Canada:
Quebec Government Update – May 8
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Gradual reopening of businesses
The Québec government announced that economic activity
will resume in the next week or so in the following three business
sectors – retail, manufacturing and construction, as follows:
May 4, 2020: Reopening of retail
stores with exterior doors normally used by customers. This applies
to stores located outside of the Communauté
métropolitaine de Montréal (Montréal
Metropolitan Community, CMM) territory. This excludes shopping
centres, unless the business has a door to the outside that is
normally used by customers.
May 11, 2020: Reopening of all
construction sites (residential, civil engineering and roads,
institutional, commercial and industrial) and manufacturing
companies in all regions of Québec (with a maximum of
50 workers, plus another 50% of the employees at organizations
with more than 50 workers).
May 25, 2020:
Reopening of retail stores with exterior doors normally used by
customers and that are located within the CMM territory. This
excludes shopping centres unless the business has a door to the
outside ordinarily used by customers. Please note that due to the
number of hospitalizations in Montréal and the shortage of
healthcare workers, this reopening originally scheduled for
May 11 has been postponed to May 25. It remains to be
seen whether the reopening of businesses on the CMM territory will
take place as planned.
Manufacturing companies will be able to resume operations at
full capacity without restrictions on the number of employees.
For sectors not covered by the reopening plan, the list of
priority services and activities continues to apply. You can read
our article on this subject by clicking here. [Link to our article
on this subject.]
Applicable sanitary measures
The CNESST (Commission des normes, de
l’équité, de la santé et de la
sécurité du travail) drafted several workplace
sanitary guides applicable to the sectors allowed to resume their
activities mentioned above (link available here). These measures will also apply to all
businesses as soon as they resume their activities. Here is a
summary of the main obligations set out in these guides:
Exclusion of symptomatic individuals from the
workplace: Workers with symptoms of COVID-19 should be
identified prior to entering the workplace (questionnaire,
self-assessment). In the event that symptoms appear while in the
workplace, the employer must isolate the worker in a room reserved
for this purpose.
Physical distancing: Employers and workers
must maintain two metres of physical distancing. It will be
particularly important for them to comply with these measures
during breaks and lunchtime. In the event that physical distancing
cannot be practised, the CNESST provides that adjustments must be
made, as follows:
Encouraging remote work;
Installing physical barriers between work stations (with
Plexiglas partitions);
Reviewing work organization (arranging the smallest and most
stable possible teams, reducing the number of workers, avoiding
in-person meetings, avoiding sharing objects, and limiting outings
and trips to the bare minimum);
Supplying protective equipment (masks, gloves, visors.).
Maintenance of hygiene measures for tools, equipment
and frequently touched surfaces: Given that the virus
responsible for COVID-19 can survive on surfaces, employers must
clean equipment and common surfaces frequently. To this end, the
CNESST guide provides compliance measures for employers. They must:
Ensure efficient operation and maintenance of ventilation
systems;
Clean and disinfect sanitary facilities after each shift and
daily;
Clean and disinfect meal areas after each meal and daily;
Clean all touched surfaces in common areas after every shift,
such as tables, counters, doorknobs, toilets, telephones, computer
accessories;
Clean tools and equipment (after every shift or after they have
been shared).
Reopening of educational institutions and daycares
As of April 27, 2020, the Québec Minister of Education
and Higher Education and the Minister of Families announced the
reopening of educational institutions and daycares. This multi-week
plan includes the following:
May 11, 2020: Reopening of daycares as
well as preschools and elementary schools in all regions of
Québec except those in the CMM.
May 25, 2020: Reopening of daycares as
well as preschools and elementary schools in the CMM. Please note
that due to the number of hospitalizations in Montréal and
the shortage of healthcare workers, this reopening originally
scheduled for May 19 has been postponed to May 25.
Fall 2020: high schools, CEGEPs and
universities will not be allowed to resume their activities before
the start of the Fall 2020 school year.
It should be noted that parents will not be obliged to send
their children to school and that the reopening will depend on the
evolution of epidemiological data. In order to ensure the safety of
workers and children, the Government is planning to introduce
numerous health and hygiene measures, including the reorganization
of educational institutions activities and the reorganization of
premises (link available here).
Withdrawal of checkpoints in the regions
In the wake of the resumption of economic and educational
activities and as a logical next step, the vice-premier announced
on April 29, 2020, a plan to gradually lift travel restrictions to
some regions.
As of today, access will be allowed to the following
regions:
May 4, 2020: the Laurentides health
region (the Antoine-Labelle, Argenteuil, Pays-d’en-Haut and
Laurentides regional county municipalities), the Lanaudière
health region (the territories of the Autray, Joliette, Matawinie
and Montcalm regional county municipalities), the
Chaudière-Appalaches health region (the territories of the
Bellechasse, L’Islet and Montmagny regional county
municipalities) and the Abitibi-Témiscamingue health region
(Rouyn-Noranda).
May 11, 2020: the Outaouais health region
(except for trips from Ottawa to Gatineau), the
Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean and Abitibi-Témiscamingue health
regions, and the Mauricie et Centre-du-Québec health region
(La Tuque population centre).
May 18, 2020: the Bas-Saint-Laurent,
Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine and Côte-Nord
health regions (except for the Minganie and Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent
[Basse-Côte-Nord]) and the Capitale-Nationale health regions
(the territories of the Charlevoix and Charlevoix-Est regional
county municipalities).
For the time being, no reopening is planned for the following
regions and territories: Gatineau (for travel from Ottawa to
Gatineau); the Minganie and Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent
(Basse-Côte-Nord); Nord-du-Québec; Nunavik and Cree
Territory of James Bay.
« Read the original article on
GowlingWLG.com ».
Originally published May 8, 2020.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
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