QUEENS PARK — The Ontario government says it will reimburse employers for up to three paid sick days for every employee who misses work because of COVID-19.
The program will be retroactive to April 19, 2021, and will remain in effect until September 25, 2021.
Labour Minister Monte McNaughton will introduce the necessary legislation on Thursday.
It will require employers to provide employees with up to $200 of pay for a maximum of three days if their absence is related to the virus.
Employers will be reimbursed later, under a program delivered in partnership with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board
The government also said it continues to work with the federal government to further support workers by doubling payments made through the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB) program.
McNaughton said "it is a tremendously positive step that the federal government has signaled their willingness to continue discussions on the CRSB."
The minister said Ontario has offered to provide the necessary funding to Ottawa, adding $500 per week to eligible individuals for a total of $1,000 a week.
If the arrangement can be made, he said, Ontario workers would have the most generous paid pandemic leave in the country.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, however, said the proposal to provide three paid sick days for now "isn't enough."
She said COVID-19 "takes a couple of weeks to get over. Even getting a test and waiting for results can take several days."
Wednesday's announcement followed growing pressure from health experts, workers' advocates and opposition politicians for paid sick leave to
mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace.
