Barrie’s mayor reacts as the province lifts more restrictions
Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman is calling the province's plan to manage COVID-19 "great news."
The plan will see capacity restrictions lifted for settings where proof of vaccine is required to enter.
This includes restaurants, bars and gyms, which have been the hardest hit since the beginning of the pandemic.
"They've waited for this day a long time," says Jeff Lehman. "I think a lot of people were asking themselves, why can you have the 20,000 people at a hockey game, and you can't have full capacity in a restaurant."
According to Lehman, several restaurants across the city have told him it didn't make sense financially to operate under strict capacity limits to support their cost base.
"Any business that depends on the number of customers that you're able to put through, they need the capacity," says Lehman.
The changes come into effect starting Mon., Oct. 25 at 12:01 a.m.
It will see capacity limits and physical distancing measures also lifted for personal care services, such as barbershops, salons and tattoo parlours, and indoor amusement parks and museums just as long as they choose to require proof of vaccination.
Capacity is also expected to increase at city-run recreational and fitness centres, such as the Holly Community Centre and Allandale Arena.
While Lehman says the city did get a sense the announcement from the province was coming, he says the city-run centres may not be ready when the changes go into effect.
"They can't pivot on one day," he said. "It may not be Monday that all the changes are made, but I'm quite confident that we'll be able to adjust next week," he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and their religion
Former U.S. president Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and hate 'their religion,' igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.
Freddie Mercury's home is on the market for first time since 1980 minus his 'exquisite clutter'
Freddie Mercury's sanctuary in London, where he lived the last decade of his life, is on sale for the first time in nearly half a century -- minus his "exquisite clutter."
'The lost season': Winter comes to a close as Canada's warmest on record
The warmest winter on record could have far-reaching effects on everything from wildfire season to erosion, climatologists say, while offering a preview of what the season could resemble in the not-so-distant future unless steps are taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions.