Office of the Mayor and Council Update
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Updates on COVID-19 emergency
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The Town of Oakville has declared a State of Emergency. Now, more than ever, is the time we need to work together to "flatten the curve". Let's:
- Stay home.
- Don’t go out unless you have to.
- Keep your distance if you do.
- Avoid gatherings of more than 50 (the safest number is one)
- Look for safe ways to help others.
- Use phones, email, or video to socialize.
- Wash your hands frequently and well.
Your Town Staff, Council and I are committed to ensuring we provide every support necessary to our community, our staff, and our regional public health officials during this very challenging time
As always, ask for help if you need it. Email me at
[email protected]
– I will guide you to help.
Items in this update:
- Council defers property taxes two months in COVID-19 Economic Action Plan
- Other actions provide more immediate assistance
- How to help Halton Healthcare
- Manufacturers can help
- COVID-19 cases continue to rise
- COVID-19 Emergency Response Act receives Royal Assent
- Legislation offers a slate of relief measures
- Construction health and safety line
- The time to physically distance is now
- The next week is imperative to flatten the curve
- Homelessness Prevention and Emergency Shelter
- Top hospital executive says Ottawa should invoke the Emergencies Act now
- Niagara Falls hotels offering rooms to health-care workers to self-isolate
- Council meetings rescheduled
- Ontario Power Generation donates masks to health care workers
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Council defers property taxes two months in COVID19 Economic Action Plan
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A two-month property tax deferral has been enacted by Oakville.
Property tax assistance will provide all property taxpayers with a two-month grace period for the payment of taxes due on April 24, 2020. This will including waiving penalty, interest, and non-sufficient funds charges for returned payment until June 30, 2020. Property owners also have the option to opt-out of pre-authorized payment plans without penalty, from April 1 to June 30, 2020.
Council approved this, and other measures during a specially-called Council meeting Thursday in which the newly formed Oakville Economic Task Force presented an Economic Action Plan.
Other action items providing immediate assistance include the suspension of parking fees, additional permissions for A-frame signage, an extension for business license renewals, and the Digital Main Street Program. Longer term initiatives will focus on identifying strategies to promote continued development activity.
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How to help Halton Healthcare
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If you're looking for ways to help our hospital, please visit the below link for the best ways and what's needed. They're grateful for the community support and visiting this link will help ease the number of disruptive inquires.
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If you are a Canadian manufacturer or business that can assist Canada in meeting the need for medical supplies, your help is needed.
for a checklist to see if your business is suitable to help.
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COVID-19 cases continue to rise
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There are currently 18 confirmed cases in Halton, 858 in Ontario. That’s an increase of 170 cases in one day. There are 3,409 cases in Canada with 35 deaths.
According to the daily media brief with Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health, and Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Associate Chief Medical Officer of Health, Next week is critical and will provide an indicator to see if public health measures and social distancing are working. Until numbers peak and level out or come down, precautions will need to be in place.
- In a follow up to the March 2020 Fiscal update, the Provincial Government announced that they are providing an additional $3.3 billion to support frontline health care workers and increase health care capacity in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. This funding will allow the Provincial Government to take immediate action to increase the number of assessment centres, add more acute care and critical care beds, improve testing and provide more protective equipment for frontline workers.
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COVID-19 Emergency Response Act receives Royal Assent
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This new Federal legislation:
- Provides additional assistance to families with children by temporarily boosting Canada Child Benefit payments, delivering almost $2 billion in extra support.
- Provides additional assistance to individuals and families with low and modest incomes with a special top-up payment under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) credit, delivering $5.5 billion in support.
- Introduces a Canada Emergency Response Benefit.
- Introduces a pause on the repayments of Canada Student Loans in the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act, the Canada Student Loans Act, and the Apprenticeship Loans Act.
- Helps businesses keep their workers by providing eligible small employers a temporary wage subsidy for a period of three months.
- Helps protect seniors’ retirement savings by reducing required minimum withdrawals from Registered Retirement Income Funds by 25 per cent for 2020.
- Supports provinces and territories with a COVID-19 Response Fund that would provide one-time funding of $500 million through the Canada Health Transfer.
- Ensures the availability of drugs and medical devices by providing the Federal Government with the authority to make regulations to address any future shortages of therapeutic products, including drugs and medical devices.
- Supports Canadian businesses through the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC).
- Supports Canadian businesses through Export Development Canada (EDC).
- Supports the agriculture and agri-food sector by amending the Farm Credit Canada (FCC) Act to temporarily provide the Minister of Finance with the flexibility to set the limit on the amounts that may be paid by the Minister of Finance to FCC out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
- Supports the mortgage financing market in Canada by enhancing the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s access to capital, and increasing its insurance-in-force and guarantees-in-force legislative limits, so that it can continue to provide stable funding to banks and mortgage lenders in support of continued lending to Canadian businesses and consumers.
- Protects Canadians from the Spread of COVID-19 by providing authority to a federal minister to requisition funds from the Consolidated Revenue Fund with the concurrence of the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Health to support federal efforts to prevent or control the spread of COVID-19.
- Amends the Financial Administration Act (FAA) to temporarily remove the requirement for the Minister of Finance to receive Governor in Council’s authorization in order to use emergency powers.
- Provides the Minister of Finance with the flexibility to increase the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation’s deposit insurance limit beyond its current level of $100,000.
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Construction health and safety line
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The Province of Ontario has announced a health and safety line that construction workers who believe their job site is unsafe due to COVID-19 call. The number is 1-877-202-0008
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The time to physically distance is now
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Whether it's at the grocery store or when you're out getting exercise, you must physically distance yourself from others.
Below is a link to an interesting article about the difference physical distancing in the next week can make to the number of projected cases of COVID-19 in the country. The difference, according to the study, is 11,000 cases.
For those of us not in isolation, we need to keep our distance. Oakville has closed our parks and we absolutely enforce the Ontario order against gatherings of 50 or more. When we are aware of gatherings of a smaller number, we attend and encourage physical distance of one-to-two metres.
Outdoor exercise by people without symptoms maintaining physical distance is allowed under the present terms of the Ontario declaration of the public health emergency.
We all need to do our part now, more than ever, to flatten the curve. Visit
www.halton.ca/covid19
for the most up-to-date information and to have questions answered.
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Homelessness Prevention and Emergency Shelter
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All emergency shelter options in Halton remain open and shelters are actively screening for COVID-19 at intake. So far, there have been no active or suspected cases reported.
Dedicated isolation spaces for individuals who may present COVID-19 symptoms or are immunocompromised have been established in the Lighthouse Emergency Shelter and Bethany Residence in Burlington. Individuals who are experiencing homelessness or living in a congregate setting that develop COVID-19 like symptoms will be assessed by Public Health and triaged to alternative shelter environments.
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Tarion Warranty Corporation announced the suspension of warranty submissions following the Provincial Government's emergency order this week.
One the order is lifted, Tarion says submissions can be made.
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Top hospital executive says Ottawa should invoke the Emergencies Act now
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Kevin Smith, president of the University Health Network, which is Canada’s largest academic hospital warns that lives are hanging in the balance while Ottawa refrains from invoking the Emergencies Act.
Smith is “dismayed” that people continue to leave their homes and socialize in groups despite public health recommendations not to and that people are still not taking seriously the need for physical distancing.
While he realizes that invoking the Act will result in the loss of some civil liberties, it will protect the most vulnerable.
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Niagara Falls hotels offering rooms to
health-care workers to self-isolate
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In an effort to protect the families of health care workers, Niagara hotels, left empty due to the coronavirus pandemic
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are offering rooms to health-care workers who want to isolate themselves.
Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati said the public health department and the Niagara Health hospitals system is evaluating a number of hotel properties to determine if the suggestion is viable.
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Council meetings rescheduled
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All meetings that were cancelled are currently rescheduled to their next meeting date. We are reviewing agendas and procedures to determine if electronic meetings are appropriate.
- Council - March 23, 2020 postponed to April 20, 2020
- Heritage Oakville - March 24, 2020 postponed to April 14, 2020
- Committee of Adjustment - March 31, 2020 postponed to April 14, 2020
- Appeals Committee - April 2, 2020 postponed to May 7, 2020
- Planning and Development Council - April 6, 2020 postponed to May 4
- Property Standards Committee - April 28, 2020 postponed until further notice
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Ontario Power Generation donates masks to health care workers
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Ontario Power Generation (OPG) is donating 500,000 surgical masks and 75,000 N95 masks to the Province of Ontario to address the pressing need for personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline health-care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
OPG is coordinating delivery of a shipment of 250,000 surgical and 50,000 N95 masks this week to the Ministry of Health for distribution to hospitals, long-term care homes and any other essential health-care providers in the most-needed areas of the province. OPG is maintaining a quantity of 250,000 surgical and 15,000 N95 masks for future donation where needs are greatest.
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Oakville Hospital Foundation
accepting online donations
Oakville Hospital Foundation has created a safe, secure portal to accept online donations directly.
Please visit:
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United Way Halton & Hamilton COVID-19 Emergency Fund
In response to the outbreak of COVID-19, United Way Halton & Hamilton has created the COVID-19 Emergency Fund to support the work of frontline partner agencies. Donate at
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