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Global rules on foreign direct investment (FDI)
Cross-border acquisitions and investments increasingly trigger foreign direct investment (FDI) screening requirements.
Canada | Publication | April 23, 2021
On Tuesday, April 20, Toronto and Peel Region introduced new orders under the Health Protection and Promotion Act, impacting most physical workplaces operating in those regions. Under the orders—subject to a limited number of exceptions—physical workplaces that report five or more laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases within a period of 14 calendar days may be ordered to close their physical workplaces for at least 10 days. In this update, we provide an overview of the applicable rules and exceptions for both regions.
The Regional Municipality of Peel includes major cities such as Mississauga, Brampton, and the Town of Caledon. On April 20, it issued an order under the Health Protection and Promotion Act, imposing a number of duties on “owners or occupiers of a workplace premises or persons responsible for a business or organization.” The rules under the order will take effect on Friday, April 23, at 12:01 a.m.
When must workplaces temporarily close their physical premises?
Physical workplaces (i.e., not remote workplaces) in the Region of Peel’s geographic area may be ordered to temporarily close by Peel Public Health for at least 10 days where:
And where:
Where these conditions are met, Peel Public Health has authority to issue a notice directing the workplace to close all or parts of the physical workplace premises. In the order, Peel Public Health also reserves the right to require that workplaces take additional interventions as are necessary in the circumstances.
Which workplaces are exempt from closing their physical premises?
The order does not apply to all workplaces. Nothing in the order precludes workplaces from operating remotely (even where workers report cases of COVID-19) because the idea behind the order is to prevent in-person transmission at the physical workplace.
Section 6 of the order lists a number of workplaces specifically exempt from closures relating to COVID 19 outbreaks for five or more infections in the workplace:
Moreover, even where a physical workplace is ordered to close, the order allows “access” to the workplace under limited circumstances, notably for dealing with “critical matters” that cannot be attended to remotely or for accessing goods or supplies.
Other obligations imposed on workplaces with fewer than five cases of COVID-19
The order also imposes duties on physical workplaces that report two or more cases of COVID-19 within a 14 calendar-day period:
Where workplaces report two or more cases, they must take the following measures:
Where a workplace receives notice from Peel Public Health requiring all or parts of the workplace to close, the owners or occupiers of the workplace premises, or persons responsible for the organization, must communicate certain instructions to all workers impacted by the closure. These instructions are specifically set out in the order:
Where a physical workplace is ordered to close following five or more confirmed cases, the public health notice ordering the closure must be posted at entrances.
Like Ontario’s Peel Region, the City of Toronto Health Unit issued a workplace order under the Health Protection and Promotion Act that will take effect Friday, April 23, at 12:01 a.m. With limited exceptions, the order applies to all persons who own, operate, or occupy a workplace in Toronto, as well as workers in those workplaces. Also like in Peel Region, “workplace” means a physical location not work done remotely.
Workplace Closures
The Toronto order is similar to the order issued in Peel Region, and gives Toronto Public Health the authority to require workplaces to close for at least 10 calendar days where:
The Toronto order is slightly broader than the Peel Region order because it includes both “confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19,” while the Peel Region order refers only to “laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases.” “Probable” is not defined.
Like in Peel Region, where the conditions under the Toronto order are met, Toronto Public Health may, in its judgment, issue a notice requiring all or parts of the workplace to close for at least 10 days. Toronto Public Health decides when a closure is needed.
Other obligations imposed on workplaces with cases of COVID-19
The Toronto order imposes other obligations on workplaces:
Which workplaces are exempt from closures?
The Toronto order does not apply to all workplaces. Nothing in the order precludes workplaces from operating remotely and the following workplaces may be exempt:
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Cross-border acquisitions and investments increasingly trigger foreign direct investment (FDI) screening requirements.
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