Is my area going back into COVID-19 lockdown? A guide to restrictions across Canada

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What rules are the same everywhere?

What’s open and closed

• The essentials are available: Grocery stores and pharmacies are on every jurisdiction’s list of essential businesses, so even where restrictions are at their highest levels, these will be available. Currently, restaurants can still offer takeout or delivery, but dine-in service is off-limits in the most populous provinces.
• Work-from-home is okay, and encouraged: Each province has its own guidelines for which businesses can operate physical offices even under the strictest levels of control (more on that below), as well as guidelines for non-essential businesses about how to ensure distancing. Any business whose employees can work from home is allowed to keep running.

Physical distancing

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• Stay at home when you’re not well: If you’ve got COVID-19 symptoms like dry coughing, fever or difficulty breathing, or have been in contact with someone showing those symptoms, self-isolation for 14 days is crucial.
• Stay apart, stay masked: When you do go outside, stay at a distance of two metres (about the length of a hockey stick) from other people. In settings where you can’t do that, masks can protect you and others from infection, and across Canada such masks are mandatory in indoor public spaces. With more contagious variants on the loose, many health professionals recommend doubling up on masks, adding additional filters or upgrading from cloth masks to surgical ones. Here’s a primer on how to choose a mask that’s right for you and use it properly.

International travel

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• Flights are restricted: Only Canadian citizens, permanent residents and some exempted groups of foreign nationals, like agricultural workers and international students, are allowed into the country right now. That’s only if they don’t have symptoms: Airlines have to refuse passage to anyone showing them. Canadians are required to get one negative COVID-19 test before they can board a plane to Canada, and then be tested again once they arrive, waiting for the results in a quarantine hotel at their own expense. A positive result on the second test will lead to more quarantine at a government facility.
• The border is restricted: Foreigners can’t enter Canada by land for non-essential reasons like tourism, but supply chains between the two countries are still open for things like food, fuel and medicine. Canadians may be free to go to other countries depending on the entry rules at their destination.

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Cases by province and territory

The numbers in these charts are updated three times daily. Check our virus tracker for more charts and the methodology behind them.

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Rules by province and territory

Newfoundland and Labrador

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Newfoundland and Labrador weathered the first wave of COVID-19 more or less smoothly, but months of progress was quickly undone in February as the British variant spread quickly. The province is currently at Level 2 of its five-level restrictions regime, which allows gyms to reopen and 50-per-cent capacity at dine-in restaurants.

• Public gatherings: Households in Level 2 can interact with a regular circle of 20 people, and informal gatherings are limited to these “Steady 20s.” Funerals, weddings and other organized events can have no more than 50 including the officiant.
• Masks: Everyone over the age of 5 has to wear masks in indoor public spaces including public transit and stores.
• Interprovincial travel: New arrivals in the province have to self-isolate for 14 days, though depending on the alert status later in April, free travel with the Maritimes might be allowed again.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the province’s self-assessment tool.

Prince Edward Island

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Prince Edward Island has mostly averted large-scale outbreaks and has used short “circuit breaker” lockdowns to keep it that way. The latest such measures ended in mid-March, but some restrictions are still in place until mid-April.

• Public gatherings: Households can meet indoors and outdoors with a maximum of 10 consistent individuals outside their bubble. Weddings and funerals can have a maximum of 50, though other kinds of organized events, like concerts, can apply for more multiples of 50 if their operational plans are deemed safe enough.
• Masks: Mandatory in indoor public spaces provincewide.
• Interprovincial travel: The Maritime provinces are working to re-establish their “Atlantic bubble” travel zone later in April. For now, anyone who enters PEI from another province (including returning islanders) has to self-isolate for 14 days, and non-islanders have to apply in advance for the right to enter.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the province’s self-assessment tool.

Nova Scotia

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All Nova Scotia counties are currently at the yellow alert level, which allows limited informal gatherings and retail business.

• Public gatherings: Households can have gatherings of up to 10 people at home. Events like weddings, funerals, festivals and concerts can have up to 150 people outdoors and 100 (maximum three-quarters capacity) indoors.
• Masks: Required on public transit and in most indoor public spaces.
• Interprovincial travel: As of April 7, visitors from other Atlantic provinces can enter Nova Scotia without self-isolating, though the reverse is not true; see other sections in this guide for the rules in New Brunswick, PEI and Newfoundland and Labrador.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the province’s self-assessment tool.

New Brunswick

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All health regions of New Brunswick except one are currently in “yellow” mode, second-lowest of four colour-coded stages in its recovery plan, which allows some contact outside family bubbles and keeps some non-essential businesses open. The exception is Zone 4, the Edmundston area, where “red” rules forbid indoor social gatherings with people outside the household bubble.

• Public gatherings: People must observe a single-household bubble, but association with a regular group of up to 15 people (a “Steady 15″) is allowed. Outdoor gatherings of up to 50 are allowed if physical distancing is in place.
• Masks: People must wear face coverings in any building open to the general public, with the exception of children under 2 or people with medical exemptions.
• Interprovincial travel: With few exceptions, out-of-province arrivals to New Brunswick have to self-isolate for 14 days, as do returning New Brunswickers. Travel could start to increase if the Atlantic bubble resumes in April as planned.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the province’s self-assessment tool.

Quebec

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Quebec was the province hit hardest by COVID-19′s first and second waves, and rolled out vaccines aggressively among long-term care homes to prevent more deaths in the third. Targeted restrictions introduced in early April closed schools, non-essential retail and other public venues in some regions and tightened the curfew in others to deter the spread of variants there. Check the province’s alert-status map to see what other rules might be in effect near you.

• Public gatherings: Zones under the “red” and “orange” alerts prohibit indoor gatherings at private residences, though caregivers and labourers for planned work (such as plumbers) can enter. A curfew of 9:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. is in effect in red and orange zones; a stricter curfew of 8 p.m.-5 a.m. began April 1 in the Quebec City, Levis and Gatineau areas, and begins April 11 in Montreal and Laval. (Quebeckers are exempt from curfew if they’re on duty at a permitted workplace like a gas station or pharmacy.)
• Interprovincial travel: There are no legal restrictions or mandatory self-isolation requirements for new arrivals from other provinces, but health officials strongly advise against non-essential travel.
• Masks: Mandatory in indoor public places and public transit provincewide, and strongly recommended at any gathering where people can’t keep a two-metre distance.
• COVID-19 testing: Quebec’s toll-free assessment number is 1-877-644-4545. A nurse will ask about your situation and advise on next steps.

Ontario

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Ontario’s colour-coded restrictions system has more gradations than any other province, and each one has changed somewhat through the pandemic’s third wave. There are four stages (green to red) before a lockdown, or “grey mode,” is imposed. A lockdown is not to be confused with a “shutdown,” like the one introduced on April 3 that tightened restrictions in regions under low alert levels but left Toronto and Peel’s “grey” restrictions mostly unchanged. On April 7, the province issued a “stay-at-home order” that limit non-essential retailers to curbside pickup and delivery only.

• Public gatherings: Ontarians can’t gather indoors with people not in their own households, and are urged to stay home as much as possible. Outdoor gatherings can have up to five.
• Masks: Required in indoor public spaces and most indoor workplaces.
• Interprovincial travel: Domestic entrants to Ontario do not have to self-isolate.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the province’s self-assessment tool.

Manitoba

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Manitoba is at the red, or “critical,” stage of its restriction regime.

• Public gatherings: Households can have contact with two designated people outside the household, or choose a second household and have undistanced contact with them. Outdoor gatherings are limited to 10 people plus members of a household.
• Masks: Mandatory in indoor public spaces provincewide.
• Interprovincial travel: People entering Manitoba have to self-isolate for 14 days.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the province’s self-assessment tool and a list of where the testing centres are.

Saskatchewan

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Many of Saskatchewan’s communities relaxed restrictions as cases declined, but a sudden surge of variant cases in Regina led to tighter restrictions in that area: Restaurants are takeout or delivery only, indoor event venues are closed and travel in and out of the capital region is not recommended.

• Public gatherings: Private indoor gatherings are forbidden in Regina and certain areas of southern Saskatchewan. Elsewhere they’re restricted to 10 people, ideally from no more than two other households, and outdoor private gatherings can be up to 10 people with physical distancing.
• Masks: Mandatory provincewide.
• Interprovincial travel: Self-monitoring for symptoms is recommended for those who’ve travelled to Saskatchewan from elsewhere in Canada, but self-isolation is not required.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the province’s self-assessment tool.

Alberta

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With variant cases running rampant, the Kenney government has rolled back its reopening plan, closing dine-in restaurants, indoor gyms and other services as of April 9.

• Public gatherings: Prohibited indoors and capped at 10 people outdoors. People who live alone can have up to two close contacts.
• Masks: Mandatory in all indoor public places provincewide.
• Interprovincial travel: Domestic entrants to Alberta aren’t required to self-isolate.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the province’s self-assessment tool for the public, and their separate one for health-care workers and teachers.

British Columbia

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With variants spreading rapidly in the third wave, B.C. imposed its toughest provincewide restrictions to date on March 30: Dine-in restaurants are closed, and indoor religious services and adult group fitness activities are prohibited.

• Public gatherings: British Columbians aren’t allowed to hold any indoor social gatherings at home, of any size, with people outside their household or core bubble. Outdoor public gatherings are limited to 10.
• Masks: Mandatory provincewide.
• Interprovincial travel: Domestic travellers don’t have to self-isolate.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the province’s self-assessment tool.

Nunavut

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Nunavut was spared from the first wave because it isolated quickly and fully. It didn’t get its first confirmed COVID-19 case until November, when the virus quickly spread in a remote hamlet and led to a territory-wide lockdown, but this spring restrictions have gradually lifted.

• Public gatherings: Prohibited indoors and outdoors, though up to five people can visit a home for emergencies only.
• Interterritorial travel: Entry into Nunavut is restricted to residents and critical workers. They must prove residency and self-isolate for 14 days before they fly in either Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton or Yellowknife.
• COVID-19 testing: If you have COVID-19 symptoms, call 1-888-975-8601 from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. or contact your local health centre.

Northwest Territories

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The territory is in Phase 2 of a four-phase plan, and the implementation of the next phase depends on when the rest of Canada clears its second wave of infections.

• Public gatherings: Outdoor gatherings of up to 50 are allowed with physical distancing, but at home, Northwest Territories residents can have only five people over, to a maximum of 10. The government recommends having a “fave five” who can come over to limit mixing among different households.
• Interterritorial travel: Travel through all points of entry into the territory, both air and road, is prohibited except for essential workers and people who are granted exemptions on compassionate grounds. Anyone entering has to self-isolate.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the territory’s self-assessment tool.

Yukon

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The Yukon limits some travel within the territory but generally allows Canadians to come in.

• Public gatherings: Households can interact with a bubble of up to 15 people without physical distancing. Public gatherings are limited to 10 people indoors and 50 outdoors, or 50 indoors and 100 outdoors in large venues with planned seating.
• Interterritorial travel: Those entering Yukon have to self-isolate for 14 days, even if they’re residents of other northern territories or British Columbia who previously had an exemption. Americans travelling through the territory to and from Alaska have to use a designated route; maps are available at border crossings.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the territory’s self-assessment tool.

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More coronavirus resources

How to self-isolate

Physical distancing, and how to convince loved ones to do it

Can’t stop touching your face? Here’s how to break the habit

What essentials to buy

How to protect your mental health

How to apply for EI and other emergency benefits

Your employment law questions answered

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Compiled by Globe staff

With reports from The Canadian Press

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