Ontario Announces Plan to Safely Reopen the Province

ONTARIO ANNOUNCES PLAN TO SAFELY REOPEN ONTARIO

On Friday, October 22, the Ontario Government unveiled A Plan to Reopen Ontario: Managing COVID-19 for the Long Term. Once again CAEM attended a technical briefing prior to the announcement and the presentation with pertinent info is included here.  You can find the Order in Council outlining the changes to the regulations here.

The key elements from the announcement are as follows:

  • Effective October 25, all capacity limits will be removed in indoor spaces where proof of vaccination is required – including meeting and event spaces as well as conference and convention centres.   This means the 2m physical distancing is no longer required.  This includes the 2m distancing in seating areas and food and beverage areas. 
  • Active screening of patrons continues to be required as does contract tracing of patrons.  The mask mandate for indoor spaces also remains in place. 
  • Proof of vaccination will be required in meeting and event spaces and conference and convention centres until March 28, 2022. 
  • The government has set an intention to have all regulated measures to be lifted by March 28, 2022. Lifting of vaccine certificate requirements and any other public health and workplace safety, will be guided by ongoing assessment of the metrics that have been monitored throughout the pandemic.  The Chief Medical Officer of Health will assess metrics over a period of time (e.g. 21 day period), to conduct a risk assessment in order to advise on the lifting of the measures.  Lifting of requirements will occur at the planned date unless metrics are deteriorating.
  • Responses to any surges in COVID-19 cases will be handled locally or regionally and the response will vary based on the local context and conditions.  In the event of worsening indicators provincewide, a provincial response will need to be considered.  Sample measures that maybe implemented include: reintroducing capacity limits and/or physical distancing, reducing gathering limits, applying public health and workplace safety measures in specific settings where transmission is occurring and recommend or require work from home.

Below is a graphic illustrating the Ontario government's cautious reopening timeline.  Click on the image to view.

CAEM welcomes this announcement, particularly the lifting of the physical distancing requirement for meeting and event spaces.  As always we will keep you apprised of any changes or updates as they become available.

ATTENTION CEMs LOOKING TO RECERTIFY

The International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) has a discount offer available for global CEMs to attend the virtual/digital program for Expo! Expo! (December 7-9) and the virtual sessions are eligible for recertification credits. 

Any global CEM (outside the U.S. who is not an IAEE member) can attend for the member price of $299 USD – the regular price for a non-member to attend is $499 USD.

The digital experience will include live streams of the Opening General Session, Day Two General Session and new Mobile Sessions, which highlight various exhibitors with in-booth presentations. Digital only attendees will have access to 30-minute pre-recorded presentations from professionals who will be live to answer questions during their sessions. Finally, the in-person Tech Theater sessions will be recorded and housed on the IAEE Expo! Expo! digital platform. 

You can register here.  You will be asked for your CEM member number to register and then you will complete the registration form.  At the end of the registration process you will see a Promo Code field where you will enter the code CEMVIRTUAL.  This will make your registration $299 USD and you will then be able to finalize your registration with payment. 

Contact the CAEM office with any questions you may have at info@caem.ca