COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario

On March 17, 2020, a state of emergency was declared by Premier Doug Ford.^[6] This included the gradual implementation of restrictions on gatherings and commerce.


From late spring to early summer, the majority of the deaths were residents of long-term care homes.^[7] In late April 2020, one out of five of all long-term care homes in Ontario had an outbreak^[7] and 70 percent to 80 percent of all COVID-19 deaths had been in retirement and long-term care homes.^[8] Following medical assistance and observation by the Canadian Armed Forces, the military released a report detailing "a number of medical, professional and technical issues" amongst for-profit long-term-care homes including neglect, lack of equipment and allegations of elder abuse.^[9]


Following a decline in cases, in May through August 2020, the province instituted a three-stage plan to lift economic restrictions. The state of emergency was lifted on July 24, 2020.^[10]


In early September 2020, the province showed a significant increase in new cases, beginning the second wave of the pandemic.^[11] Ontario began to reintroduce some restrictions and in early November, created a new five-tiered colour-coded "response framework".


From late November to mid-December 2020, the province began placing regions in rolling lockdowns, culminating in a province-wide shutdown beginning Boxing Day.^[12] In the post-winter holiday surge of new infections, Premier Ford declared Ontario's second state of emergency on January 12, 2021,^[13] which was lifted February 10, 2021,^[14] and a stay-at-home order effective January 14, 2021,^[13] which was phased out regionally between February 10 and March 8, 2021.^[14]


Following Health Canada's approval of various COVID-19 vaccines, widespread plans for vaccinations began during the week of December 14, 2020.^[15] Early vaccination efforts were highly criticized and a shortage of vaccine supply in late January and early February slowed immunization rollout significantly for a number of weeks.^[16] The rollout continued to be highly criticized for lack of equitability and clarity, which was significantly helped by volunteer groups like Vaccine Hunters Canada.


In mid-March 2021, the Ontario Hospital Association, and Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health^[17] declared the province was experiencing a third wave of the virus.^[18][19] Following the third wave surge, ICU numbers in late March climbed to their highest numbers since the beginning of the pandemic.^[20] On April 1, 2021, the government announced a second province-wide shutdown beginning April 3.^[21] Ford later issued a third state of emergency and stay-at-home order for the province beginning April 8, 2021,^[22] and ordered all schools to close on April 12, 2021 (public schools were in the middle of spring break, delayed from March to April).^[23] In order to ensure greater decline in the number of reported daily infections, the stay-at-home order was extended yet again to June 2, 2021, at which point it expired.^[24] Following the expiration of the stay-at-home order, on May 20, 2021, the provincial government released a three-step roadmap to reopen the economy based on vaccination rate goals.^[25]


In late summer 2021, the province began preparing for a fourth wave of the virus, which was now largely affecting unvaccinated individuals.^[26] After hitting a stand-still on vaccination rates, on September 1, 2021, Ontario became the fourth province to implement a proof of vaccination mandate for various non-essential functions, which went into effect on September 22, 2021.^[27] In January 2022, Ontario entered a partial lockdown (termed as a rollback to "Step 2" of the previous roadmap) due to record cases caused by Omicron variant, ordering the closure of most non-essential indoor facilities.


Face mask mandates and vaccination mandates were lifted on March 21, 2022, due to the decreasing number of new cases, unofficially ending the pandemic.^[28]