TORONTO ― The province has announced that garden centres, nurseries, hardware stores and safety supply stores will be allowed to fully reopen in time for Mother’s Day.
Garden centres and nurseries will be able to open on May 8, with hardware stores and safety supply stores reopening the following day.
The province has also given the green light to reopen on May 11 to retail stores with a street entrance to provide curbside pickup and delivery.
“As the trends improve, we can move forward with reopening more and more of our economy and getting people back to work,” said Premier Doug Ford on May 6.
The government also announced it is expanding the list of essential construction, allowing multi-use residential projects like apartments and condominiums to begin, and existing projects to continue.
Economic development minister Vic Fedeli said that the businesses and projects are being allowed to reopen due to the collective progress of the province to slow the spread of COVID-19.
“During this period, we must move cautiously and strike the right balance between getting people back to work and preventing further outbreaks,” said Fedeli.
“Protecting the safety of staff, customers and the general public is our number one priority.”
Deputy premier and health minister Christine Elliott said Ontarians must continue to practice physical distancing as the province slowly reopens the economy.
“Together, each of us has put in tremendous effort to stop the spread, and because of these collective efforts we have made tangible progress,” said Elliott.
“More than ever, we need to continue practising physical distancing while we slowly and carefully reopen Ontario’s economy.”
