Is my city going back into lockdown? A guide to COVID-19 rules 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 if restrictions return to where they were this past spring, these will be available. Currently, restaurants can still offer takeout or delivery, but dine-in service may be restricted to specific hours or seating capacities.
• Schools are open: By now, every province and territory has reopened at least some of their K-12 schools, though each has its own rules for whether and where masks should be worn, how many students can be in class at once and how they can interact with one another. Learn more in the sections below or check our back-to-school guide for the latest news.
• 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: The country’s top public health officials spent much of the spring and summer urging Canadians to avoid going out unless necessary, but the relaxation of local states of emergency has given people a wider range of activities. 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, non-medical masks can protect you and others from infection, and such masks may be mandatory on public transit or in stores. 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 COVID-19 symptoms: Airlines have to refuse passage to anyone showing them.
• The border is restricted: Foreigners can’t enter Canada 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 visit other countries depending on the entry rules at their destination.
• Self-isolation is mandatory: All Canadians coming home from abroad are required to go home immediately and stay there for 14 days. They should get groceries and supplies delivered rather than going to the store. Under federal law, authorities can charge up to six-figure fines or put people in jail for refusing to do this.

Domestic travel

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• Planes and trains: If you’re travelling between cities by air or rail, make sure you’re feeling okay first. Anyone who flies or rides a Via train must wear a mask that covers the face and mouth, and temperature checks are mandatory before boarding planes.
• Intercity buses: Buses aren’t covered by the same Transport Canada rules as airlines and railways, but many companies have instituted mask-wearing policies too. Check the local health authorities at your point of origin and destination to see how the rules differ; some places may require 14-day self-isolation for new arrivals (more on that below).

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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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The province is at Level 2 of its five-level alert system, which increased the gathering limit, reopened more public facilities and allowed more free movement within the province. Level 1 will be as close to a “new normal” as possible until a vaccine or effective treatment for COVID-19 is found.

• Public gatherings: Restricted to 50 or fewer people outdoors or at functions like weddings and funerals. Two individual households are allowed to form exclusive “double bubbles” to gather together in person, and each bubble can invite up to six others from different households to join, as long as they’re not exceeding the limits for their own bubbles by doing so.
• Masks: As of Aug. 24, everyone over the age of 5 has to wear masks in indoor public spaces including public transit, stores, theatres and the common areas of schools (which does not include classrooms).
• Schools: The province has three scenarios – in-class learning, at-home instruction or a mix of both – that communities can use depending on the COVID-19 risks there. Schools are encouraged to organize students into cohorts to limit exposure to one another, and to encourage pupils and staff to keep two metres apart.
• Interprovincial travel: New arrivals in the province have to self-isolate for 14 days unless they’re coming from the Maritime provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island. Those provinces are part of an “Atlantic bubble” where people can travel freely.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the province’s self-assessment tool. Testing is not required for new arrivals to the province. If you have symptoms, don’t go to your family doctor or a hospital ER unless it’s a medical emergency.

Prince Edward Island

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Phase 4 of the Renew PEI Together plan, which began on June 26, raised the gathering limits again and reopened accommodations to non-islanders, including bed-and-breakfasts, inns and campgrounds. The phased plan has no specifics on when PEI might allow free access to non-Atlantic provinces.

• Public gatherings: Personal gatherings are limited to 20 people or fewer outdoors and 15 indoors, with physical distancing. As of June 26, more than 50 are allowed at “larger organized gatherings” like weddings, funerals and graduations.
• Masks: Recommended but not mandatory provincewide.
• Schools: Schools reopened to students on Sept. 8, with students organized into cohorts to reduce exposure. Parents are asked to take their children to school whenever possible, and schools may add vehicles or walk-to-school programs so there will be fewer riders on buses.
• Interprovincial travel: Anyone who enters PEI from provinces outside the Atlantic bubble has to self-isolate for 14 days. Seasonal residents from outside Atlantic Canada can apply to stay at their PEI homes, but will need to isolate for 14 days once they get there.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the province’s self-assessment tool.

Nova Scotia

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Since June, most businesses and community activities have been reopened with physical distancing in place, and since the start of July, the Atlantic bubble allows Nova Scotians to more freely travel within the region.

• Public gatherings: Events like weddings, funerals, festivals and concerts can have up to 250 people outdoors and 200 (maximum half-capacity) indoors, and family gatherings can have up to 50. Physical distancing is required. But Nova Scotians are also allowed to form 10-person circles that can meet without physical distancing.
• Masks: Required on public transit and in most indoor public spaces.
• Schools: Elementary and high-school students started to go back full-time on Sept. 8, with student cohorting and guidelines to maintain two metres distance or more. Where possible, teachers are asked to move classes outside. Students in Grades 10 to 12 have to wear masks if physical distancing is too difficult.
• Interprovincial travel: New arrivals from outside the Atlantic provinces have to self-isolate for 14 days.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the province’s self-assessment tool.

New Brunswick

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All health regions of New Brunswick are currently in “yellow” mode, the second-lowest of four colour-coded stages in its recovery plan. The lowest stage, green, won’t be reached until there is a COVID-19 vaccine or another effective method for preventing the virus’s spread.

• Public gatherings: Restricted to 10 or fewer people, with the limit for outdoor gatherings in most of New Brunswick due to increase to 50 in June. One household is allowed to “bubble” with one other household.
• Masks: People must wear face coverings in any building open to the general public, with the exception of children under two or in daycare, or people with medical exemptions.
• Schools: K-8 students are in school full-time as of September, while high-school students get a mix of in-class and at-home work. Class sizes are reduced for kindergarten to Grade 5.
• Interprovincial travel: New Brunswick residents don’t have to self-isolate if they’re returning from work in another province or territory, even if it’s beyond the Atlantic bubble. Otherwise, with few exceptions, anyone who arrives from outside the bubble has to self-isolate for 14 days.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the province’s self-assessment tool.

Quebec

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Quebec is the province hit hardest by COVID-19′s first and second waves, and the Quebec City and Montreal areas were put under new lockdowns in late September that forbid dine-in restaurant service, bar private homes from having guests and require physical distancing both indoors and outdoors. Bars and restaurants provincewide have also had their hours restricted. Check the province’s alert-status map to see what the rules are near you.

• Public gatherings: Much of southern Quebec is at either the orange alert status, which allows an indoor gathering limit of six, or red, which prohibits private gatherings but still allows plumbers, care workers or other permitted groups to visit people’s homes.
• 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.
• Schools: Classes began to resume in late August. All students have to attend in-person class unless they have a doctor’s note saying they or someone they live with is at high risk of COVID-19.
• 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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Since August, all of Ontario’s health regions have been at Stage 3 of the reopening plan, but the province has reintroduced stricter limits in major urban areas where cases have been on the rise since September. Last call and closing time for bars and restaurants have been rolled back to 11 p.m. and midnight, respectively, and strip clubs are now closed.

• Public gatherings: Stage 3 used to allow gatherings of 50 inside and 100 outside, but the province lowered that to 10 and 25, first in the Toronto, Peel and Ottawa regions, then everywhere else. Attending a private party that breaks those rules could get you a $750 fine under newly introduced legislation, and the penalty for organizing one is $10,000 at minimum.
• Masks: Municipal bylaws make indoor mask-wearing mandatory in places like Toronto and Ottawa, but it is not mandatory provincewide.
• Schools: Students in Grades 4 to 12 have to wear masks in classrooms: Masks are recommended, but not required, for younger pupils. Students will be in class full-time and with standard sizes except in some high-risk school boards, where secondary students will be allowed half a full week and class sizes will be capped at 15.
• 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 fourth and final phase of its reopening, except when it comes to the gathering limits, which have been kept the same as Phase 3.

• Public gatherings: In Winnipeg, currently at the “restricted” alert level, the limit is 10 people indoors and outdoors. Elsewhere, people can fill up to 30 per cent of the capacity of a venue as long as they can be split into groups of 50 indoors or 100 outdoors.
• Masks: Mandatory in indoor public spaces in Winnipeg, but not provincewide.
• Schools: All K-8 students have five days a week of in-class instruction, as do secondary-school students, unless they don’t have enough room for physically distanced classes. Where physical distancing isn’t possible, students will be put in cohorts of no more than 75.
• Interprovincial travel: People entering Manitoba are exempt from 14-day self-isolation if they’ve come from B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, the northern territories or northwestern Ontario, and if they show no symptoms of COVID-19. Otherwise, they have to self-isolate.
• 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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Saskatchewan was the first province to set specific dates for reopening its economy, a five-stage process that is now in Phase 4.2. Indoor pools, indoor sports and casinos are due to reopen in the next stage of the plan. Details are scarce about what Phase 5 would look like, but the province might consider lifting limits on public gatherings.

• Public gatherings: Restricted to 30 indoors and outdoors, with exceptions for church services, weddings and funerals (up to 150 people or a third of the venue’s capacity, whichever is less) and graduations (30 graduates and an overall attendance of 150).
• Masks: Encouraged but not required in indoor public spaces. The province left it up to school districts to decide whether masks should be mandatory in common areas, and most have said yes.
• Schools: Full-time classes resumed September with cohorting and other safety measures.
• 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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As of mid-June, Alberta is no longer in a state of emergency, but public-health orders remain in effect. Phase 2 of the reopening plan began in June, bringing back personal-care services, most performance venues, small-scale team sports, libraries and houses of worship.

• Public gatherings: Restricted to 50 indoors and 100 outdoors.
• Masks: Alberta left the decision on masks up to municipalities, and Calgary has voted voted in favour of making masks mandatory in indoor public places and on transit when physical barriers are absent.
• Schools: K-12 schools reopened this fall with extra safety measures and student cohorting by class, though a series of early cases sent hundreds of students home. Alberta’s rules on sick days are among the strictest in Canada: Students showing any symptoms have to stay home, even if they test negative for COVID-19.
• Interprovincial travel: Domestic entrants to Alberta aren’t required to self-isolate. The province recommends Albertans avoid non-essential out-of-province travel until Phase 3.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the province’s self-assessment tool for the public, and their separate one for health-care workers.

British Columbia

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B.C. is currently in Phase 3 of a four-phase recovery plan, which has reopened many parts of the province to domestic tourism. Sporting events, concerts and international tourism only resume under Phase 4, which is contingent on an effective vaccine or treatment or some form of “community immunity” to the virus.

• Public gatherings: Limited to 50 people or fewer.
• Masks: Not mandatory provincewide.
• Schools: Full-time classes resumed on Sept. 10, with students sorted into “learning groups” of 60 in elementary and middle school and 120 in secondary school.
• 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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The Nunavut’s Path plan doesn’t have the phases or alert levels of other jurisdictions, but instead allows the territory’s top health officer to decide when to allow specific activities that are deemed to have low, medium or high risk.

• Public gatherings: Limited to 25 outdoors.
• Schools: The school reopening plan allows each school a lot of freedom to adjust class sizes, cohort students or switch to part-time instruction if a possible source of COVID-19 is detected.
• Interterritorial travel: Entry into Nunavut is restricted to residents and critical workers. They must prove residency, fill out a travel request form 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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Since June 12, the territory has been in Phase 2 of a four-phase plan. The implementation of the next phase depends on when the rest of Canada clears a second wave of infections, which could come between August and October. The final phase would lift all restrictions, but only if there is a vaccine or an effective treatment accessible within the territory.

• Public gatherings: Outdoor gatherings of up to 25 indoors and 50 outdoors 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.
• Schools: K-6 students have classroom “bubbles” in which they can interact without physical distancing, but a one-metre distance will be expected for Grades 7 to 9 and two metres for Grades 10 to 12.
• Interterritorial travel: Travel through all points of entry into the territory, both air and road, is prohibited except for essential workers. Anyone entering has to self-isolate.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the territory’s self-assessment tool.

Yukon

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Yukon is in the second stage of its plan, A Path Forward, which allows some limited travel from outside the territory, lifts the outdoor gathering limits and gives restaurants more capacity for patrons. Phase 3 would ease the self-isolation requirements and possibly remove gathering limits.

• Public gatherings: Limited to 10 people or fewer indoors, and up to 50 outdoors. Household double bubbles are allowed.
• Schools: Rural students are back in class full-time, but in Whitehorse, Grades 10 to 12 students’ days are split between in-class and at-home learning. It’s up to each school to decide how to meet the territory’s flexible guidelines for the number of students in class if there’s a second wave this fall.
• Interterritorial travel: Those entering Yukon have to self-isolate for 14 days, unless they’re residents of other northern territories or British Columbia, and only as long as they’re travelling directly from those places. 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

André Picard answers reader questions

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

Your cleaning questions answered

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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