helpful COVID-19 resources for businesses and workplaces.

For specific details on each province’s reopening open, see links below.

Optimal approach to keep track of the latest updates.

Government sites for staying up-to-date on COVID-19:

• Government of Canada
• Reopening Ontario after COVID-19
• Alberta – Updates on “Relaunch”
• Workplace guidance for Alberta’s Relaunch
• British Columbia’s Restart Plan
• Manitoba Roadmap for Restoring Safe Services
• New Brunswick COVID-19 Updates
• Newfoundland and Labrador COVID-19 Alert Level System
• Northwest Territories - Response to COVID-19
• Nova Scotia Updates for COVID-19
• Nunavut’s Path Forward during COVID-19
• Renewing Prince Edward Island – COVID-19
• Quebec – Updates on Gradual Resumption of Activities – COVID-19
• Saskatchewan - Reopen Plan
• Yukon – COVID-19 Updates