Quebec announces it will reopen retail, construction and manufacturing starting next week
Quebec announced its plan to reopen businesses Tuesday, with retail, construction and manufacturing companies set to open their doors next week.
Premier Franiois Legault said the numbers of new cases have been stable for the past two weeks, excluding those in long-term care homes. Based on this, the province has decided to reopen the businesses whose closures have affected the economy the most.
Quebec has had close to 25,000 cases of COVID-19 to date, and more than 1,500 deaths, according to the government's website. Eighty-four of those deaths were announced Monday, alongside 875 new cases.
Legault said progress will be monitored closely, and businesses will close again if there is a surge in the virus.
"Our challenge is to gradually restart the economy without restarting the pandemic," he said.
Retail businesses, but not stores in shopping malls with no outside entrances, can open May 4, except for those in Montreal, which can reopen May 11. This includes retail supply chain businesses. All construction activity can resume May 11, but related administration work must continue to be done remotely.
Manufacturing companies can resume May 11, with strict limits. Staff are limited to 50 workers plus 55 per cent of employees exceeding 50 workers. On May 25, these restrictions will be lifted.
As well, on Monday, Legault announced that elementary schools and daycares outside of Montreal will begin reopening May 11 and in the city on May 19.
Ontario's plan, announced Monday, is very different from Quebec's. As Premier Doug Ford put it, it's "not a calendar, it's a road map," meaning there is no specific date set yet for the plan to be set in motion.
Ontario's three-step "road map" begins with the opening of certain workplaces that have the ability to modify operations according to social distancing protocols. This would include reopening public parks, loosening restrictions around funerals, and allowing more businesses to do curbside pickup or delivery.
As well, non-urgent surgeries would begin again, especially cancer surgeries.
The second phase would see more businesses reopen, including retail businesses and some workplaces, as well as allowing some public gatherings.
The third would open all workplaces and relax rules on public gatherings further, though Ford said it could be a while before the largest events, such as sporting events and concerts, would be allowed.
Each stage would be two to four weeks long, depending on what the public officer of health deems appropriate based on the number of new cases.
According to Anita McGahan, a professor at the U of T's Rotman School of Management, the two provinces' approaches reflect one difficult truth: The economy will have to reopen before a vaccine is available.
"This is a long-term problem," said McGahan. She said the Ontario approach is focused on medical criteria, while the Quebec approach is focused on economic relief. Each comes with its own set of risks, she said.
In Ontario, the province will have to inject more money into the economy through rent relief and other help for laid-off workers and closed businesses, she said.
In Quebec, reopening the economy earlier runs the risk of a surge in the virus. But if Ontario's economy is closed for too long, McGahan said people may start skirting the rules - again, causing a surge in the virus.
She said it may seem simple to criticize Quebec for reopening schools and some businesses earlier than Ontario, even though Quebec has the highest deaths per capita. But she said it's important to remember that the news will be welcome for lower-income workers, who are feeling the economic effects of the pandemic hardest.
"There's risks no matter which direction you go," she said.
David Soberman, a professor in the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, said he's more concerned about school reopening than businesses, especially since there is only a month and a half left until school closes for the summer.
He said it's much harder to keep children six feet apart than it is workers in a factory, and is concerned this may put their parents, grandparents and teachers at risk.
By contrast, opening retail businesses seems "pretty reasonable," he said.
Overall, Soberman said Ontario - surprisingly, to him - has been more conservative in its approach to reopening the economy than Quebec has.
He thinks the provinces should be working together to reopen the economy not sector by sector, but municipality by municipality - starting rurally, and working up to the more populous cities.
With files from Canadian Press
Rosa Saba is a Calgary-based reporter for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @rosajsaba