Timeline: Emergency orders impacting Toronto and Ontario amid the COVID-19 pandemic

Toronto — Here is a timeline of the measures the City of Toronto, the Province of Ontario, and the Government of Canada have taken to help slow the spread of COVID-19:

March 12: The province announces that all publicly funded schools in Ontario will be closed for two weeks following March Break in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

March 14: Canada recommends against international travel and advises those returning from outside of the country to self-isolate for 14 days.

March 16: Canada announces plans to close the border to most people who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents. The federal government also promises $82B in economic aid. Toronto public health officials recommend all bars and restaurants in the city halt dine-in service by midnight.

March 17: Ontario Premier Doug Ford declares a state of emergency in response to the pandemic.

March 18: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces that Canada and the U.S. have agreed to temporarily restrict all non-essential travel across the border.

March 23: Premier Doug Ford orders the closure of all non-essential businesses in Ontario for 14 days and Toronto Mayor John Tory declares a state of emergency in the city.

March 25: The federal government announces it will start enforcing 14-day quarantines on travellers under the Quarantine Act. The City of Toronto orders the closure of all facilities within public parks, including playgrounds, off-leash dog areas, and sports fields.

March 30: Ontario orders the closure of all communal or shared, public or private, outdoor recreational amenities everywhere in the province. The province also extends the Declaration of Emergency and all associated emergency measures, including the closure of non-essential businesses.

March 31: The province announces that Ontario schools will remain closed until at least May.

April 2: Toronto residents who do not live together are ordered to stay two metres apart in public parks and squares under a new bylaw signed by the city’s mayor.

April 3: The province extends the list of non-essential businesses that must now close, including non-critical industrial construction projects.