Article

Government Extends Emergency Orders Until June 19, 2020

The Ontario government has extended all emergency orders under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, 1990 until June 19, 2020 (the previous date was June 9, 2020). This measure has been adopted to protect frontline care workers and the public, as the province gradually reopens. Orders that have been extended until June 19, 2020 include (but are not limited to):

  • the closure of establishments
  • organized public events and (certain) gatherings
  • electronic service
  • closure of places of non-essential business
  • closure of outdoor recreational amenities
  • signatures in wills and powers of attorney
  • work deployment measures for health care workers
  • and many others..

For a complete list of emergency orders that have been extended, please consult the Government of Ontario’s press release.

The government has also extended the suspension of all limitation periods and procedural time periods under section 7.1 of the Act until September 11, 2020. The relevant amendments can be found here.

Our readers will find that one significant change (aside from the extension of the dates) is decoupling the suspension of the limitation and procedural time periods from the state of emergency. This is in line with what we have heard recently from the Ministry of the Attorney General. The basis for this “decoupling” is to provide some certainty to all affected stakeholders and to reflect the fact that the length of the suspension may need to be longer than the duration of the emergency order (partially due to concerns for self-represented litigants).

The Ministry has expressed that, moving forward, any further extension of the suspension will be based on “all relevant factors” and not just the state of the emergency.

Stay tuned to Condo Law News to keep up to date on the latest developments in condominium law!