Schools, Child Care and Camps During COVID-19

General information

• Face coverings / masks

  With parental permission, it's highly recommended children over the age of two years wear non-medical or cloth masks indoors, including on school transportation, and outdoors when physical distancing cannot be maintained. Visit COVID-19 reopening schools for mask protection measures for student and staff.

  Students in Grades 1 to 12 must wear non-medical or cloth masks indoors in school, including in hallways, during classes and on school vehicles.

  Learn more about face coverings, including exceptions and how to properly fit, wear, remove and clean your non-medical facemask.

  Watch Storing a Reusable Mask.
• Outbreaks

  A COVID-19 outbreak in a school or child care setting, including before/after school programs and camps, may be declared when there are two or more lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in children/ students and/or staff or other visitors, who are potentially linked to one another, within a 14-day period, where at least one case could have reasonably acquired their infection in the school or child care setting, including transportation.

Schools

• Cleaning and disinfecting

  Learn about cleaning and disinfection standards and protocols.

• Transportation

  For Niagara-specific transportation information and guidelines, visit Niagara Student Transportation Services and your child's school board website. For updated information from the province on transportation, visit Guide to reopening Ontario's schools - transportation.

  If a child is shows any symptoms of illness, they should not take public transportation or share transportation, such as carpooling.

• Curriculum supports
  • Teaching tool - Handwashing and germs for Kindergarten and Grade 1
  • School Mental Health Ontario
• Resources for schools
  • COVID-19: Health, safety and operational guidance for schools (2021-2022)
  • COVID-19: health and safety measures at schools
  • COVID-19 posters and resources

Child care centres and licensed home child care programs

• Enhanced safety measures for child care programs

  Child care centres and licensed home child care programs are open with enhanced health and safety measures in place.

  • Child care centres and licensed home child care programs, including centres in First Nations communities, can operate at full capacity
  • Before and after school programs for school aged children can operate with standard ratios and maximum group size requirements

  See EarlyON Child and Family Centres for the status of EarlyON Child and Family Centres during the pandemic.

  All child care centres and licensed home child care programs, before and after school programs, EarlyON Child and Family Centres, and First Nation Child and Family Programs must:

  • Meet all enhanced health and safety requirements
  • Meet all operational requirements set out under the Child Care and Early Years Act 2014 (CCEYA). For example, make sure all existing staff to child ratios are maintained.

  All staff in child care centres and licensed home child care programs are to be trained and adhere to these enhanced health and safety requirements.

  Review our Child Care Manual (Fifth Edition) for requirements that must be met in child care centres and licensed home child care programs to ensure the individuals who use them stay safe and healthy.

• Serious occurrence reporting

  Previously, licensees were required to report all suspected cases of COVID-19 to the Ministry. Currently, only where a child, staff, student, home child care provider, home child care visitor or a person who is ordinarily a resident / regularly present at a home child care premises has a confirmed case of COVID-19, such as a positive COVID-19 test result or a suspect case as outlined above, licensees must:

  • Report this as a serious occurrence to the Ministry of Education
  • Report to the local public health unit and provide any materials, such as daily attendance records, to public health officials to support case management and contact tracing and other activities in accordance with all applicable legislation, including the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act

  Report COVID-19 cases or the criteria as outlined in the Operational Guidance for Child Care during COVID-19 Outbreak.

  Regulatory changes to O. Reg. 137/15 have been made under the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014, including serious occurrence reporting of confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19.

• Resources for child care centres and licensed home child care programs
  • COVID-19 posters and resources
  • Provincial guidelines for reopening child care centres
  • Preventing COVID-19: Refresher Presentations for Schools and Childcare Settings

Children's camps

If a confirmed case of COVID-19, such as a positive COVID-19 test result or a suspect case, has been on the premises of an organized day camp you can report a positive or suspect COVID-19 case.

• Preventing COVID-19: Refresher Presentations for Schools and Childcare Settings | Public Health Ontario
• Daily Camp Operations: COVID-19 Preparedness and Prevention for Day Camps
• Pre-camp Planning: COVID-19 Preparedness and Prevention for Day Camps
• COVID-19 evidence and guidance related to youth day and overnight Summer camps
• COVID-19 safety guidelines for day camps

Travel for students, private schools, post-secondary and international students

• Brock University
• Niagara College

Students who travel

Unvaccinated children under the age of 12 are now exempt from federal quarantine if they travel in the company of someone who qualified for an exemption from quarantine based on vaccination status. However, they may not attend school or child care for 14 days after their arrival. The exception to this is that children may continue to attend school or child care if their international travel was solely due to a cross border custody arrangement.

For more information, visit COVID-19 vaccinated travellers entering Canada.

International students

• Welcoming K-12 international students
• Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): International students

COVID-19

Businesses

• Schools, Child Care Centres and Camps
• Public Health Measures
• Business Guidelines
• Cleaning and Disinfecting
• Check Your Water System
• Resources