Chris Glover MPP, Spadina–Fort York

Government of Ontario
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COVID-19 Update April 14

Published on April 14, 2021

Hot Spots in Spadina-Fort York

Currently, the "hot spot" postal codes in our riding are:

M5A, M5V, M6K

  • People ages 50+ (born 1971 or earlier) living in M5A can book a vaccine at St. Michael's.
  • People ages 50+ (born 1971 or earlier) living in M6K can book a vaccine at St. Joseph's.  

Click here for information on eligibility and how to book.

  • People ages 50+ in all hot spot postal codes, can book vaccination appointments at City-run immunization clinics.

Click here to book a vaccine at a Mass Vaccination Clinic.

  • UHN ANNOUNCEMENT: UHN has temporarily paused registration to people ages 18-49 living in M5V due to overwhelming response. Anyone already registered will be contacted by UHN or Ontario Health when an appointment is available.

Vaccine for People 18+ in Hot Spots

There has been some confusion around how the younger age group in hot spot areas can access vaccines. Currently, those 18 years of age and older living in hot spot neighbourhoods can only receive a vaccine at a pop-up or mobile clinic when it is launched. Locations of the clinics will be communicated through local networks in order to try and target just those people who live in the area. We are working with the office of Councillor Joe Cressy to receive local information on mobile clinics. Please note that anyone who goes to a mass immunization clinic without an appointment will be turned away.

Vaccine for People 50+ in Hot Spot Postal Codes

Residents aged 50 or over living in COVID-19 hot spot postal codes can book vaccination appointments at City of Toronto mass immunization clinics through Ontario's online and telephone booking system.

You can access the online booking system here: Ontario.ca/bookvaccine

Hot spot areas are neighbourhoods identified by the Province of Ontario. Below is a chart showing all the hot spot postal codes:

Vaccine for Education Workers / Mobile Units

  • All education workers in high-risk neighbourhoods in Toronto and Peel Region, and those who work with students with special needs, are eligible to receive a vaccine.
  • Mobile vaccine teams and pop-up clinics are being organized to administer vaccines in high-risk congregate settings, residential buildings, faith-based locations, large employers, and in hot spot neighbourhoods to individuals aged 18 or over.

For more information on hot spot postal codes, please click here.

When booking an appointment, you will be asked for information from your green Ontario health card, birth date, postal code and email address and/or phone number.

People who still have a red and white health card, or who require assistance with booking, can call and book through the Provincial Vaccine Information Line at 1-888-999-6488.

Vaccine Booking Information

AstraZeneca Pharmacy Vaccine Program

  • Residents aged 55 and older can book an appointment to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine at select pharmacies. In order to book, you must have a valid Ontario OHIP card, or other form of valid government-issued identification.

The province is pausing the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for those under 55, following NACI’s recommendations while it waits for more information on the vaccine and its effects on younger people.

Click here for booking information and pharmacy sites.

City-Run Mass Vaccination Clinics

  • Residents aged 60 and older (born in 1961 or earlier), and those aged 50 and older in hot spot postal codes, can start booking vaccination appointments at City-run immunization clinics.

Click here to book a vaccine at a Mass Vaccination Clinic.

Or call the Provincial Vaccine Information Line at 1-888-999-6488 (TTY 1-866-797-0007).

Residents with High-Risk Conditions / Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities

Residents with highest-risk and high-risk conditions can now book an appointment at Sunnybrook and North York General. This list includes:

  • Organ transplant recipients
  • Hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients
  • People with neurological diseases in which respiratory function may be compromised (for example, motor neuron disease, myasthenia gravis, multiple sclerosis)
  • Haematological malignancy diagnosed within the last year
  • Kidney disease with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) under 30
  • Obesity (BMI over 40)
  • Other treatments causing immunosuppression (for example, chemotherapy, immunity-weakening medications)
  • Intellectual or developmental disabilities (for example, Down Syndrome)

Please only book a vaccine appointment if you meet this eligibility criteria. Please note you may be asked for proof of your eligibility when you arrive.

Booking information here for Sunnybrook.

Booking information here for North York General.

Transportation for Seniors/Vulnerable Residents

  • The City of Toronto announced the Vaccine Equity Transportation Plan to help ensure vulnerable residents and seniors can access COVID-19 vaccinations by making it easier to travel to clinics. This program is intended for those who have limited transportation options or who cannot afford transportation to vaccination appointments. This program is available now for limited appointments, but will continue to be expanded over the coming weeks as additional resources and capacity become available.

To book a ride:

People who receive social assistance may be eligible for medical transportation funds to help cover costs of travel to receive their COVID-19 vaccination. Social assistance recipients should contact their caseworker to access transportation funds they may be eligible for.

Need assistance?

  • For Step-by-Step Instructions on how to book, please click this link.
  • People can also call 1-888-385-1910 for assistance to complete pre-registration forms and book appointments at local vaccine clinics operated by participating hospitals and OHTs.

Vaccine Assistance for Seniors and Homebound Persons

Our office is working with the Spadina-Fort York Community Care Program (@spafycc) to set up a system to assist seniors, homebound persons and people without tech access to register for their vaccines. Spafycc is reaching out to residents by phone, but if know someone who needs assistance, please email [email protected].

Volunteers welcome! If you are interested in volunteering to help with this vaccine registration program or our community food program, please sign up at: https://tinyurl.com/spafyccvolunteer.

Homebound Persons

If you are a homebound person receiving care through a Primary Care Provider, Family Health Team, Home or Community Care or Community Support Services or Agencies, please contact your provider to learn whether they are able to offer in-home vaccination. Many teams are beginning to organize or being supported to offer in-home vaccination and will begin to reach out to their patients and/or clients in the coming weeks. If your provider is not able to offer at-home vaccination, they will place your name onto a list for at-home vaccination.

If you are a homebound person who DOES NOT HAVE a Primary Care Provider, Family Health Team, Home or Community Care or Community Support Services, please contact the Toronto Seniors Helpline. The Toronto Seniors Helpline will be available to support homebound people who are 18-65 years old, as well as seniors. They can be contacted at 416-217-2077 or by web chat following instruction at https://torontoseniorshelpline.ca/web-chat/

Schools to Stay Closed after April Break

The Ontario government has made the decision to move elementary and secondary schools to remote learning following the April break until further notice. All publicly funded and private elementary and secondary schools in the province are to move to teacher-led remote learning when students return from the April break on April 19, 2021. Private schools operating in-person this week are to transition to remote learning by April 15, 2021. 

The decision was made this weekend after the province posted a record-breaking number of COVID-19 and intensive care admissions. Data will be assessed on an ongoing basis and health officials will be consulted to determine when it will be safe to resume in-person learning. The announcement to keep schools closed comes just a day after Education Minister Stephen Lecce issued a letter to parents insisting that schools would remain open while the province is under a stay-at-home order.

Childcare for non-school aged children will remain open, before and after school programs will be closed and free emergency child care for the school-aged children of eligible health care and frontline workers will be provided. To protect the most vulnerable, boards will make provisions for continued in-person support for students with special education needs who require additional support that cannot be accommodated through remote learning.

Ontario Enacts Emergency Stay-at-Home Order

Starting Thursday, April 8 at 12:01 am, the Province is enacting a third provincial emergency and stay-at-home order for 4 weeks. The order requires all Ontarians to remain at home except for essential purposes such as grocery shopping, accessing healthcare services (including COVID-19 vaccinations), work that cannot be done remotely and exercise close to home with only those from one’s household. This comes as a result of rapidly increasing case rates, hospitalizations, and ICU occupancy threatening to overwhelm the healthcare system.

Retail

  • Non-essential retailers limited to curbside pick-up and delivery, via appointment, between the hours of 7 am and 8 pm, with delivery of goods to patrons permitted between 6:00 am and 9:00 pm, and other restrictions;
  • Shopping malls limited to curbside pick-up and delivery, via appointment, with one single designated location inside the shopping mall, and designated locations outside the shopping mall;
  • Discount and big box stores restricted to grocery items, pet care supplies, household cleaning supplies, pharmaceutical items, health care items, and personal care items only;
  • The following stores can operate for in-person retail by appointment only and subject to a 25% capacity limit and restricting allowable hours of operation to between 7 am and 8 pm with the delivery of goods to patrons permitted between 6 am and 9 pm:
    • Safety supply stores;
    • Businesses that primarily sell, rent or repair assistive devices, aids or supplies, mobility devices, aids or supplies or medical devices, aids or supplies;
    • Rental and leasing services including automobile, commercial and light industrial machinery and equipment rental;
    • Optical stores that sell prescription eyewear to the public;
    • Businesses that sell motor vehicles, boats and other watercraft;
    • Vehicle and equipment repair and essential maintenance and vehicle and equipment rental services; and
    • Retail stores operated by a telecommunications provider or service, which may only permit members of the public to enter the premises to purchase a cellphone or for repairs or technical support.
  • Outdoor garden centres and plant nurseries, and indoor greenhouses permitted to operate with a 25% capacity limit and a restriction on hours of operation to between 7 am and 8 pm;
  • Golf courses are permitted to remain open.

Residential Evictions

An emergency order means that residential evictions will also be halted.

Latest Developments

Housing and Homelessness Bill

Despite universal endorsement from housing & health experts, residents, business owners and non-profit advocates, the Government voted down my motion, once again failing to take responsibility or action on this homelessness crisis. They offered no alternative, or plan to resolve the crisis we see in our parks and streets here in Toronto, and in many places across the province. It is unfortunate, but not unsurprising, as this comes right after the latest Ontario budget revealed there were no new housing announcements coming from the Province. Read and share our full media statement here.

I’d like to thank the many of you who sent in comments in support of my homelessness & housing motion. Here’s a short clip from the debate where I pointed out the Government is misleading people with funding numbers, rather than showing compassion and voting to improve the situation. Over the next week we will post excerpts from the debate. Meanwhile, here are some items you can view & share:

You can also show your support by signing our petitions to Stop Homelessness, create Rent Subsidies, enable Rent Controls, and point out that Everyone Deserves a Home.

As I’ve said before, so much more is needed to resolve this crisis – from better access to mental health resources and rehab treatment, to a living wage for those on disability programs. Echoing and amplifying the recommendations of affordable housing and mental health experts in the province is just a start. We will continue to fight for an end to the affordable housing and homelessness crisis. The solutions are there – the political will from the Government is not. We will change that. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or wish to join our homelessness working group.

Small and Medium-Sized Businesses

  • Ontario Small Business Support Grant Feedback

The Ontario Small Business Support Grant has provided financial relief to some businesses. I also know, from conversations I've had with many business owners, that businesses were left out by the current criteria and that the amount of relief is not adequate for Toronto’s commercial rents and taxes.

My colleague, MPP Ian Arthur, is the NDP Critic for Small Businesses. He is conducting a survey to get business owners’ feedback on the grant program and how it can be improved. We will collate the responses and use them to advocate for increased small/medium sized business supports. 

If you want to provide your feedback, click this link.

  • Ontario Small Business Support Grant Funding

The Ontario government announced it was providing additional support to eligible small businesses. They explained that “confirmed eligible recipients of the Ontario Small Business Support Grant will automatically receive a second payment equal to the amount of their first payment, for minimum total support of $20,000 up to a maximum of $40,000.” 

To check eligibility and apply for the grant, please click here.

  • Resources for Small Businesses

Sign up for BusinessTO News, a weekly newsletter that focuses on available resources and supports to help mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on Toronto businesses. Learn about the current health situation, changes to City services, resources, and economic support. 

Upcoming free webinars:

eCommerce 101: What, Why, How
More consumers than ever before are turning to online shopping for greater convenience, safety, and variety. In this webinar, you will learn the basic steps to set up an online store.
Tuesday, April 6, 10 – 11:30 a.m.  Register here

WSIB: Laws & Regulations for Small Businesses in These Challenging Times
Learn from a Workplace Safety and Insurance Board consultant about how to keep your workplace healthy and safe, and in compliance with health and safety laws.
Wednesday, April 14, 9:30 a.m. – 11 a.m.  Register here

Click here for more upcoming webinars

Budget 2021 Highlights

The province released its 2021 Budget Ontario's Action Plan: Protecting People's Health and Our Economy. This budget was a chance to give people help and hope for the future — to urgently invest in affordable housing, our students and schools. Here are some of the highlights:

Education, Childcare and Post-Secondary

  • The COVID-19 Child Benefit will be doubled to $400 per child and $500 per child with special needs.
  • One‐time top‐up for CARE tax credit recipients equal to 20% of their 2021 credit entitlements.
  • No replenishment of school board reserves, or commitment to extend COVID-19 funding for smaller class sizes, hiring more staff - we expect teacher and other education worker layoffs as a result.
  • School repair funding will remain at $1.4 billion this year, the bare minimum to keep schools operational, while the $16.3 billion backlog accrued over the last 16 years remains untouched.
  • Tuition freeze in the university sector is continued, with access to OSAP expanded for some students at Indigenous Institutions and those in micro-credit programs.

Small Business

  • Another round of the Ontario Small Business Support Grant payments to eligible recipients. The government says that 120,000 small businesses will receive one additional payment between $10,000-$20,000 (depending on what they were approved for in the first round) and will be automatically entitled to the second payment. Note this does not change the eligibility requirements which have kept a number of businesses from accessing these funds in the first place.
  • No extended tax deferral periods for businesses that were significantly impacted by the second shutdown or small business tax forgiveness.
  • No insurance relief for businesses struggling to access P&C insurance due to lack of availability and/or skyrocketing rates

Housing and Transit

  • The government’s five priority transit projects in the GTHA remain unfunded. The government said it would cover the federal government’s deemed share, but it has been nearly two years since the priority projects were announced in the 2019-20 budget, and the government has not closed this major funding gap.
  • No new housing announcements were included in the budget, while our city and community face an affordable housing and homelessness crisis. Investments in social housing will continue to decline as federal-provincial agreements expire.
  • The government is once again postponing the property tax reassessment process. Government will consult with municipalities about when to resume this reassessment process.

Environment and Climate Change

  • After significant cuts in the first year of the current government, Environment Ministry funding is flatlined compared to previous years.
  • $3.9 million over three years to enhance the provincial park experience by using technology and free day-use entry to parks Monday to Thursday,  May 1 to September 2 this year.
  • $56.4 million over four years for “Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network” (OVIN) - with details of what this looks like to come.
  • No mention of combating climate change and no line item included for climate-change initiatives.
  • No restoration of Conservation Authorities or walkback of Ministerial Zoning Orders.

Health and Long-Term Care

  • There is no commitment to wage increases for underpaid, overworked Personal Support Workers beyond June 30, 2021.
  • Despite the many deaths and failure to keep long-term care residents safe during the pandemic, the government continues to refuse to reinstate comprehensive Resident Quality Inspections in long-term care.
  • No commitment to phase out “for profit” long-term care homes.
  • As announced previously, there will be an additional $933 million over four years, for a total of $2.6 billion, to support building 30,000 new long‐term care beds.
  • Investing up to $246 million over the next four years to improve living conditions in existing homes, including ensuring homes have air conditioning.
  • $4.9 billion over four years ($500 million in 2021-22) to increase average daily direct care to 4 hours per day, and hire 27,000 positions including PSWs and nurses.
  • Some support to accelerate the training of PSWs and nurses for long-term care including a training program that is publicly funded, tuition‐free. There are also some new grants coming to attract more PSWs and nurses to Ontario.
  • Accelerated Build Pilot Program - building 4 new long-term care homes on hospital-owned land in the GTA, through a fast tracked process for procurement and construction. Partnering with Trillium Health Partners, Lakeridge Health and Humber River Hospital for completion by 2022.

Women

  • Creating a task force to advise the government on ways to “address the unique and disproportionate barriers women face, particularly in an economy that will look different after COVID”
  •  $18.2 million over three year to address violence against First Nation, Inuit and Metis women and girls.
  • Other than some funding for job training and the increase in the CARE credit, there appears to be no strategy to deal with the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on women and women in the workforce.
  • Funding to assist survivors of domestic violence is being increased by $2.1 million but that funding is over three years, and includes funding for other victims of violent crimes. This doesn’t include the funding cut for victims of crime and support for survivors in his first budgets.

Arts, Culture and Tourism

  • New Ontario Tourism and Hospitality Small Business Support Grant, which will provide an estimated $100 million in one‐time payments of $10,000 to $20,000 to eligible small businesses.
  • Just $10 million in additional funding for Ontario’s arts organizations with support from the Ontario Arts Council, at a time when our local arts orgs are barely getting by and facing an uncertain year ahead.
  • There is nothing in the budget for individual artists or folks working in the gig economy.

Toronto Island Master Plan

The Toronto Island Master Plan is being co-created with Indigenous rights-holders, local stakeholders, and the general public. The ideas, thoughts, and other feedback received during the engagement process will feed directly into the planning process and help to shape the Master Plan.

Toronto’s Next Chief of Police Public Consultations

The Toronto Police Service Board has begun one of its most important tasks, selecting a Chief of Police to lead the Toronto Police Service.  The Board wants to know what qualities Toronto is looking for in our next Chief of Police.

If you are interested in adding your voice to this important public consultation, please visit this Eventbrite page to register for a public forum – hosted by Environics Research – and to get more information about how to participate.

Virtual sessions are planned for:

  • Scarborough: Wednesday, April 7 – 6-8 pm
  • North York: Tuesday, April 13 – 6-8 pm

If you are unable to join the consultations, but would still like to get involved, an online survey will be available through the TPSB website between March 29 and May 13, 2021. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].                  

Florence Booth House Rebuilding Project

The Salvation Army has been operating Florence Booth House located at 723 Queen St. W. for 21 years, providing much needed shelter, social, and health supports for women struggling with homelessness in the Bathurst/Queen neighbourhood.

The Salvation Army has been developing a plan to rebuild and upgrade the facility. In November 2020, they received approval at the Committee of Adjustment to renovate and expand to allow for more beds, greater privacy for residents, outdoor space, and increased space for programs that will empower and inspire women, and result in personal growth and healing. Construction is expected to begin in early 2022. For more information, email: [email protected]

Garden Suites Study

A “Garden Suite” is a second, generally smaller, house built in the backyard of a detached, semi-detached, or townhouse property. The City of Toronto is undertaking projects about Expanding Housing Options in Neighbourhood in response to Provincial requirements. In 2018-2019, Laneway Suites of up to two storeys became permitted in the backyards of homes on lots that are next to a public lane. Now the City has initiated a process to develop policies and zoning rules to permit Garden Suites to be built City wide in the backyards of homes on lots that are not next to a public lane, subject to a range of criteria to be decided. The City hopes these new homes will provide affordable rentals and homes for grown children and aging parents.

Residents and stakeholders are invited to participate in the consultation process by way of the Garden + Suites Survey. Virtual community meetings to present the Garden + Suites study and to gather input from residents and stakeholders will begin in April 2021. Further information regarding the community consultation meetings will be provided once dates have been confirmed.

Additional information about the Garden + Suites study is available at the study website.

Contact Fun Things to Do Petitions