Province unleashes army of inspectors as part of workplace education and enforcement blitz

Inspectors to focus on areas of high COVID concentration

Queen’s Park has launched a new push to make sure every workplace in Ontario is in line with provincial health and safety guidelines.

A series of workplace education and enforcement campaigns has been launched, designed to ensure businesses across the province are adhereing to these rules, supporting current efforts by police and municipal by-law officers in enforcing COVID-19 restrictions.

The campaigns are comprised of a series of blitzes in areas of high COVID-19 concentration, carried out by an army of some 200 provincial offenses officers; the province says three have already been conducted. Almost 1,000 workplaces were visited, and the province reports there were no tickets handed out; all contraventions of the rules were resolved with assistance from provincial offenses officers conducting the pop-up inspections.

“The vast majority of Ontario businesses are following the rules and protecting their workers and customers ― and we thank them for doing their part,” said Premier Ford. “We’re deploying an army of inspectors to help support our businesses through education and feedback on their safety plans. For the bad actors who are intentionally breaking the rules, I’m providing a fair warning. We’ll find you and slap you with a big fine. It’s that simple.”

During each visit, officers provide business owners with guidance on how to operate safely during the pandemic and comply with public health requirements under the Reopening Ontario Act. If a person or business is found to be flouting the Act, they could be ticketed with a fine of $750, while the maximum fine for a corporation convicted of an offense under the act could face a fine as high as $10,000,000.

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