Ontario premier, health minister speak as mask mandates set to be dropped

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, Christine Elliott, will be making an announcement at 10 a.m. Following that, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore will provide an update on the pandemic at 11 a.m.

CBC News will carry both news conferences live.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Christine Elliott are set to make an announcement this morning, as CBC News has learned the province will drop most COVID-19 mask mandates — including in schools, restaurants and stores — across the province on March 21.

Two sources with the province's Progressive Conservative government confirmed the information, first reported by the Toronto Star, Tuesday night.

Shortly after Ford and Elliott's announcement, Ontario's top doctor is also set to provide an update on how the province plans to "live with and manage COVID-19" at 11 a.m.

The news conference will replace what was to be Dr. Kieran Moore's final planned pandemic briefing, which was originally scheduled for Thursday.

Dr. Peter Jüni, who heads Ontario's COVID-19 science advisory table, said "it's too early to tell" if removing mask mandates is the right move at this time.​

However, he said Ontarians have done well when it comes to masking and said he hopes many will continue to wear them — adding he will continue to do so himself.

​"There's a lot of solidarity going on," Jüni told CBC Radio's Metro Morning on Wednesday.

"For the majority of us, masks are not a big deal." 

In a letter to city council, Toronto's medical officer of health also recommended that the city's mask bylaw expire when mask requirements in the Reopening Ontario Act are revoked or amended.

"Toronto is at a dramatically different point in the pandemic compared to when the Mask Bylaw came into effect," said Dr. Eileen de Villa in the letter.

While the city may no longer enforce the mask bylaw, de Villa noted that lifting masking requirements does not preclude people from wearing a mask.

"Toronto Public Health continues to recommend wearing well-fitted, high-quality masks, particularly in crowded indoor spaces with limited ventilation, amongst other steps that Torontonians can take to protect themselves and reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission, such as accessing their third vaccine dose, practicing physical distancing, and participating in activities outdoors where possible," the letter reads.