Quebec is preparing to lift mask mandates in school classrooms for all grades as COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to decline. But one expert is questioning the value of dropping these measures.
Starting March 7, Quebec students will no longer be required to wear a face mask while sitting in a classroom. However, masks will still be required in common areas, such as hallways and on school buses.
Montreal-based epidemiologist Dr. Christopher Labos says it's "unclear what's gained" from removing the mask mandates in schools.
"When you're talking about reopening bars, gyms, other businesses, the argument that's put forth is an economic one. There is an economic hardship that is endured when these things stay closed for extended periods of time," Labos told CTV News Channel on Wednesday.
"When it comes to masks, there's no economic downside. There are no health concerns," he continued. "There's no real negative aspect of this apart from the fact that some people just don't like wearing masks for emotional reasons or political reasons."
Labos questioned why the province is still making masks mandatory in common areas if they won't be required in classrooms.
"You don't have to wear the mask in class, but you have to wear one when you're in the hallway. Like, what does that actually accomplish? Scientifically, that doesn't actually make sense," he said.
In a statement to CTV News Montreal, Quebec Education Minister Jean-François Roberge said on Tuesday that easing the mask mandate was "one more step to regain the pleasure of being at school, to regain the pleasure of teaching." Quebec Premier François Legault also cited the decreasing rate of COVID-19-related absences in schools while speaking to reporters in Quebec City on Tuesday.
However, Labos noted that the air quality in classrooms remains poor, given the ongoing lack of HEPA air filters in classrooms, and many children between five and 11 have yet to be fully vaccinated. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, only 62 per cent of Quebec children have received their first dose and 37 per cent have received two doses.
"If the government had used this time to, you know, radically update the infrastructure and there were air filters in every classroom … and the vaccination rate was near complete for this entire age group, I would have said, 'OK, maybe that's a little bit more justifiable,'" Labos said.
This isn't the first time Quebec has lifted its school mask mandates during the pandemic. Last November, the province announced that high school students would no longer be required to wear masks in the classroom, although the mask mandate was reintroduced in the new year after the rise of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
With the lifting of the mask mandates, Labos said he expects to see more COVID-19 cases and deaths, as well as more spread of other respiratory viruses like the flu.
"When you're wearing a mask, you prevent transmission. So, if we do this, we have to prepare ourselves for the fact that there is going to be more spread," he said. "Maybe we're prepared to tolerate that. But I don't know if people have fully appreciated what the impact of this is going to be."
Quebec isn't the first province to ease classroom mask mandates. The Alberta government lifted its mask mandates in classrooms on Feb. 14. In addition, Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health has said his team will be reviewing the masking requirements in public spaces, including schools, with a decision on the matter expected sometime in March.
With files from CTV News Montreal.
The federal New Democrats are calling out Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and his party for trying to block the bill that could pave the way for millions of Canadians to access birth control and diabetes coverage.
Canada Post is increasing stamp prices for the third time since 2019, a move the Crown corporation says is a "reality" of its sales-based revenue structure.
Defence lawyers of Jeremy Skibicki have admitted in court the accused killed four Indigenous women, but argues he is not criminally responsible for the deaths by way of mental disorder – this latest development has triggered a judge-alone trial rather than a jury trial.
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
A daily spoonful of olive oil could lower your risk of dying from dementia, according to a new study by Harvard scientists.
For the first time, researchers have identified a genetic form of late-in-life Alzheimer’s disease — in people who inherit two copies of a worrisome gene.
An Ontario MPP was asked again to leave the Ontario legislature on Monday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that was banned by the Speaker last month due to its political symbolism.
H5N1 or avian flu is decimating wildlife around the world and is now spreading among cattle in the United States, sparking concerns about 'pandemic potential' for humans. Now a health expert is urging Canada to scale up surveillance north of the border.
Democratic Institutions Minister Dominic LeBlanc will be tabling legislation on Monday aimed at countering foreign interference in Canada. Federal officials have scheduled a technical briefing on the incoming bill for Monday afternoon.
Defence lawyers of Jeremy Skibicki have admitted in court the accused killed four Indigenous women, but argues he is not criminally responsible for the deaths by way of mental disorder – this latest development has triggered a judge-alone trial rather than a jury trial.
Canada Post is increasing stamp prices for the third time since 2019, a move the Crown corporation says is a "reality" of its sales-based revenue structure.
The owner of three Calgary dogs that got loose and mauled a woman to death in 2022 has been ordered to pay a $15,000 fine within one year and banned from owning any animal for 15 years.
An Ontario MPP was asked again to leave the Ontario legislature on Monday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that was banned by the Speaker last month due to its political symbolism.
A homeless man in Newfoundland says he refuses to sleep in a shelter after workers wearing balaclavas and haz-mat suits tore down a tent encampment in St. John's on Friday.
An Ontario woman working in Edmonton has been convicted of defrauding newcomers of tens of thousands of dollars.
President Joe Biden again urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against launching an offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah as Israel on Monday appeared to be moving closer to an offensive to root out Hamas militants.
An official familiar with Israeli thinking says Israeli officials are examining the ceasefire proposal approved by Hamas. But the official warns that the plan approved by Hamas 'is not the framework Israel proposed.'
Polish prosecutors have discontinued an investigation into human skeletons found at a site where German dictator Adolf Hitler and other Nazi leaders spent time during the Second World War because the advanced state of decay made it impossible to determine the cause of death, a spokesman said Monday.
Millions of people in the central United States are bracing for powerful storms Monday including long-track tornadoes, hurricane-force winds and baseball-sized hail, forecasters said.
Two Australians and an American were doing what they loved on the stunning, largely isolated stretch of Baja California's Pacific coast. Their last images on social media showed them sitting and gazing at the waves, contemplating the breaks.
Colorado lawmakers passed a sweeping bill Monday to overhaul the state's lax oversight over funeral homes after a series of horrific incidents, including sold body parts, fake ashes and the discovery of 190 decaying bodies.
Democratic Institutions Minister Dominic LeBlanc will be tabling legislation on Monday aimed at countering foreign interference in Canada. Federal officials have scheduled a technical briefing on the incoming bill for Monday afternoon.
The federal New Democrats are calling out Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and his party for trying to block the bill that could pave the way for millions of Canadians to access birth control and diabetes coverage.
The Israel-Hamas war has led to a spike in 'violent rhetoric' from 'extremist actors' that could prompt some in Canada to turn to violence, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service warns.
For the first time, researchers have identified a genetic form of late-in-life Alzheimer’s disease — in people who inherit two copies of a worrisome gene.
A group of lawyers has written what they call a groundbreaking book about how mental health is perceived in the legal profession.
A daily spoonful of olive oil could lower your risk of dying from dementia, according to a new study by Harvard scientists.
Researchers in Israel are turning to artificial intelligence to comb through piles of records to try to identify hundreds of thousands of Jewish people killed in the Holocaust whose names are missing from official memorials.
Do social media users have the right to control what they see — or don't see — on their feeds?
AI tools can offer recommendations, answer questions and 'talk' with users. But some users are using them to recreate the likeness of the dead.
Two of hip-hop’s biggest stars have beef and people are taking sides.
In July 2013, Travis was hospitalized with viral cardiomyopathy, a virus that attacks the heart, and later suffered a stroke. The Country Music Hall of Famer had to relearn how to walk, spell and read in the years that followed. A condition called aphasia limits his ability to speak — it's why his wife Mary Travis assists him in interviews. It's also why he hasn't released new music in over a decade, until now.
Fashion’s biggest night out — hosted at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York each year on the first Monday of May — is both a forever-evolving spectacle and a carefully crafted event.
'Incendiary objects' have allegedly been placed under machinery on the site of Northvolt's future battery plant in Monteregie, seriously endangering employees, according to the company.
London Drugs stores are unable to fill new prescriptions, the chain announced Monday, providing an update on its reopening following a cybersecurity incident.
A Guelph, Ont. man is believed to be responsible for stealing more than $300,000 worth of product from LCBO stores across the province.
AI tools can offer recommendations, answer questions and 'talk' with users. But some users are using them to recreate the likeness of the dead.
Princess Anne saluted Canadian veterans and current forces members and honoured her late mother during separate ceremonies Sunday in Victoria as she wrapped up a three-day British Columbia West Coast royal visit.
In particular, messages that involve phishing — an attack where a scammer tries to trick the recipient into clicking a malicious link, downloading malware or sharing sensitive information — are on the rise.
Capping off a weekend of photo finishes, Kyle Larson won NASCAR's AdventHealth 400 by a staggering 0.001 seconds in Kansas on Sunday.
Brittney Griner continues her efforts to settle into a normal routine following her release from a Russian prison 17 months ago.
The Edmonton Oilers will play Game 1 of their second-round series against the Canucks in Vancouver on Wednesday.
Amid scientists' warnings that nations need to transition away from fossil fuels to limit climate change, Canadians are still lukewarm on electric vehicles, according to a study conducted by Nanos Research for CTV News.
Drivers in Saskatchewan will now lose their licence for a week and their vehicle for a month if they are caught committing certain high-speed and dangerous offences on the road.
Auto sales last month totalled 164,000 units, higher than April 2023, which was the weakest month for sales last year.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
London Drugs stores are unable to fill new prescriptions, the chain announced Monday, providing an update on its reopening following a cybersecurity incident.
B.C. is conducting its semi-annual test of the Alert Ready system this week.
A marine salvage operation is underway in U.S. waters off Vancouver Island after a man and his dog were forced to abandon their sinking fishing boat Friday.
The first female Black superintendent in Toronto Police Service history was attempting to diversify the ranks on her own when she helped six constables cheat in a promotions exam, her lawyer told a police tribunal.
An Ontario MPP was asked again to leave the Ontario legislature on Monday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that was banned by the Speaker last month due to its political symbolism.
The federal government has kept its promise to withhold more than $350-million in Ontario funding earmarked for affordable housing and will send it directly to service managers after the province “failed to meet its obligations.”
The owner of three Calgary dogs that got loose and mauled a woman to death in 2022 has been ordered to pay a $15,000 fine within one year and banned from owning any animal for 15 years.
Wildlife officers are working to catch and relocate a bear that has been active in a southwest Calgary neighbourhood.
Some Shaw customers in north and northeast Calgary experienced a service outage on Monday morning after an attempted theft of copper wire.
Students from Sir Guy Carleton Secondary School have placed roses outside the city building in Nepean where one of their classmates was stabbed on Thursday and later died of his injuries.
Newly released statistics show the photo radar camera on King Edward Avenue, between Cathcart Street and St. Patrick Street, issued 7,569 tickets during its first month of operation in March.
Residents in Ottawa and Gatineau may receive an alert on their smartphones, radios and televisions in the next two weeks, as part of a test of Canada's national public alerting system.
'Incendiary objects' have allegedly been placed under machinery on the site of Northvolt's future battery plant in Monteregie, seriously endangering employees, according to the company.
A Montreal man is warning Tesla drivers about using the Smart Summon feature after his vehicle hit another in a parking lot.
The housing crisis is having a severe impact on tenants' mental health, say organizations calling on Quebec Premier François Legault to take action.
An Ontario woman working in Edmonton has been convicted of defrauding newcomers of tens of thousands of dollars.
A 37-year-old woman has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of a 70-year-old man in central Edmonton in late 2022.
Cocaine and MDMA were seized in a large bust in west Edmonton late last month.
Police say a youth has been charged with attempted murder following a stabbing in Prospect Bay, N.S., Sunday morning.
Three people have died and two have been hospitalized after a speeding car struck a tree and landed on another vehicle in Fredericton Sunday morning.
Maritime residents may receive an alert on their smartphones, radios and TVs Wednesday as part of a test for Canada's national public alerting system.
Defence lawyers of Jeremy Skibicki have admitted in court the accused killed four Indigenous women, but argues he is not criminally responsible for the deaths by way of mental disorder – this latest development has triggered a judge-alone trial rather than a jury trial.
Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness has announced his retirement from coaching after 38 seasons in the NHL.
It’s been five years since Jennie Russell started patrolling Winnipeg with the Street Connections Van – an initiative of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, and it was one of the best decisions she’s made in life.
The organization that oversees the province's Crown corporations says that a SaskTel employee was caught taking personal payments in a cash-for-credits scheme.
The City of Regina says a new warning system will help drivers avoid one of the most infamous problems in the Queen City, flooding at the Albert Street and Saskatchewan Drive underpass.
Saskatchewan's Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) will be conducting an investigation after a woman who was found to be in need of medical care in Swift Current died following a police response on Sunday.
A Guelph, Ont. man is believed to be responsible for stealing more than $300,000 worth of product from LCBO stores across the province.
Canada is testing its emergency alert system on Wednesday in most provinces and territories, excluding Ontario where the test is scheduled for May 15.
Flames and smoke could be seen coming out of a Beer Store in Stratford Monday, according to police.
Saskatchewan travelers can breathe a sigh of relief — WestJet announced on Sunday it reached a tentative agreement with a newly-formed mechanics’ union just 48 hours before a threatened lockout.
Saskatoon’s three London Drugs locations are set to re-open soon, one week after a data breach shut down stores across western Canada.
Saskatchewan's Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) will be conducting an investigation after a woman who was found to be in need of medical care in Swift Current died following a police response on Sunday.
A 32-year-old northern Ontario woman has been charged in a head-on collision on Highway 17 near Espanola that killed one and seriously injured two others Sunday.
A Brampton man in his 30s charged with abducting a northern Ontario boy last summer has elected to be tried by a judge without a jury.
The owner of three Calgary dogs that got loose and mauled a woman to death in 2022 has been ordered to pay a $15,000 fine within one year and banned from owning any animal for 15 years.
The city admits it is 'begging' Londoners to sign up for emergency alerts. The plea comes at the start of Emergency Preparedness Week, and just two weeks after a freight train engulfed in flames almost brought responders into a real-life emergency exercise.
A London man has been arrested after police say he was involved in a theft in 2022 of more than $3,300 in alcoholic products from two Guelph LCBO stores.
The City of London is collecting feedback on the newly-rolled out green bin program and bi-weekly garbage pickup. According to the city, the feedback will be used to inform a preliminary review of the changes that were implemented Jan. 15.
A 21-year-old horse was injured after the trailer he was in overturned following a collision in New Tecumseth.
Provincial police in Wasaga Beach are asking for the public's help with their investigation into a single-vehicle collision over the weekend.
Construction is now underway on a new rental housing development in Collingwood.
Windsor police officers have arrested a 22-year-old man following a shots fired investigation on Howard Avenue over the weekend.
Fire broke out in the 800 block of Victoria Avenue between Elliott Street and Erie Street.
An abandoned building downtown dubbed the 'rainbow house' is being demolished after a fire ripped through the structure last week.
London Drugs stores are unable to fill new prescriptions, the chain announced Monday, providing an update on its reopening following a cybersecurity incident.
A marine salvage operation is underway in U.S. waters off Vancouver Island after a man and his dog were forced to abandon their sinking fishing boat Friday.
B.C. is conducting its semi-annual test of the Alert Ready system this week.
Models in uniquely designed red dresses are taking to the runway in British Columbia this weekend to make a powerful fashion statement about missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
An emaciated dachshund is now recovering thanks to a Good Samaritan who found the pup near a biking trail in Kelowna, according to the BC SPCA.
Animal shelters across the province are finding themselves frequently at capacity -- or more.
Lethbridge police say impaired driving is to blame in a fatal crash that killed a 25-year-old man on Thursday.
The bell at Erle Rivers High School in Milk River, Alta., will ring for the last time on June 26, as the 114-year-old school is scheduled to be torn down to make way for a new K-12 school.
A Brampton man in his 30s charged with abducting a northern Ontario boy last summer has elected to be tried by a judge without a jury.
Ontario is set to clamp down on bad employers with big fines.
Ontario Provincial Police, in partnership with the Treaty Three Police Service, have charged a suspect with second degree murder following a homicide in a remote Indigenous northwestern Ontario community.
A homeless man in Newfoundland says he refuses to sleep in a shelter after workers wearing balaclavas and haz-mat suits tore down a tent encampment in St. John's on Friday.
A funeral is being held today for hockey broadcasting legend Bob Cole in his hometown of St. John's, N.L.
Richard Martin is spending this year's fishing season on land after he says a Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officer broke his left leg in three places during a protest last month that shut down the provincial legislature.
The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at CTV News. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us.
