Ontario Meeting & Event Spaces Working Group

In November 2020, CAEM's President, Bianca Kennedy, was appointed Co-Chair of the Ontario Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism & Culture Industries Meeting & Event Spaces Working Group.

In December 2020, this Working Group submitted a document  with recommended changes to the  Guidance for Meeting and Event Spaces document, released last year by the Ontario Government.  The most significant change proposed by the group, was a phased re-opening plan, in accordance with each of the 5 zones of public health measures (Prevent, Protect, Restrict, Control, Lockdown), based on a percentage of capacity model (rather than a set  number of people), allowing for larger capacities as areas move into Restrict, Protect and Prevent zones.  The latest update, received in late March from the Assistant Deputy Minister, is that the revised capacity limit recommendations are under consideration. The Public Health Measures Table (PHMT), which advises the Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) is now discussing this matter, but there has been a delay due to worsening COVID-19 trends.  Although the pandemic situation  is still unsettled, particularly with the variants of concern, the province is making progress with vaccine roll-out and work is underway to carefully consider next steps.

In early May 2021, the Working Group submitted an updated recovery plan – addressing not only re-opening capacity limits, but also the need for more direct financial support for the sector.  These documents are available below and we encourage industry stakeholders who operate or support events in Ontario to download and share these documents widely with your network.   CAEM further encourages you to take a moment to send these to your local MPPs as well as Federal MPs and request a meeting to discuss.

Fact Sheet: Meeting & Event Industry
Federal Recovery Asks: Meeting & Event Industry
Provincial Recovery Asks: Meeting & Event Sector