TORONTO (Reuters)

Provided certain vaccination rates are met, Ontario has announced that it expects to permit outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people and allow non-essential retail to operate at 15 per cent capacity starting the week of June 14.

Canada’s most populous province has been under lockdown since early April when a third wave of the coronavirus threatened to overwhelm their hospital capacities.

Speaking during a media briefing in Toronto on Thursday (May 20), Premier Doug Ford said that the provinces’ reopening would be confirmed closer to the mid-June date.

The province is expected to reopen outdoor amenities – including playgrounds, basketball courts and golf courses – as of Saturday, May 22.

COVID-19 cases have been falling steadily in Ontario, and new modelling from the government released earlier on Thursday (May 22) showed that if restrictions were maintained until mid-June, cases would likely remain under control.

“We’re now in a position to look at a slow and measured reopening of the province. This is being done slowly and with extreme caution”, said Ford.

Ontario’s reopening will take a three-step approach, where step one will require 60 per cent of eligible Ontario adults to have received at least one vaccine dose.

Each step will last for at least 21 days.

The phased approach is largely in step with what public health officials recommended when explaining the new case modelling.

Ford’s government took heavy criticism from all sides for reopening too soon in March, which resulted in the punishing third wave and overwhelmed the province’s healthcare systems.

In clarification of the new phased reopening approach, Dr Steni Brown, co-chair of Ontario’s COVID-19 science advisory table has stated that “the direction of the pandemic has turned and if we’re careful and cautious, we can maintain this momentum”.