On March 26, 2020, the Government of British Columbia, under the authority of the Emergency Program Act, released a series of ministerial orders relating to the COVID-19 outbreak. These include a list of essential services that is comparable to what we have seen from other provinces. The focus of the B.C. rules is on keeping those businesses open and maintaining supply and distribution chains. Under the B.C. regime, certain non-essential businesses will be able to remain in operation provided that they are compliant with Public Health Officer recommendations.
The full announcement, including the list, may be accessed here.
Essential Services Categories
British Columbia’s list is extensive, with many workplace categories described under nine general headings:
- Health and health services
- Law enforcement, public safety, first responders, etc.
- Vulnerable population service providers
- Critical infrastructure service providers
- Food and agriculture service providers
- Transportation, infrastructure and manufacturing
- Sanitation
- Communications, information sharing and IT
The complete list runs to about six pages and should be carefully reviewed. In the “transportation, infrastructure and manufacturing” category, for example, a broad array of supply chain services is referred to. Examples in that category include storage, cooling, packaging, warehousing, delivery, taxi and ride-hailing, highway maintenance, provision of supplies to home-based workers and others.
British Columbia’s Plan
While the essential services identified on British Columbia’s list are generally similar to Ontario’s and Quebec’s, the B.C. Government’s announcement is slightly more focused on the need to keep essential workplaces open and on the importance of maintaining supply chain infrastructure. The Government is asking essential workplaces to remain open if possible, in consultation with the Public Health Officer (PHO), whose central role in the response to COVID-19 at the workplace level is emphasized in the document.
Provincial Supply Chain Coordination Unit established
The Government has announced that a Provincial Supply Chain Coordination Unit (PSCCU) will be established to coordinate goods and services distribution with industry. If required, the Province may take control of warehouse facilities that are needed in such efforts. (Owners of hotels or other commercial lodgings may also be required to provide accommodation to essential workforces, for the purpose of self-isolation, or other purposes.) As part of this initiative, bylaws imposing time-of-day restrictions on goods deliveries have been suspended.
Anti-hoarding provisions
The ministerial orders include prohibitions on the resale of food, medical supplies, personal protective equipment (PPE), cleaning supplies and other essentials. To discourage hoarding, the Province will work with retailers and industry to impose point-of-sale purchase limits for such items.
Non-essential businesses not necessarily required to close
In contrast to the Ontario and Quebec orders, being omitted from the B.C. essential services list does not necessarily mean that a business must remain closed. In fact, any such business may remain open “if it can adapt its services and workplace to the orders and recommendations” of the B.C. PHO. The only exceptions are classes of workplace that the PHO has specifically ordered to close.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
