The Town of The Blue Mountains would like to provide residents with additional information and clarity regarding a press release that was issued earlier today that referenced the closure of grocery stores and pharmacies for Friday, April 10 and Sunday, April 12, 2020.
Through conversation with local grocery and pharmacy providers, the Town has confirmed that these establishments may continue to operate as normal throughout the Easter long weekend if they wish to do so.
To provide additional information, the following explanation from the Retail Council of Canada has been provided:
“Retail Council of Canada wishes to clear up any confusion around grocery and pharmacy store hours of operation for the upcoming holiday weekend. Hours of operation for statutory holidays have not changed in Ontario and so it is business as usual. Pharmacies are currently allowed to operate during a statutory holiday. Grocery stores may continue to operate, if they so choose, in those municipalities that have a by-law in place to allow them to do so. We wish to echo Premier Ford’s important comments today in thanking our retail employees for the work they are doing every day to respond to the essential needs of Canadians.”
In addition, The Town of the Blue Mountains has an existing Municipal By-law that permits the grocery store and pharmacy to continue to operate as outlined in the Retail Council of Canada message.
For more information, please contact: