Halton Regional Council Asks Province to Update COVID-19 Framework Restrictions on Restaurant Indoor Dining Capacities

Halton Regional Council
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At our meeting this past Wednesday (Feb. 17), Halton Regional Council unanimously approved a motion related to the hard caps the Province has imposed on the restaurant and food service industry to help curb the spread of COVID-19.Regional Council is asking the Province to update its COVID-19 Response Framework to allow restaurant capacity for indoor dining to be based on percentage of square footage (as opposed to hard cap numbers) and the ability of a restaurant to safely serve his customers.To read the full resolution, click here: Regional Council Motion on Food Service Industry_Feb 17 2021.MY TAKE:I'm glad Halton Regional Council was unified in this message. Basing capacity maximums on a hard number cap -- as opposed to percentage of square footage -- doesn't make sense and isn't fair for local businesses who have a large enough space to safely allow more than 10 people for indoor dining. This is particularly true when the Province changed its Framework to allow retail stores to operate on a percentage capacity and not a hard cap on numbers. We need to do everything we can to help ensure our small local businesses can weather this storm and will be there for us when we're on the other side of this.—PLEASE NOTE: To stay updated on what the City of Burlington is doing regarding COVID-19, please visit the dedicated pages burlington.ca/coronavirus (and subscribe) and bit.ly/mayormeedwardCOVID19updates, and our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page — bit.ly/COVID19BurlingtonFAQ that are updated as new information becomes available.A consolidated page for information and updates on the work of the provincial Ministers’ COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Task Force is available at bit.ly/COVIDVaccineUpdates.Halton Region has also created a dedicated COVID-19 Vaccine webpage for up to date information on the status of our COVID19 vaccination program.A Burlington COVID-19 Task Force has been created to help support our community through this unprecedented emergency — updates will be provided at burlington.ca/COVID19taskforce.To report an incident of non-compliance with provincial emergency orders, please contact the Halton Regional Police Service COVID-19 Hotline: 905-825-4722.We’ve also created a dedicated page to feature the local organizations and businesses that have inspired us during the COVID-19 pandemic by taking action to support our community in new and creative ways — head to bit.ly/covidwallofinspiration.HELPFUL RESOURCES & RELATED LINKS:

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