RCC’s statement regarding the end of pandemic restrictions for Ontario’s retailers

TORONTO – March 9, 2022

Retail Council of Canada welcomes today’s announcement in Ontario that all businesses will return to a sense of normalcy beginning March 21, 2022 after more than two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The way we live our lives has fundamentally changed over the past two years and we understand that both retailers and consumers will experience varying degrees of comfort regarding the speed in which our “old ways” are embraced. As such, RCC recently conducted a survey of its members to better understand how they plan to handle the unwinding of mandatory public health requirements, particularly around masking, recognizing that each store is different and may have specific customer and associate needs. Our survey found that:

• All retailers will support staff if they choose to wear masks even if they are not required to do so.
• Many retailers will maintain messaging – signs or otherwise – indicating that customers may continue to wear masks, but that they are not required to do so.
• Many will also continue to provide sanitizers and other health and safety tools, such as plexiglass shields at cash desks, for customers as a means of continuing to provide added protection to their associates and customers.

After more than two years of responding to rapidly changing measures across the country, retailers are very experienced at implementing and adapting their stores to best address their unique operational requirements and to keep customers and employees safe. At the end of the day, retailers are all about offering the best customer experience and our members are eager to see customers and staff interact as they once did.

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About Retail Council of Canada

Retail is Canada’s largest private-sector employer with over 2 million Canadians working in our industry. The sector annually generates over $78 billion in wages and employee benefits. Core retail sales were over $400B in 2020. Our members represent more than two-thirds of core retail sales in the country. RCC is a not-for-profit industry-funded association that represents more than 45,000 small, medium and large retail businesses in all formats, including department, grocery, specialty, discount, independent retailers, and online merchants in every community across the country. dev-rcc.pantheonsite.io

For media interviews, contact Michelle Wasylyshen at mwasylyshen@retailcouncil.org