A team of provincial inspectors conducting a coronavirus-compliance blitz of big box and essential businesses in Ottawa over the weekend issued dozens of tickets to local stores.
Thirteen provincial offences officers conducted a COVID-19 workplace safety campaign on Jan. 23 and 24, during which investigators visited roughly 125 big-box stores and other essential businesses in Ottawa allowed to open during the province-wide shutdown.
Just under 61 per cent of businesses subject to the inspections were found to be in compliance with public health requirements laid out in the Reopening Ontario Act, according to a release from the Ministry of Labour.
As a result, officers issued 27 tickets and 18 occupational health and safety orders over the course of the weekend.
The most common contravention of the act, according to the ministry, was the lack of a readily-available COVID-19 safety plan. Plans must be available upon request and easily visible to anyone in the establishment.
Other offences related to exceeding capacity limits in stores or a lack of screening employees and patrons.
Both Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson and Ontario Premier Doug Ford have highlighted big-box stores as areas of concern due to crowd sizes and a possible unfair competitive edge over some small businesses that have been forced to close under the province’s state of emergency.
Weekend campaigns were also conducted in Windsor, Niagara Region and Durham Region. In all, officers inspected 644 workplaces across the province and found 59 per cent of businesses had at least one contravention under the Reopening Ontario Act.
As a result, 88 tickets and 106 orders were issued, the ministry said.
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