April 7, 2021
Today, the Government of Ontario announced a provincewide Stay-at-Home Order effective Thursday, April 8, 2021 at 12:01 a.m. The Stay-at-Home Order requires all Ontario residents to remain at home except for essential purposes, such as going to the grocery store or pharmacy, accessing health care services (including getting vaccinated) or for work that cannot be done remotely.
“This was an extremely difficult decision and I firmly believe this is the right course of action at this critical moment to reduce the spread of variant cases and COVID-19 hospitalizations. We are now more than a year into this pandemic and into the third wave of COVID-19. New variants are far more dangerous, spread faster and do more harm than the virus we were fighting last year. We are now in a race between stopping the spread of the variants and getting vaccines into arms,” said Mayor Bonnie Crombie. “I am pleased to see that the Premier has found a way to restrict the sales of non-essential items for in-person shopping in big box retail stores. While it is difficult to see our local businesses have to move to online and curbside once again, I am glad to see that these restrictions level the playing field between small and large retailers. Mississauga residents and businesses have sacrificed so much throughout this pandemic. I ask that you please continue to support each other – set up virtual touch points with your family, call a neighbour, support a local business with curbside pickup, order takeout from a local restaurant and take care of your own physical and mental health. I am confident that if we follow the advice of our health experts, we will be able to keep variant cases at bay and provide the additional time to continue vaccinating residents in our community.”
Non-essential Retail
Changes to the current regulations for non-essential retail include:
- Limiting the majority of non-essential retailers to only operate for curbside pick-up and delivery, via appointment, with restricted hours for pick-up and delivery
- Restricting access to shopping malls unless it’s for curbside pick-up and delivery
- Restricting discount and big box stores in-person retail sales to: grocery items, pet care supplies, household cleaning supplies, pharmaceutical items, health care items, and personal care items
- Permitting the following stores to operate for in-person retail, by appointment only and subject to a 25 per cent capacity limit with restricted hours:
- Safety supply stores;
- Businesses that primarily sell, rent or repair assistive devices, aids or supplies, mobility devices, aids or supplies or medical devices, aids or supplies;
- Rental and leasing services including automobile, commercial and light industrial machinery and equipment rental;
- Optical stores that sell prescription eyewear to the public;
- Businesses that sell motor vehicles, boats and other watercraft;
- Vehicle and equipment repair and essential maintenance and vehicle and equipment rental services; and
- Retail stores operated by a telecommunications provider or service, which may only permit members of the public to enter the premises to purchase a cellphone or for repairs or technical support.
- Permitting outdoor garden centres and plant nurseries, and indoor greenhouses to operate with a 25 per cent capacity limit and a restriction on hours of operation to between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.
For more information about non-essential and essential retail restrictions please visit the Ontario Government’s Public Health Measures advice page.
For information on City Services please visit the City Services Status page.
Support for Business
Resources to help Mississauga businesses can be found online at mississauga.ca/business-covid-19.
If you have questions about what will be open or impacts to businesses or employment, call the Stop the Spread Business Information Line at 1-888-444-3659.
Additional resources can also be found on the City’s Business Relief Portal.
The City of Mississauga continues to work closely with its health care partners and the Province and will continue to monitor Mississauga’s and Peel Region’s situation closely.
For information about the City’s response to COVID-19:
- Visit mississauga.ca/covid
- Follow @CityMississauga on Twitter and Facebook
- Watch Mayor Bonnie Crombie’s weekly COVID-19 press conference
- Contact 311 (905-615-4311) if outside of Mississauga