The province says an inspection blitz involving big-box stores, gas stations and other essential businesses will continue this weekend.
The Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development says Ontario’s provincial offences officers will be visiting more than 400 additional stores this weekend in Hamilton, Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo.
Read more: Ontario to expand big-box retail blitz amid widespread rule violations, labour minister says
The inspections are designed to ensure businesses are following the public health guidelines and properly protecting workers and customers from COVID-19.
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Last weekend, the ministry says inspectors targeted close to 700 locations in the Niagara and Durham regions, as well as Ottawa and Windsor.
It says officers found 41 per cent of those businesses had at least one issue of non-compliance and 98 tickets were issued.
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The most common reasons cited for non-compliance were failure to properly screen staff and patrons, improper social distancing and workplaces not having adequate COVID-19 workplace safety plans.
“We’ll keep it up as long as there are bad actors out there,” said Monte McNaughton, minister of labour, training and skills development.
“This late in the pandemic, there is absolutely no excuse for owners, staff and customers alike not to be following health and safety rules.”
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