FOR MEMBERS IN NIAGARA REGION

In our Dealer Alert yesterday we incorrectly advised that dealers in the Grey Zone (which are only dealers in the Niagara Region Public Health area at present) are required to maintain appointment-only interaction with customers and apply test drive rules.

Clarification – Dealers in the Grey Zone category do not have to restrict business operations to appointment-only and the test drive rules do not apply.

 GREY – LOCKDOWN

 Niagara Region Public Health

• 25% capacity limit
• Retailers must post capacity limits
• A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
• Retailers must have passive screening notice for customers and active screening for staff
• Individuals must physically distance and wear a face covering

In all cases, dealers should operate the business or organization in compliance with any advice, recommendations and instructions issued by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health or another public health official on screening individuals, proper use of PPE, disinfecting/cleaning and physical distancing.

MORE REGIONS BACK TO COLOUR FRAMEWORK SOME DEALERS TO MOVE AWAY FROM APPOINTMENT-ONLY SALES AND OTHER RESTRICTIONS

As we advised last week, Ontario is moving more regions back to the colour-coded framework. In light of this, we have seen a return to the health and safety measures in use before Christmas for many regions in Ontario.

https://www.ontario.ca/page/covid-19-response-framework-keeping-ontario-safe-and-open

As of Wednesday, February 10, 2021, Hastings Prince Edward Public Health, Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Public Health, and Renfrew County and District Health Unit returned to the “green” level.

As of today, Tuesday, February 16 at 12:01 a.m., the following regions move back to colour levels again:

 

GREY – LOCKDOWN

Niagara Region Public Health

• By appointment only between 7:00am and 8:00pm and no delivery before or after those hours
• 25% capacity limit
• A safety plan (see below) is required to be prepared and made available upon request
• Retailers must have passive screening for patrons (posted in door or window) and active screening for staff
• Individuals must physically distance and wear a face covering
• Test drives must be limited to no more than 10 minutes with a maximum of two people in the vehicle; if two people not in the same household are present in the vehicle during the test drive, all windows must be open

RED – CONTROL

Chatham-Kent Public Health;
City of Hamilton Public Health Services;
Durham Region Health Department;
Halton Region Public Health;
Middlesex-London Health Unit;
Region of Waterloo Public Health and Emergency Services;
Simcoe-Muskoka District Health Unit;
Southwestern Public Health;
Thunder Bay District Health Unit;
Wellington-Dufferin Guelph Public Health; and
Windsor-Essex County Health Unit

• Open for business but at 50 per cent capacity
• A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
• Retailers must post capacity limits publicly
• Retailers must have passive screening for patrons and active screening for staff
• Line-ups and patrons congregating outside must be managed by venue; 2 metres distance inside and outside; face coverings are required in line

ORANGE – RESTRICT

Brant County Health Unit;
Eastern Ontario Health Unit;
Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit;
Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit;
Huron Perth Public Health;
Lambton Public Health;
Ottawa Public Health;
Porcupine Health Unit; and
Public Health Sudbury and Districts.

• Open for business no capacity restrictions
• Retailers must have passive screening for patrons and active screening for staff
• A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
• Line-ups and patrons congregating outside must be managed by venue; 2 metres distance inside and outside; face coverings are required in line

YELLOW – PROTECT

Algoma Public Health;
Grey Bruce Health Unit;
Northwestern Health Unit; and
Peterborough Public Health

• Open for business no capacity restrictions
• Retailers must have passive screening for patrons and active screening for staff
• A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
• Line-ups and patrons congregating outside must be managed by venue; 2 metres distance inside and outside; face coverings are required in line

GREEN – PREVENT

Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit; and
Timiskaming Health Unit.
As mentioned, Hastings Prince Edward Public Health, Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Public Health, and Renfrew County and District Health Unit remain in the Green Zone.

• Open for business no capacity restrictions
• Retailers must have passive screening for patrons and active screening for staff
• A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
• Line-ups and patrons congregating outside must be managed by venue; 2 metres distance inside and outside; face coverings are required in line

STAY AT HOME – SHUTDOWN

The four remaining public health regions,
Toronto Public Health,
Peel Public Health,
York Region Public Health and;
North Bay Parry Sound District,
remain in shutdown, and the Stay-at-Home order and all existing public health and workplace safety measures will continue to apply to these four public health regions.  This order will remain in place until at least February 22.

GOING FORWARD

After returning to the Framework, public health regions will stay in their level for at least two weeks at which time, the government will assess the impact of public health and workplace safety measures to determine if the regions should stay where they are or move to a different level. Public health regions will move up through the levels, if necessary, based on the set indicators and thresholds outlined in the Framework.

While the province-wide Stay-at-Home order will cease to apply in some regions, everyone is strongly advised to continue to stay at home, avoid social gatherings, minimize travel between areas with different rules, and limit close contacts to their household.

Employers in all industries should continue to make every effort to allow employees to work from home.

In all cases, dealers should operate the business or organization in compliance with any advice, recommendations and instructions issued by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health or another public health official on screening individuals by, among other things,

1. posting (“passive”) signs at all entrances to the premises of the business or organization, in a conspicuous location visible to the public, that inform individuals on how to screen themselves for COVID-19 prior to entering the premises; and
2. actively screening every person who works at the business or organization before they enter the premises of the business or organization.

For further information, please contact your Regional Health authority.

As a guide for Members we have also included, with this Dealer Alert, a suggested sign to post for your door or windows that should be visible to the public. For Safety Plans required by the Province, please visit this link:

https://www.ontario.ca/page/develop-your-covid-19-workplace-safety-plan

Ontario is gradually moving away from the province-wide emergency shut down order to a more regional approach.  We will see a return to the colour-coded health and safety measures that were in use before Christmas.

Unless in a Grey Zone, dealers no longer need to be open by appointment only.

Those in the Grey Zones must continue to limit openings to by appointment only.

The following three regions will be moving to the Green level on Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at 12:01 a.m.

• Hastings Prince Edward Public Health;
• Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Public Health; and
• Renfrew County and District Health Unit.

In all other health regions, the current Stay-at-Home order will be amended and individual orders making it applicable to each public health region will apply.

The Stay-at-Home order will continue to apply to all other public health regions except for Toronto, Peel and York, until Tuesday, February 16, 2021 and dealers will be restricted to appointment only opening until then.

For Toronto, Peel and York regions, the Stay-at-Home order will continue to apply until Monday, February 22, 2021 with appointment only opening for dealers until that time.

Final decisions will be subject to review of the trends in public health indicators at that time.

In addition, the provincial emergency declared under s 7.0.1 of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMPCA) will be allowed to terminate at the end of February 9, 2021.

If in doubt about your local requirements, please contact your regional health authority.

Ontario has announced plans to expand the COVID enforcement blitz.

Moving beyond inspections and enforcement actions at big box stores like Walmart and Costco, the Ontario government plans to visit an expanded range of workplaces across Ontario.

Starting today, more than 300 officers will be supporting these blitzes, and will be visiting a variety of workplaces, including dealers and repair facilities.  The ultimate goal of this blitz is not punishment, but to ensure that the mandatory safeguards required of all essential businesses are being followed, for your safety, the safety of your staff, suppliers and your customers.

Please ensure that you are operating in accordance with the rules that allow you to remain operating.  For dealers, this means following masking and cleaning, safe distancing, appointment only for sales and repairs and test-drive protocols previously reported by the UCDA in earlier Dealer Alerts.  Please see our archives for past Dealers Alerts at https://www.ucda.org/dealer-alerts/

While punishment is not the desired result, dealers need to know that Corporations can be now be fined $1,000 for failing to comply with the orders under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act and the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act. Individuals, including employees and customers, can also be fined $750 for failing to comply with orders under the Acts.

For more serious violations a court can impose fines as high as $100,000 for individuals, and directors and officers of a corporation can be fined up to $500,000. Both could also receive terms of imprisonment of up to one year. The maximum fine for a corporation on conviction of an offence is up to $10,000,000.

For more details, the government’s announcement can be found here

Ontario is once again in a State of Emergency.  This will be the case for at least another 28 days.  Rising COVID-19 case counts and overloaded hospital ICUs have made this move expected by anyone following recent developments. Dealers may be open, by appointment only, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. subject to test drive restrictions, described below. Just after 1:30 p.m. today Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced the State of Emergency and a province-wide stay at home order effective 12:01 a.m. Thursday until further notice. What this means is that everyone should remain at home with exceptions for essential purposes, such as going to the grocery store or pharmacy, accessing health care services, for exercise or for essential work. In addition to limiting outings to essential trips, all businesses must ensure that any employee who can work from home, does work from home. Full details about the new measures can be found HERE More information on remote sales can be found HERE Members may be eligible for relief from the Federal and Provincial Governments: Please visit Federal Information is available HERE and Provincial Information is available HERE Test drives:   If members of the public are permitted to test drive any vehicles, boats or watercraft, the test drive must be limited to no more than 10 minutes, a maximum of two people, including up to one sales representative, may be present in the vehicle, boat or watercraft during the test drive, and if two people who are not members of the same household are present in the vehicle during the test drive, any windows in the vehicle, boat or watercraft must be opened at all times.

With all of Ontario poised to join Toronto, Peel, York, Windsor and Hamilton in the Grey Zone lockdown on December 26, we have been asked about the rules for appointment only selling and test drives.

The government has issued regulations governing dealers and covering these areas as follows:
Dealers may remain open only if they meet the following conditions:

1. Members of the public must only be permitted to enter the premises by appointment.
2. Members of the public are only permitted to be in indoor areas where vehicles and other products are sold or displayed for sale
3. Test drives must comply with the following:

• the test drive must be limited to no more than 10 minutes,
• a maximum of two people, including one sales representative, may be present in the vehicle during the test drive, and
• if two people who are not members of the same household are present in the vehicle during the test drive, all windows in the vehicle must be opened at all times.

These rules are currently in effect for dealers in Toronto, Peel Region, York Region, Hamilton, and Windsor-Essex. They will take effect in the rest of Ontario on December 26, at 12:01 a.m.

These are legal requirements, not recommendations. It’s essential that dealers comply with them for the safety and health of all employees and customers and to avoid potential fines.

ALL OF ONTARIO TO BE LOCKED DOWN DECEMBER 26

HAMILTON IN LOCKDOWN TODAY

TORONTO AND PEEL LOCKDOWN EXTENDED

Hamilton is now in lockdown by order of the Ontario government.

Today Premier Ford announced a Province-wide lockdown, to begin at 12:01 a.m. on December 26. It had previously been reported that the lockdown would begin December 24. It will last for at least 28 days in southern Ontario and 14 days in Northern Ontario.

Toronto and Peel Region, already in lockdown for several weeks, have already seen their lockdown orders extended until at least January 4, 2021. Windsor-Essex and York Region remain in lockdown as well.

Motor vehicle dealers are considered an essential service and may remain operating during the lockdown.

Under the new colour coded system put in place by the Province, “lockdown” or “Grey” zone means:

LOCKDOWN
(Maximum Measures)
Motor vehicle sales permitted to be open for in person shopping
by appointment only and other safety restrictions

Needless to say, social distancing, proper use of PPE, and disinfecting protocols all remain highly necessary and remain in effect throughout the pandemic in all areas of Ontario.

Please do what you can to keep your staff and customers safe and healthy.