Announcement

Bronte & Provincial State of Emergency

With stay-at-home orders in place, encourage your customers to pause their shopping, except for essentials, and stay home right now. This the right thing to do to help control the spread of the pandemic in our community, and aligns with the Province’s directive.  

However, Ontario’s declared State of Emergency in effective to February 11 continues to allow in-person shopping for essentials and curbside, takeout or delivery for non-essentials.

Help your customers continue to support your business while you – and they – stay home:

  • Sell gift certificates online for use later
  • Ask them to write a review on Google or Yelp – people read these!
  • Call your customers to check how they’re doing; they’ll remember your kindness
  • Provide delivery service where possible vs curbside pickup
  • Update your website/Google listings with new hours, protocols and messaging

What Stay-at-Home Orders Mean

The new stay-at-home order requires everyone to only leave home for essential purposes, such as going to the grocery store or pharmacy, accessing health care services, for exercise or for essential work.

  • All non-essential retail stores, including hardware stores, alcohol retailers, and those offering curbside pickup or delivery, must open no earlier than 7 a.m. and close no later than 8 p.m. The restricted hours of operation do not apply to stores that primarily sell food, pharmacies, gas stations, convenience stores, and restaurants for takeout or delivery.
  • Individuals are required to wear a mask or face covering in the indoor areas of businesses or organizations that are open.
  • Wearing a mask or face covering is now recommended outdoors when you can’t physically distance more than two metres.
  • All businesses must ensure that any employee who can work from home, does.

Outdoor organized public gatherings and social gatherings are further restricted to a limit of five people. This is consistent with the lockdown during the first wave of COVID-19 in the spring and will allow individuals and families to enjoy time outdoors safely. Read more.