Masks could be mandatory in Ottawa as early as Monday

Ottawa and the surrounding regions will join a growing list ofOntario municipalities makingmasks mandatory in indoor public settings to control the spread of COVID-19, and the rules could come into effect as early as Monday.

Mayor Jim Watson, who is currently out of town, and Coun. Keith Egli announced the major public policy in a statement posted to Twitter on Friday afternoon, and later to the Ottawa PublicHealthwebsite.

According to the statement, business owners told the city they're in favour of mandating cloth masks in indoor public settings, both for protection of staff and the public, but also because it would create a level playing field if all businesses had to follow the same rule.

More details are expected at a news conference Mondaythat will include officials from four surrounding public health units.

Ottawa behind other Ontario cities

A mandatory mask policy for the capital has beenexpected Ottawa's medical officer of health, Dr. VeraEtches told reportersearlier this week that she was "seriously exploring" the idea but the timing of the new rules is a bit unclear.

Ottawa isbehindother Ontario citiesincluding Kingston and Toronto, where mask requirements are already in place.

• Toronto city council votes to make masks mandatory indoors by July 7
• Kingston declares mask use mandatory at many indoor locations after COVID-19 outbreak
• What social science says about convincing people to wear masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

The officialdirection requiring residents to wear masks can come from one oftwo parties. Alocal officer of health can set rules for businesses in the Stage 2 economicreopening, or a city council can pass atemporary bylaw requiring people to wear masks,which is what Toronto's city councildid late Tuesday.

It seems Ottawa will be using both strategies.

Ottawa to announce plan to make masks mandatory

4 years ago

Duration 0:40

Keith Egli, chair of the Ottawa Board of Health, says the city will announce a plan on Monday to make masks mandatory in indoor commercial settings.

"What we're doing iskind of a two-step," said Egli, who chairs the Ottawa Board of Health. The boardwould move a motion to institute this sort of bylaw, he said, but not until the next council meeting, scheduled for July 15.

"So Monday, there will be an announcement from Dr. Etches whereby she will make it a requirement to wear a mask, and she can do that under the existing provincial order," Egli said.

"It's going to require the use of masks indoors [and] that will carry the city through until the next council meetingand give our people in legal and in bylaw [time] to craft the bylaw."

For regions with multiple smaller municipalities, it's more practical for the medical officer of health to issue an order for mandatory masks, instead of relying on a bylaw. That seemed to be Dr. Paul Roumeliotis's plan; on Tuesday, the medical officer of healthfor the Eastern Ontario Health Unit told reporters he would "be instituting mandatory masking" as early as next week.

Now, his office says he'll provide an update of his plans on Monday, in the joint news conference with Etches.

Enforcement unclear

Like other cities that have required mandatory non-medical or cloth masks be worn when accessing indoor public spaces, Ottawa will be granting exemptions from the new rules.

People with pre-existingmedical conditions, such as asthma, childrenunder twoand people who requireaccommodation under the Ontario Human Rights Codewill not have to wear masks.

"Please be prepared to see some individuals in public without cloth masks and we ask that you please be respectful," said the statement.

How, or even whether, the mask requirement will be enforced is still a major question mark. In Kingston, establishments thatfail to respect the ordercould be finedup to $5,000. In Toronto, fines for violations have not yet been set by local courts, though the city solicitor there expects the figure to be "in the ballpark" of $750 to $1,000.

OC Transpo made masks mandatory on buses, trains and in stations last month, butthe rule isn't being enforced through penalties. Toronto's transit system launched a similar mask-requirement policyon Thursday.

In Quebec,transit officials will be required to bar access to users who refuse to wear a mask after July 27.