Ontario is taking additional steps to make life easier for Ontarians amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
As heard live on AM800, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced changes to allow for more flexibility on deliveries for retailers.
He says municipal by-laws prevent deliveries from warehouses to grocery stores at certain hours, but legislation will allow the deliveries to take place so retailers can re-stock their shelves.
"So we are going to bring temporary changes to allow them to accept deliveries 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so people can continue to get the essentials they need," says Ford.
The government also suspended landlords from issuing eviction orders on their tenants, saying people shouldn't have to worry about how they are going to pay their rent. With ford adding, "I've directed that all evictions order be suspended until further notice. We want to make sure you and your family can stay in your home in this difficult time so you can put your health and the health of others first."
Also as part of the Ontario’s enhanced measures, the Ministry of Transportation and Ministry of Health, is extending the validity period of driving products, services and health cards.
These changes reduce the need for in-person visits to ServiceOntario, International Registration Plan offices and DriveTest centres during the COVID-19 outbreak, helping to promote social distancing and contain the spread of the virus.
The new regulations include extensions for driver licences, licence plate validation, Ontario Photo Cards, and Commercial Vehicle Operator Registration certificates, among others. Expiring and expired health cards will continue to provide access to health services.
"We have a responsibility to Ontarians to ensure that we take every possible step to enable social distancing and stop the spread of COVID-19," said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. "By implementing these additional measures, Ontarians can avoid putting themselves at risk and will continue to have access to the services that they need, when they need them."
The Ministry of Transportation is also automatically extending the due dates for medical or vision reports, which both reduces the need for in-person visits, but also ensures that patients do not need to visit their doctors, helping the health system to focus on containing COVID-19.
The extensions will be in place until advice of Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health and public health officials state that the current situation has improved.
The Ministry of Transportation will continue to deliver time-critical services, including Motor Vehicle Inspection Station Stock orders and Single-Trip Oversize/Overweight permits.
— With files from AM800's Teresinha Medeiros