Bylaw requiring face masks on Edmonton transit will be lifted when Alberta enters Stage 3

Edmonton city council voted against implementing its own face-covering bylaw for all city-owned facilities and public transit vehicles Tuesday. Instead, councillors decided to bring in a bylaw mandating masks on public transit vehicles, inside public transit stations and on LRT platforms that would align with the province’s public health restrictions.

Councillors decided Tuesday that having a transit-specific face-covering bylaw would give Edmonton bylaw officers powers to enforce the mask rule on public transit.

“If we adopt it as a bylaw as well, we’ll have all levels of enforcement, and aligned all the way up until the province decides not to continue with its public health order,” explained city manager Andre Corbould.

That means when Alberta lifts its public health order requiring masks on all forms of public transit, the City of Edmonton would end its bylaw too.

Bylaw 20090, Edmonton’s Temporary Transit Facilities Face Mask Bylaw, passed by a vote of 9-4 late Tuesday afternoon.

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Currently, Alberta’s health rules still require masks on all forms of public transit.

That requirement is set to be lifted when Alberta enters Stage 3 of its reopening plan. No date for that stage has been given, but it is tied to declining COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions.

Under Stage 2, masks are also still required at all Alberta Health Services-operated and contracted facilities. That includes all continuing care settings.

As of March 17, the most recent COVID-19 data provided by Alberta Health, there were 966 people in hospital with COVID-19, 62 of whom were being treated in ICU.

Alberta entered Stage 2 on March 1, which marked the end to all indoor and outdoor public gathering limits, the lifting of capacity limits at large entertainment venues and the end of the provincial work-from-home order. The provincial mask mandate was also lifted, with some exceptions.

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Initially, council considered making the face-covering bylaw apply to city-owned facilities like rec centres, as well as ETS. However, administration told councillors that only about 30 per cent of Edmonton recreation centre users were still choosing to voluntarily wear a face mask.

Councillors were concerned that front-line staff would face abusive and harassing behaviour if the city decided to once again mandate face coverings inside rec centres.

“We do anticipate pushback on our employees,” Corbould said. “We have young people at the front doors and I do worry about them taking the brunt on it.

“I can protect them physically, but I worry … emotionally.

“I don’t think it’s about backing down or sticking up; I think it’s about a reasonable approach,” the city manager added.

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Councillor Anne Stevenson said that more and more she’s hearing from constituents that they prefer consistency in terms of health rules.

“We’re a week or so behind the province so it may be hard to put the cat back in the bag, so to speak,” Councillor Aaron Paquette pointed out.

Corbould encouraged anyone who still wants to wear a mask to do so.