COVID-19 Information & Resources

Message from the Canadian Propane Association

During these challenging times, the Association's top priority is ensuring the safety and well-being of our propane community.

We are working 24/7 on your behalf and talking to all levels of government to ensure your needs are met while keeping everyone safe.  If you face any challenges, please let us know. We are ready to assist to ensure you have the information you need to maintain all of your essential services.

Thank you for your membership and ongoing support. We wish you, your families and colleagues continued health and safety.

CPA Resources

Travel Authorization Forms

 

ESSENTIAL SERVICES IN CANADA

FEDERAL GOVERNMENTas

Access these links for government financial support programs related to COVID-19:

Mini-guide to help employees' mental health through winter - This mini-guide is designed to help employers provide workers with specific tools and resources during the winter months.

PROVINCIAL ESSENTIAL SERVICES

Gathering limitation across the provinces: 

Indoor and outdoor gathering numbers are updated on a regular basis to keep up with rapid changes. Check out Destination Canada's up-to-date information on regulations for safely meeting across Canada.

Please refer to the CPA's Best practices recommended during COVID-19 - Measures for Reopening your Retail Operations, produced to assist you in hosting a training session during COVID-19.

British Columbia

 

Alberta

Saskatchewan

 

Manitoba

COVID-19 restrictions extended

On November 12, the province of Manitoba moved to the Critical level (red) on the #RestartMB Pandemic Response System to halt COVID-19 transmission. These Public Health Orders have been extended to January 22 and will continue to restrict gatherings at private residences and allow critical retailers to only sell essential items.

Ontario

Government educating and ticketing businesses non-compliant with COVID-19 rules

On January 20, 2021, the Ontario government expanded its current workplace inspection campaign. Provincial offences officers are now visiting an expanded range of workplaces across Ontario to educate and ticket businesses that are not complying with COVID-19 health and safety requirements.

They will be visiting a variety of workplaces that are allowed to be open during the provincial shutdown including essential service-sector establishments (such as gas stations); and farming operations.

These efforts build on the province's recently announced "Stay Safe All Day" campaign, which focuses workplace inspections in areas of high transmission such as break rooms. The campaign provides resource materials to employers and workers to promote safe behaviour before, during and after work.

Corporations can be now be fined $1,000 for failing to comply with the orders under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act and the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act. All individuals, including employees and patrons, can also be fined $750 for failing to comply with orders under the acts.

If a violation is more serious, a person can be charged with failing to comply with an order under the acts. If convicted, the court can impose fines as high as $100,000 for individuals, and directors and officers of a corporation can be fined up to $500,000. Both could also receive terms of imprisonment of up to one year. The maximum fine for a corporation on conviction of an offence is up to $10,000,000.

 

Premier says new COVID-19 rules simple: Stay home

Premier Ford says Ontario’s new COVID-19 rules are simple – Stay home. The province issued a Stay-at-Home Order and introduced new measures aimed at limiting people's mobility and reducing the number of daily contacts with those outside an immediate household.

The new rules became effective Jan. 14 and are in effect until at least Feb. 19. They require everyone to remain at home with exceptions for permitted purposes or activities, including if an employer deems the individual work requires workplace attendance, and for receiving, or providing training. All businesses must ensure that any employee who can work from home, does work from home.

The CPA has developed a sample authorization letter that can be used should it be necessary – download the letter here.

Additional rules include:

  • Outdoor organized public gatherings and social gatherings are further restricted to a limit of five people with limited exceptions.
  • Individuals are required to wear a mask or face covering in the indoor areas of businesses or organizations that are open. Wearing a mask or face covering is now recommended outdoors when you can't physically distance more than two metres.  
  • Non-essential construction is further restricted, including below-grade construction, exempting survey. 

Workplace Safety

The Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development is taking additional steps to protect workers with the launch of the "Stay Safe All Day" campaign, focusing workplace inspections in areas of high transmission, including break rooms, and providing new educational materials to employers to promote safe behaviour before, during and after work.

Evidence gathered from COVID-19 related workplace inspections to date shows the vast majority of employers and workers are following COVID-19 safety requirements when working. However, when in a break room, a vehicle or not on the clock, there is a tendency to forget about the importance of wearing masks, maintaining physical distance and hand hygiene. 

As part of the "Stay Safe All Day" campaign, inspectors will use a data-driven approach to focus on:

  • Workplaces with reported COVID-19 outbreaks
  • manufacturing businesses
  • Warehouses
  • Distribution centres
  • Food processing operations
  • Construction projects and
  • Publicly accessible workplaces deemed essential, such as grocery stores. 

The province will provide authority to all provincial offences officers, including the Ontario Provincial Police, local police forces, bylaw officers, and provincial workplace inspectors to issue tickets to individuals who do not comply with the stay-at-home-order, or those not wearing a mask or face covering indoors in places open to the public, subject to limited exceptions, as well as retail operators and companies who do not enforce requirements under orders under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act (ROA) or EMPCA.

Click here for more information on the Reopening Ontario Act Orders. 

Québec

What the province's new COVID-19 restrictions mean to the propane industry

With the Québec government’s recent announcement on January 6, 2021, the lockdown issued prior to the holidays has been extended for at least another four weeks, in addition to new restrictions that include a mandatory curfew from 8 pm to 5 am EST until at least Feb. 8, 2021.

What does this mean for the propane industry? Propane remains on the essential services list.

Specific rules for the propane industry include:

  • Working from home where possible for administrative, accounting, sales, customer service, etc.
  • Any new installation projects not deemed as essential should be postponed until the planned end date of the restrictions. For example, any project that is related to such activities as primary heating and cooking or used in continuous industrial processes such as mining is considered essential. However, the installation of an auxiliary heating system, for example, is not considered an essential project.
  • Urgent and essential repairs and modifications to facilities will be permitted. (The same considerations as indicated for the execution of installation projects may be used.)
  • Deliveries will be maintained. However, the propane industry is asked to minimize travel during curfew periods and prioritize daytime deliveries. If required to travel during the curfew due to work, employees must carry a document completed by their employer that demonstrates such travel is legitimate. Download the form.
  • Continue to ensure all sanitary measures for all employees and customers (see CPA’s Best practices recommended during COVID-19).

New Brunswick

 

Nova Scotia

Restriction updates

Measures put in place to help contain the spread of COVID-19 are gradually changing. As restrictions change, Nova Scotian’s need to continue to follow public health directives for gathering and social distancing.

Since December 21, 2020:

  • Households can have gatherings up to 10 people in their home including people who live there without social distancing (if your household is more than 10 people you can't have any visitors)
  • Businesses and organizations are not permitted to host in-person events and activities (indoors or outdoors)

 Since January 9, 2020:

  • Travel within Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador is permitted without the requirement to self-isolate when you arrive in or return to Nova Scotia (Atlantic travel bubble).
  • People travelling into Nova Scotia from outside Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island or Newfoundland and Labrador for non-essential reasons must self-isolate alone or with others who are self-isolating for the same period. If there are other people in the home, they must also self-isolate (everyone in the home where the traveller is self-isolating needs to self-isolate).

 Since January 15, 2021:

  • Rotational workers who work in a province or territory outside Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador or outside Canada must be tested for COVID-19 on day 1 or 2 of their modified self-isolation and day 6, 7 or 8 of their modified self-isolation. Rotational workers need to self-isolate for the full 14 days, even with negative test results.

For more information visit the Government of Nova Scotia website.

Prince Edward Island

Temporary post circuit breaker holiday measures in place until January 25

Effective January 6, 2021, the temporary post circuit breaker holiday measures are in place; these measures are expected to be in place until January 25, 2021.

All businesses, services and organizations, as well as organizers of organized gatherings, are required to have measures in place to mitigate transmission of COVID-19 and to develop and follow an operational plan detailing those measures.

PEI’s participation in the Atlantic Bubble will remain suspended until at least January 25, 2021.

  • Personal gatherings of a household and up to ten (10) additional individuals indoors or outdoors; these individuals should be as consistent as possible and physical distancing maintained as best possible
  • Public services should be available in-person, phone, virtual, delivery or pick-up
  • Post-secondary education and training through online and/or in-person learning with public health measures in place

Visit the Prince Edward Island government website for more information.

Newfoundland

Alert Level 2

The province of Newfoundland and Labrador are presently at Level 2 of their Alert level system, which means:

  • Distanced gatherings run by a recognized business or organization are expanded to 100 people as long as physical distancing can be maintained, with restrictions.
  • Distanced gatherings that are not run by a recognized business or organization (like a family event in the backyard) are permitted for up to 20 people as long as physical distancing can be maintained, with restrictions. 

TRAINERS

TRAINERS - Update: Can you finally host training sessions? 

Indoor and outdoor gathering numbers are updated on a regular basis to keep up with rapid changes. Check out Destination Canada's up-to-date information on regulations for safely meeting across Canada.

Please refer to the CPA's CPA Guide to hosting a training session during COVID-19 and Best practices recommended during COVID-19 - Measures for Reopening your Retail Operations, produced to assist you in hosting a training session during COVID-19.

Extension of training certificates

As of February 5, 2021, PTI and some provincial governments will extend training certifications post expiry date. 

Authorization letter

The CPA has created a letter which could be carried by a propane worker whose PTI training certification is expired, to provide additional assurances that said employee can continue to perform his or her functions despite having an expired PTI certificate. The letter should be carried by an employee who is unable to attend a training session to recertify due to the current situation. As a reminder, the training certificate, even expired, must be carried by the employee to support this additional letter.