What is the reopening plan in my province? A guide

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What rules are the same everywhere?

What’s open and closed

• Food is available: Grocery stores across Canada are open, and major chains like Loblaws and Metro have dedicated hours for seniors. Restaurants can still offer takeout or delivery, but not all provinces allow dine-in service, and those that do may require restaurants to open at a reduced capacity.
• Liquor and cannabis are available: Every province and territory has an operating liquor authority or cannabis retailer, though stores may not be at their usual hours, and many outlets encourage online sales.
• Utilities are running: Every province has deemed electrical, water, garbage-collection and telecom services to be essential. Check with your municipal government or utility company to see if they offer waivers or flexibility on fees for those services.
• Banks are open: Financial institutions are protected, but local branches may be operating under different hours.
• Work-from-home is okay, and encouraged: Most provinces have made lists of “essential” businesses that can have physical offices open (more on that below), but any business whose employees can work from home is allowed to keep running.

Physical distancing

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• Stay at home: All the country’s top public health officials have urged Canadians to avoid going out unless absolutely necessary for grocery runs, exercise or medical emergencies. 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. In jurisdictions like Toronto, sick people (or those suspected to be sick) can be fined or arrested for refusing self-isolation.
• Stay apart: When you do go outside, stay at a distance of two metres (about the length of a hockey stick) from other people.
• Wear a mask if you can: Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer has stressed since early April that non-medical masks can help stop the spread of COVID-19, and while they’re not mandatory, they may be strongly encouraged in stores, on public transit or in other spaces where you may be in close contact with others. Here’s a primer on how to choose a mask that’s right for you and how to 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. To make screening easier, the federal government restricted international flights to four main airports in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.
• The border is restricted: Non-essential travellers, like tourists, are barred from crossing the Canada-U.S. border, but supply chains between the two countries are still open for things like food, fuel and medicine.
• 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. Airlines and railways are screening travellers for COVID-19 symptoms, refusing passage to those who have them. As of April 20, anyone who flies must wear a mask that covers the face and mouth.
• 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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Rules in place now

• Public gatherings: Restricted to 10 or fewer people. Two individual households are allowed to form exclusive “double bubbles” to gather together in person.
• Interprovincial travel: New arrivals in the province have to self-isolate for 14 days.
• Local travel: Provincial ferries are running at 50-per-cent capacity and motorists are urged to stay in their vehicles, but they are open to non-essential travellers again.
• 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.
• What medical services are ‘essential’? Hospitals and pharmacies are deemed essential. Private clinics of dentists, audiologists, chiropractors and massage therapists are closed.
• What businesses are ‘essential’? Food services, hardware stores, gas stations and repair services are on the list of essential services. Under current restrictions, pet groomers, animal daycares, landscapers and gardening centres are allowed to operate.

Reopening plans so far

On May 11, the province moved to Level 4 of its five-level alert system, which allows low-risk outdoor activities like golf and angling, professional services like accounting and law firms, funerals (with a limit of 10 people) and slightly larger public gatherings, as long as people stay apart. A move to Level 3 will not be considered until June at the earliest.

Prince Edward Island

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Rules in place now

• Public gatherings: Limited to 20 people or fewer outdoors and 15 indoors, with physical distancing.
• Interprovincial travel: Anyone who enters PEI from other provinces, except for some exempted groups like truckers returning to PEI, has to self-isolate for 14 days. Travel on the Confederation Bridge is restricted to essential workers or people who have to leave for medical reasons. Seasonal residents are able to apply for return to PEI as of June 1.
• Local travel: T3 Transit is asking passengers to use its services only for work travel, medical appointments and shopping for essentials.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the province’s self-assessment tool. Testing clinics are by appointment only.
• What medical services are ‘essential’? Hospitals and pharmacies are deemed essential, and dentists are limited to emergency services only. Some elective surgeries and optometry services have resumed under the restart plan, as have acupuncture and massage therapy.
• What businesses are ‘essential’? Food services, hardware stores, gas stations and utilities are on the essential list. The reopening plan has so far cleared retail businesses and all forms of construction work to operate.

Reopening plans so far

Phase 3 of the Renew PEI Together plan, which began on June 1, raised the gathering limits again and reopened some things for PEI residents only, including indoor restaurant dining, tattoo parlours, nail salons, campgrounds and inns. The phased plan has no specifics on when PEI might allow free access to the rest of Canada, but some Maritime premiers have suggested forming a “travel bubble” if their COVID-19 caseloads remain low.

Nova Scotia

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Rules in place now

• Public gatherings: Restricted to five or fewer people.
• Interprovincial travel: New arrivals in the province have to self-isolate for 14 days.
• Local travel: Halifax Transit is on reduced hours and ferries are restricting the number of passengers.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the province’s self-assessment tool. Visits to assessment centres are by referral from 811 only.
• What medical services are ‘essential’? Hospitals and pharmacies remain open.

Reopening plans so far

June 5 is the day that businesses like restaurants, bars, hair salons, gyms and spas can open with approved physical-distancing measures. Nova Scotia has already reopened provincial and municipal parks and trails, golf driving ranges (but not courses) and drive-in religious services.

New Brunswick

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Rules in place now

• 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.
• Interprovincial travel: Non-essential travel into New Brunswick is strongly discouraged, and with few exceptions, anyone who arrives there has to self-isolate for 14 days.
• Local travel: Fredericton Transit began to increase service back to normal volume in mid-May, and reintroduced fare collection on May 19.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the province’s self-assessment tool. Any New Brunswicker with symptoms may be eligible for a test.
• What medical services are ‘essential’? Regional health agencies began to resume non-emergency surgeries in May, but health providers are still encouraged to offer virtual care where they can.
• What businesses are ‘essential’? New Brunswick list of essential businesses is broadly similar to those in the rest of Atlantic Canada. Under the current alert level, retail stores, restaurants, hair salons and spas in most of New Brunswick can operate if they have appropriate measures to keep patrons and staff apart.

Reopening plans so far

Most of New Brunswick is in “yellow” mode, the second-lowest of four colour-coded stages in its recovery plan. The northern Campbellton region is still under the higher “orange” level because an infected doctor continued to treat patients there instead of going into quarantine. 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.

Quebec

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Rules in place now

• Public gatherings: Indoor and outdoor gatherings of two or more are prohibited.
• Interprovincial travel: The Sûreté du Québec took down its roadblocks between Ottawa and Gatineau in mid-May, where they had previously been stopping travellers whose visits were not deemed essential.
• Local travel: Montreal public transit is up and running with enhanced cleaning and physical-distancing measures in place, but people with possible COVID-19 symptoms are warned not to ride.
• 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. Avoid ERs unless you have difficulty breathing while at rest or lying down.
• What medical services are ‘essential’? Hospitals, pharmacies and the provincial blood and organ-transplant agencies are on the essential-services list, as are dentists and optometrists for emergency services.
• What businesses are ‘essential’? Quebec’s list of permitted businesses is one of the strictest in Canada so far. Initially construction was limited to emergency services or dispatching, but residential construction began to restart gradually in mid-April. To give service-sector workers a break, many stores are closed on Sundays, except for pharmacies, gas stations, convenience stores and takeout restaurants.

Reopening plans so far

Montreal, the centre of Quebec’s COVID-19 outbreak, began to see its restrictions lift on May 25. Some retail businesses can reopen there, but schools won’t be back until next fall at the earliest. In other regions of Quebec, elementary schools and daycares reopened on May 11 and retail outlets, manufacturing and construction began to resume on May 4.

Ontario

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Rules in place now

• Public gatherings: Limited to five people or fewer.
• Interprovincial travel: Domestic entrants to Ontario do not have to self-isolate.
• Local travel: GO Transit trains and buses are running on reduced service, as are Via Rail routes between Toronto and Ottawa.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the province’s self-assessment tool. Ontario plans to open up testing to asymptomatic people soon.
• What medical services are ‘essential’? When Stage 1 of the relaunch plan took effect on May 19, scheduled non-emergency surgeries and in-person counselling began to restart. Dentists, optometrists and several other regulated health professions got to resume appointments a week later.
• What businesses are ‘essential’? Here is Ontario’s essential-businesses list, and the list of Stage 1 businesses that can reopen.

Reopening plans so far

The province has a three-stage plan to reopen the economy, with the first taking effect on May 19. Stage 1 allows all construction to resume, as well as retail businesses that are not in indoor malls and have appropriate physical distancing policies. Libraries can open again, but only for pickup and delivery. Premier Doug Ford says K-12 schools will stay closed for the rest of the school year, but summer day camps can reopen with new safety measures in July and August.

Manitoba

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Rules in place now

• Public gatherings: Restricted to 10 people or fewer.
• Interprovincial travel: Anyone entering domestically is required to self-isolate for 14 days, except truckers.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the province’s self-assessment tool and a list of where the testing centres are.
• What medical services are ‘essential’? Manitoba’s list broadly allows most kinds of medical care, but medical associations for dentists and other specialties are urging clinics to cancel non-essential appointments.
• What businesses are ‘essential’? May’s restart measures brought back non-urgent health care, hair salons and barbershops, restaurant patios and museums, libraries and campgrounds.

Reopening plans so far

Phase 2 of Manitoba’s plan, which started June 1, brought back dine-in restaurants and bars, community centres and gyms. Schools will be allowed to offer special remedial teaching and extracurriculars but regular classes are cancelled for the rest of the academic year.

Saskatchewan

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Rules in place now

• Public gatherings: Restricted to 10 people or fewer. That will increase to 15 indoors and 30 outdoors under Phase 3 of the reopening plan.
• 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.
• Local travel: Regina and Saskatoon’s transit agencies are running under enhanced safety protocols, and neither require fares.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the province’s self-assessment tool. To get tested, you need a referral from 811 or your family doctor or nurse practitioner.
• What medical services are ‘essential’? Hospitals and pharmacies are open, and some medical services deemed non-essential got to resume in May.
• What businesses are ‘essential’? Most of the province’s natural-resources and construction sectors are included on the essential list. As of May 19, retail outlets can reopen under a new set of physical-distancing guidelines, and gyms and childcare facilities are next in June.

Reopening plans so far

Saskatchewan was the first province to set specific dates for reopening its economy, a five-stage process that is now in Phase 2, which reopened retail stores, malls and hair salons. The target date for Phase 3 is June 8: It allows restaurants and bars to run at half-capacity, and all remaining personal-care businesses to resume.

Alberta

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Rules in place now

• Public gatherings: Restricted to 15 people or fewer.
• Interprovincial travel: Domestic entrants to Alberta aren’t required to self-isolate.
• Local travel: The Red Arrow bus between Calgary and Edmonton is cancelled, but local public transit continues. In Edmonton, fares have been waived.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the province’s self-assessment tool for the public, and their separate one for health-care workers. Any Albertan with symptoms, and is 65 or older, may be eligible for a test.
• What medical services are ‘essential’? Hospitals and pharmacies are open, and in early May some non-urgent surgeries and dental, physiotherapy and optometry services resumed.
• What businesses are ‘essential’? Here’s the full essential-services list. Non-essential retail businesses are reopening on a regional basis: Bookstores, clothing stores and furniture stores, for instance, are open as of May 14 outside Calgary and Brooks, where most of Alberta’s COVID-19 cases are.

Reopening plans so far

Alberta gave businesses less than a day’s warning before confirming the first reopening phase would start on May 14. Stage 1 opened museums, daycares and some retail businesses provincewide, provided that physical distancing is observed.

British Columbia

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Rules in place now

• Public gatherings: Limited to 50 people or fewer.
• Interprovincial travel: Domestic travellers don’t have to self-isolate.
• Local travel: TransLink has reduced service on many routes, but reopening plans in May have gradually brought them back. As of June 1, TransLink is charging fares again after suspending them during the early pandemic.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the province’s self-assessment tool. Testing is not recommended for returning travellers and patients with mild symptoms.
• What medical services are ‘essential’? The essential-services list covers most types of medical care, but dentists’ offices are being urged by their professional associations to cancel non-essential treatment.
• What businesses are ‘essential’? Like the other western provinces, B.C. broadly exempted construction work and natural-resources sectors. It was also the only province whose essential list includes parks and public washrooms, citing their importance to homeless people. The second phase of the reopening plan allowed more non-essential businesses to open on May 19.

Reopening plans so far

Phase 2 of B.C.'s four-phase restart plan got started on May 19, allowing restaurants to reopen with limited capacity, as well as retail, museums and libraries. Phase 3, from June to September, will reopen hotels, resorts, parks and some overnight camping. As of June 1, some K-12 schools allow part-time, voluntary schooling for some pupils (50 per cent capacity for elementary, 20 per cent for middle and secondary) to get the province ready for a full reopening in the fall. 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.

Nunavut

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Rules in place now

• Public gatherings: All indoor and outdoor gatherings, of any size, are cancelled.
• 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.
• 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.
• What medical services are ‘essential’? Daily medical care is still available for urgent cases, but is being triaged daily for non-urgent cases. Call ahead before going to health facilities. Doctors are still making community visits.
• What businesses are ‘essential’? The territory’s public health order only exempts things like grocery stores, pharmacies, post offices and fuel and motor vehicle service stations.

Northwest Territories

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Rules in place now

• Public gatherings: Outdoor gatherings of 25 people or fewer are allowed with physical distancing, and households can have five people over, to a maximum of 10 in the home. The government recommends having a “fave five” who can come over to limit mixing among different housholds.
• 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 in either Yellowknife, Inuvik, Hay River or Fort Smith, and cannot self-isolate in a small community.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the territory’s self-assessment tool. If health officials recommend you be tested, be aware that the swabs they collect have to be sent to an Edmonton lab, and results may take up to a week.
• What medical services are ‘essential’? Health-care providers and pharmacies are still operating.
• What businesses are ‘essential’? Employees who aren’t in self-isolation can continue to work as long as they practice two-metre physical distancing. As of mid-May, museums, gyms and outdoor sports are allowed.

Reopening plans so far

Phase 1 of the territory’s three-phase Emerging Wisely plan was introduced on May 15, lifting public-gathering limits and reopening some businesses and outdoor activities.

Yukon

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Rules in place now

• Public gatherings: Limited to 10 people or fewer. Household double bubbles are allowed.
• Interterritorial travel: Anyone entering Yukon must self-isolate for 14 days, and highway links in and out of the territory are closed except to essential workers and supply lines. Under the territory’s plan, those measures could be reopened before a vaccine is developed, but it depends on how much the caseload declines.
• COVID-19 testing: Here is the territory’s self-assessment tool. Tests are generally reserved for recent travellers, symptomatic patients or people who’ve been in contact with symptomatic patients.
• What medical services are ‘essential’? Pharmacies are open. Hospitals are restricted to priority care, and have cancelled routine or non-essential services like bloodwork and X-rays. Dentists can offer emergency care only.
• What businesses are ‘essential’? Many types of retail, personal services and religious services can reopen, but only if they submit an operation plan to the government first.

Reopening plans so far

The first of five phases in the Yukon plan, A Path Forward, began on May 15, allowing two-household bubbles to gather and giving businesses options to reopen with physical distancing. Phase 1 also lifted some travel restrictions within the territory, but borders to the rest of Canada are still closed.

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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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