WorkWise Hamilton

Businesses that are open to the public need to post the following three signs as applicable in a place where they will be visible to the public:

• Passive screening sign
• Mask Requirements
  Download the signs above and ensure they are posted at all entrances in a place that is visible to the public.
• Capacity limits
  *required for retail, food or drink establishments with dance facilities, personal care services, photography studios and services, and media and entertainment/gaming venues (e.g. museums, galleries botanic gardens and similar attractions; racing venues; amusement parks; festivals, rural exhibitions fairs; and tour and guide services)
• Proof of Vaccination (*for settings where required*) 
  Download the sign above and ensure it is posted in a place that is visible to the public. 

All businesses and workplaces are also required to actively screen their employees and essential visitors. All screening tools can be found here: https://covid-19.ontario.ca/download-covid-19-screenings#2.-worker-and-employee-screening

The following businesses are also required to actively screen customers:

• Meeting or event spaces
• Restaurants, bars & nightclubs (dine in)
• Food or drink establishments with dance facilities
• Strip clubs, bathhouses and sex clubs
• Retailers (*required for test drive retailers only*)
• Sports facilities and recreational fitness activities
• Personal physical fitness
• Personal care services
• Teaching and instruction (includes driving instruction)
• Photography studios and services
• Casinos, bingo halls, gaming establishments
• Tour and guide services & boat tours

Active screening means employers use information gathered to decide who can enter the workplace. Passive screening is when people decide their own risk and make the decision themselves

Temperature checks are neither required or recommended as part of screening

Please ensure that if you download a paper version of the screening tool, you check the webpage frequently to determine if any changes were made to the screening tools you are using.

All businesses open to the public are required to have a written safety plan that is posted in a visible place made available upon request. 

The safety plan must describe how the requirements will be implemented in the location including by screening, physical distancing, masks or face coverings, cleaning and disinfecting of surfaces and objects, the wearing of personal protective equipment and preventing and controlling crowding.

Additionally facilities for indoor or outdoor sports and recreational fitness activities need to include in their safety plan how to prevent gatherings and crowds at events and mitigate the risk of any interactive activity, exhibits or games.

Additional support for creating your safety plan can be found on the City of Hamilton’s webpage.

Certain workplaces may operate based solely on the ability to physically distance, i.e. ensuring that individuals remain at least 2 metres apart from others.

Capacity limits based on the ability to physically distance do not apply when in:

• a meeting or event space,
• a concert venue, theatre or cinema,
• a horse racing track, car racing track or other similar venue, or
• a place where commercial film and television production takes place
• restaurants, bars and other food or drink establishments where dance facilities are not provided,
• facilities used for sports and recreational fitness activities, including areas for spectators within those facilities, areas where personal physical fitness trainers provide instruction within those facilities, and waterparks,
• casinos, bingo halls and other gaming establishments, or
• a place of business, facility or location that has elected to opt-in to proof of vaccination requirements during the specific time period when the election is in effect.

Depending on the size of your retail location, there are different options for how to calculate maximum capacity while still supporting physical distancing.

Capacity Limits for Retail Spaces:

• For small retail spaces, look at your space, considering shelving and other items that reduce available square footage. Place floor markings around your store to help calculate number of people. Make sure each floor marking is 2 metres away from the next floor marking in all directions (side-to-side and up-and-down). The number of floor markings is the same as the number of people you are allowed inside your store.
• For larger retail spaces and those interested in using a mathematical formula, here’s how you determine maximum capacity:
  • Know your square footage (remember this number also needs to be posted on your door)
  • Know how many employees are scheduled to work, and use this number to determine how many customers you can have in your establishment to maintain the 2 metre physical distance required
  • Based on the amount of square footage available (i.e. without any shelving or other items that reduce the amount of space available), allow for at least 2 metres squared and ideally 4 metres squared per person.
  • Always round down.

Capacity Limits for Businesses Open to the Public:

Businesses open to the public must ensure that physical distancing of at least 2 metres from every other person in the business or facility can be maintained and that the total number of members of the public in the business or facility at any one time does not exceed 50% capacity indoors and 75% outdoors

• To calculate 50% capacity, take 50% of the maximum occupant load of the business or facility, or part of a business or facility (if only a part is being used) as calculated in accordance with Ontario Regulation 213/07 (Fire Code) , made under the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997.
• To calculate 75% capacity, take the total number of square metres of area accessible to the public and divide this number by 1.33, rounding the result down to the nearest whole number.

Food or drink establishments with dance facilities, bathhouses & sex clubs are limited to 25% capacity indoors (or 250 persons, whichever is less).

• To calculate 25% capacity, take 25% of the maximum occupant load of the business or facility, or part of a business or facility (if only a part is being used) as calculated in accordance with Ontario Regulation 213/07 (Fire Code), made under the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997.

As of September 22, 2021, Ontario residents will need to provide proof of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19, along with proof of identification to access certain businesses and settings. Learn more about this requirement here.

Additional resources, including posters and signage and translated resources, can be found on the City of Hamilton’s Public Health Guidance for Workplaces (under ‘Workplace Resources’)