COVID-19: Here’s what’s open and closed in Ottawa over the Easter long weekend

Ontario is entering a province-wide, 28-day COVID-19 “emergency brake” shutdown on Saturday, limiting the already constrained list of businesses allowed to open over the Easter long weekend in Ottawa.

Click here for a list of everything that’s permitted in the province under the new shutdown order.

Here’s a sampling of what’s expected to be open and closed over the Easter long weekend in Ottawa.

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All grocery stores, including shops typically permitted to open on holidays, will be closed in Ottawa on Friday and Sunday. Groceries stores are allowed to open in general during the shutdown but at 50 per cent of maximum capacity.

All regular LCBO stores are closed on Friday and Sunday but some locations might open on Monday.

All Beer Stores in Ottawa will be closed on Friday and Sunday.

Both indoor and outdoor dining will be banned under the shutdown orders, but restaurants will still be allowed to open for takeout and delivery.

Ottawa’s major malls, including the Rideau Centre, St. Laurent Shopping Centre, Place D’Orleans, Bayshore Shopping Centre and Tanger Outlets, will be closed to the public on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Retailers are generally permitted to open under the shutdown order with 25 per cent of their maximum capacity allowed in-store at any time.

Some drug stores, like Shoppers and Rexall, are open, but it depends on the location. Contact a specific store to double-check its holiday hours.

Gyms and other indoor recreational facilities will be closed in Ottawa over the long weekend under Ontario’s 28-day lockdown. Some outdoor sites such as parks, baseball diamonds and basketball courts are still allowed to open.

Click here for the latest updates on the City of Ottawa’s recreation services.

You can also find a full list of the National Capital Commission’s trails, beaches and parkways open for walking and cycling here.

The Queen Elizabeth Driveway will be closed off to motor vehicles between Fifth Avenue and Somerset Street between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. over the weekend for walkers and cyclists to stretch their legs.

Ottawa’s medical officer of health, Dr. Vera Etches, has encouraged residents to get outdoors and take advantage of the good weather but has cautioned against activities such as contact sports and barbecues. Any outdoor socialization should be done with two metres of distance and mask use when distancing is not possible.

Museums are ordered to close under Ontario’s shutdown orders, but most national museums in Ottawa are opening on Good Friday.

The three national Ingenium museums will be open Friday but closed after the shutdown goes into effect.

The Canada Agriculture and Food Museum will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., while the Canada Science and Technology Museum and the Canada Aviation and Space Museum will both be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Canadian Museum of Nature and The Canadian War Museum are also expected to be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday.

Admission to each of Ottawa’s national museums requires booking an advanced ticket and time slot.

The National Gallery of Canada will also be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday.

The Canadian Museum of History will be closed all weekend due to new lockdown restrictions in Quebec.

All movie theatres in Ottawa are closed under Ontario’s lockdown restrictions.

Municipal museums, art galleries and theatres will remain closed over the long weekend.

OC Transpo service will operate according to a Sunday schedule on Friday. Buses will run on a reduced weekday schedule on Monday, while light-rail transit will maintain its current weekday schedule.

Note that the north-south Trillium Line remains closed for construction work related to Stage 2 LRT.

Para Transpo will operate according to holiday service on April 2, 4 and 5.

All City of Ottawa parking regulations and restrictions will apply over the holiday weekend, with regular parking fees maintained on Monday.

There will be no curbside garbage, green bin and recycling pickup on Good Friday or Easter Monday, though garbage pickups in multi-residential complexes will be unaffected.

All curbside pickups will be delayed by one day, as will recycling, green bin and bulky item pickups in multi-residential buildings.

The Trail Road Waste Facility will be open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Tom Brown respite centre at 141 Bayview Rd. will be open Friday through Monday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Bernard Grandmaître respite centre at 309 McArthur Rd. and the St. Paul’s Eastern United Church respite centre at 473 Cumberland St. will be closed from Friday through Sunday. Both centres will reopen from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday.

For anyone in need of a coronavirus test, testing will be available at the following sites:

• The Moodie Care and Testing Centre from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Friday and Monday and from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
• The Ray Friel Care and Testing Centre from open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Monday.
• The Brewer Assessment Centre (for adults) from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
• The Brewer Assessment Centre (for children) from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Friday and from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. from Saturday to Monday.
• The drive-thru assessment site at the National Arts Centre on Friday through Sunday from open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• The Centretown, Sandy Hill and Somerset West community health centres on Monday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., or 3:30 p.m. in the case of Sandy Hill.

The Heron Care and Testing Centre will be closed over the course of the long weekend.

The supervised injection site and associated program office at 179 Clarence St. will be open on Friday and Monday. The site’s mobile van will operate on a regular schedule from 5 p.m. until 11:30 p.m. over the weekend.

Also closed on Friday and Monday:

• The Sexual Health Clinic and satellite clinics
• Dental clinics
• OPH’s general support line, though the COVID-19 line will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. all weekend.

Ottawa’s city-run child care centres will be closed over the weekend.

All Ottawa Public Library branches will be open for curbside pickup only on Saturday.

Residents can still call 311 for urgent matters that require the city’s immediate attention.

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