Province of Ontario extends COVID-19 emergency orders until May 19

TORONTO — The Ontario government announced on Wednesday morning that all emergency orders due to COVID-19 have been extended until May 19.

The orders include the closure of establishments, prohibiting organized public events, and the closure of outdoor recreation amenities and non-essential businesses, among others.

A full list of the emergency orders can be viewed here.

The government also extended until May 31 the electricity rate relief order for families, farms and small businesses.

Electricity customers who pay time-of-use electricity rates will be billed at the off-peak rate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This measure was initially introduced by the province on March 24.

“During this extraordinary period, many people are struggling to pay the bills as they do the right thing by staying at home, as well as our farmers and those whose businesses have closed or suffered reduced customer traffic,” said Premier Doug Ford in a statement.

“Although we are making progress in our fight against this COVID-19 outbreak, we are not out of the woods yet.

“The extension of this electricity rate relief will leave more money in people’s pockets until businesses can start to reopen and people can get back to work.”

Reporter