Good afternoon Kanata North,
Today, Ottawa joins many other regions in entering Stage 3 of reopening the Province. Almost all businesses will be permitted to open as long as they comply with strict health and safety protocols. Through this time of transition, I encourage you to practice empathy and patience with others. We are all in this together, learning to navigate living with COVID-19.
Our hard work to stop the spread of the virus has allowed us to enter Stage 3. We must continue to adhere to the guidelines provided by health officials including wearing a mask, maintaining physical distance from others, practicing regular hygiene, and monitoring ourselves for COVID-19 symptoms. We have the ability to slow transmission. Please make informed decisions and stay safe.
Kanata North Updates
- Many businesses have faced challenges through the COVID-19 pandemic. As more small businesses begin to reopen their doors, I encourage you to support local. Investing locally not only helps the businesses but the staff and our community. You can find a complete list of local shops on both the Kanata Central Business Improvement Area and Kanata North Business Association webpages.
- Please note that due to unexpected conditions, the southbound lane on Herzberg will be closed from July 20 to August 31. A detour to Schneider has been put in place.
City of Ottawa and Ottawa Public Health Updates (OPH)
Here are the latest updates from the City of Ottawa and OPH:
- Today, OPH reported 7 new cases and no new deaths. This brings the cumulative total of cases to 2,189 and 263 deaths.
- On Wednesday, in preparation for Stage 3 of reopening the province, my council colleagues, and I passed a temporary by-law to make masks mandatory for indoor places. The bylaw will stay in effect until the next council meeting on August 25, when it can be extended if needed. Those who cannot wear a mask such as young children, people with medical conditions or special needs will be exempt. Business operators are required to inform customers of the new mask requirement verbally and with proper signs at all public entrances and in common areas of indoor spaces. If a customer refuses to wear a mask and is not exempted, staff can contact the city for assistance. By-law officers will focus on education; however, if further action is necessary, individuals may be charged with fines.
- Are you planning on reopening your business? Ensure you are doing so safely with the City’s Reopening Toolkit. The Reopening Toolkit provides businesses with facts, signage, and sector specific information to help businesses develop and implement health and safety measures.
- In April, I directed staff to use the Innovation Pilot Program to issue a challenge to the local technology community to bring forward innovations and solutions that would support our city’s recovery efforts. Since then, the city has selected five innovative pilot projects to provide technology solutions in support of Ottawa’s COVID-19 economic recovery. Each local company has presented creative ways for our city to return to work safely. I look forward to seeing the successful results of the projects.
- As part of Stage 3 of reopening the province, the city is working hard with OPH to review information coming from the provincial government and conducting a thorough assessment of operational requirements. Staff redeployments, facility retrofits, demand for services, and financial feasibility are all being examined. Information on the resumption of additional services and facility reopenings will be announced in the coming weeks as they are finalized. The following is being prepared:
- Effective today, all playground and exercise equipment at city parks will reopen. All users are reminded to practice physical distancing from people outside your household, avoid touching your face, and wash your hands before and after using park equipment.
- As up to 100 people are permitted to gather outdoors, rentals for sports fields, ball diamonds, and parks have been relaxed. Hence, team sports can now resume competitive play provided participants adhere to physical distancing guidelines.
- The city has cancelled all existing July indoor rental agreements for events, meetings, and community activities. Staff are reaching out to August rental contract holders to advise them that all indoor events for more than 50 people will be cancelled. However, the city will consider rental requests in August for up to 50 people on a case-by-case basis. These rentals would need to adhere to physical distancing guidelines and the city’s mandatory masking by-law.
- The city is examining how to best resume additional recreation and cultural programming offerings throughout the summer. The city is working to design programs and retrofit facilities to support physical distancing and to help protect participants and staff.
- Effective July 27, 2020, all licensed childcare centres will be able to move from the current cohort size of 10 to a cohort size of 15 children with a requirement to maintain ratios and group sizes under 15 as set out under the Child Care and Early Years Act.
- To make is easier for schools to implement physical distancing once they reopen, Council asked staff to prepare a temporary zoning amendment to enable schools to add temporary classroom space on existing school sites or other leased spaces. The city’s Planning Committee will consider the amendment later this summer before it rises to Council.
Provincial Updates
Here are the latest updates from the Ontario government:
- To increase the production of made-in-Ontario N95 masks, the Ontario government is investing $1,408,475 from the Ontario Together Fund to Eclipse Innovations Inc. This investment is part of the government’s plan to increase the capacity of Ontario-made PPE, while supporting local businesses during the safe and gradual reopening of the province. By adding this new capacity, Eclipse Innovations will be able to make one million N95 respirators per week, which will help serve domestic market demand to ensure a safe reopening of the economy and combat COVID-19 safely and effectively.
- In consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, the Ontario government has extended most emergency orders currently in force under s.7.0.2 (4) of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMCPA) until July 29, 2020. Keeping the emergency orders in place provides the government with the necessary flexibility to ensure the protection of vulnerable populations, such as seniors, while continuing to implement its Framework for Reopening the Province with many regions entering Stage 3 tomorrow.
- The Ontario government announced a pilot project partnered with North York General Hospital that would give alternate level of care (ALC) hospital patients direct priority access to a long-term care bed to help reduce waitlists and end hallway health care. If pilot success is seen early, the government will consider expanding this approach to other hospitals and long-term care homes in the province.
- The Ontario government announced they will be investing $1.75 billion over the next five years in long-term care homes (LTCH). This redesigned funding will support accelerated construction of additional modern long-term care homes. It will also update the design standards to include air conditioning for any new and renovated homes, beginning immediately. The new steps will make building LTCHs more attractive to developers. The new funding model will help speed up construction by:
- Creating four new regional categories based on geographic location, each with a targeted home size: large urban, urban, mid-size, and rural. An increase to the province’s construction funding subsidy (CFS) will be tailored to each of these four categories, enabling the government to address the barriers and needs of different communities.
- Providing development grants, between 10 per cent and 17 per cent depending on regional category, to cover upfront costs like development charges, land and other construction expenses.
- Helping small operators in rural communities navigate the high cost of development, while ensuring larger urban centres can secure the loans and real estate they need.
- Increasing funding to incentivize the construction of basic accommodation and continuing top-ups for small and medium sized homes.
Federal Updates
Here are the latest updates from the Canadian government:
- Today, the Federal Government announced plans to continue and improve the wage subsidy program. This is an important program for businesses in our city and further details will be provided once the legislation is approved by Parliament.
- This week, the Federal government reached a $19 billion agreement with the Provinces and Territories. This agreement is going to assist in safely reopening our cities and address key priorities. The funding agreement is designed to get funding to cities like ours that need it.
Please reach out should you need anything. Stay safe.
Take care,
Jenna Sudds