Community update on provincial Stay-at-Home Order

As we enter into a new year and new semester, I would like to wish all of you a Happy New Year. I hope you were able to take time during the break to relax and recharge and are looking forward to the opportunities that a new year brings.  

I am sure many of our community members have questions about yesterday’s announcement from Premier Ford, regarding a Stay-at-Home Order for Ontario (external link) , effective Thursday, January 14. These are challenging times for all of us and I want to extend my personal thanks to students, faculty and staff for your continued patience, understanding and resilience as we all work together through these shifting circumstances.

While Ryerson University is already compliant with much of the direction outlined in the stay-at-home order, there may be changes to your access to campus as well as requirements for the use of masks.

Please review the information below, and contact your relevant leader or instructor for further information on how these changes may impact you.

What the Stay-at-Home Order means for Ryerson University

The university will be sending detailed information about the impact of the Province of Ontario Stay-at-Home orders to leaders, faculty and staff later today. I encourage you to review this information closely, below is a summary of what the new order means for our community:  

Students

A small number of programs continue to offer in-person instruction, while adhering to mandatory mask requirements, social distancing, and capacity limitations in each instructional space. Students who have been attending campus for required in-person instruction are to contact their course instructors and departments to understand if in-class instruction will continue, or if instruction can take place virtually during this time.  

Faculty and instructors

Unless it is not possible for your duties to be completed from home, faculty members should not be coming to campus during this time. In cases where faculty may have received specific approval from their leaders to access campus during the period of remote work, please reconfirm with your leader that your duties cannot be completed remotely. Further details on how this new order impacts our faculty and instructors can be found online.

Faculty and instructors who have questions about remote work and return to campus processes are encouraged to contact their dean and/or relevant leader.

Staff

Staff who are able to work from home are expected to do so. If you are required to continue to come to campus to perform your duties or have questions about how the stay-at-home order may impact your role, please refer to the latest COVID-19 update for staff.

In cases where employees may have received specific approval from their leaders to access campus during the period of remote work, please reconfirm with your leader that your duties cannot be completed remotely.

Staff who have questions about remote work and return to campus processes are encouraged to contact their leader.

SRC

There have been no changes to the current order with respect to SRC activities and research remains an essential activity. As such, the latest guidance does not directly impact the university’s Safe SRC Plan guidance or protocols. Only research personnel who cannot accomplish their required SRC activities remotely should be accessing SRC facilities on campus. Researchers with further questions on this new order and how it may impact research activities are encouraged to contact Richard McCulloch, executive director, Research Services.

Coming to campus

For any community members approved to come to campus as defined above, please continue to refer to the guidelines and processes that Ryerson has implemented to limit the spread of COVID-19:

• All community members are expected to adhere to the university’s Mask Use Guidelines. 
• Faculty and staff are to complete and pass the required health screening form daily before accessing campus. 
• Students coming to campus for required in-person instruction are expected to complete a health self-assessment prior to arrival to campus each day.
• If you are approved to come to campus and become ill with COVID-19, have COVID-19 symptoms or have spent time with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, please refer to our Reporting COVID-19 cases webpage, and fill out  (google form) the self-declaration form (external link) .

Please, whenever possible, stay home. We all need to continue to do our part to slow the spread of COVID-19 in our city and our province. 

Mohamed Lachemi,
President and Vice-Chancellor