Photo: Shane Clausing

By Shane Clausing

Stage 2

Chamber of Commerce hopeful lifting of most restrictions brings boost to local economy

Mar 1, 2022 | 6:00 AM

Alberta is going full steam ahead and moving into Stage 2 of its re-opening plan.

As of midnight on the morning of March 1, almost all public health restrictions have been lifted by the provincial government.

The following restrictions have been lifted as of March 1:

• The remaining provincial school requirements (including cohorting) will be removed.
• Screening prior to youth activities will no longer be required.
• Capacity limits will be lifted for all venues.
• Limits on social gatherings will be removed.
• The provincial mask mandate will be lifted in most settings. However, masking will still be required in high-risk settings, including on public transit, at Alberta Health Services-operated and contracted facilities and all continuing care settings.
• Restrictions on interactive activities, liquor service and operating hours will be lifted
• Mandatory work-from-home requirements will be removed.

Grande Prairie and District Chamber of Commerce chair Tertius Genis tells EverythingGP the lifting of rules and restrictions should help give local businesses a much-needed boost.

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“We all feel it’s an important step forward for our small business community,” Genis said.

“It’s also encouraging to see at the same time that (COVID-19) hospitalization and infections are going down, especially after the Stage 1 implementation which was the removal of the REP (Restrictions Exemption Program).”

Genis feels the re-opening this time around will be different than the one we saw in the summer.

“I think we have more data and better data at this time. We’ve also seen there is the drops in the positivity rate of infections and since the announcement of Stage 1, there has been a visible increase in especially restaurant visits and excitement among people with these measures being lifted,” he explained.

Genis feels restaurants and bars will see the biggest impact with the lifting of restrictions, given they can go back to operating at regular hours.

While it’s great to see so many people getting back out to restaurants, bars and shopping, Genis tells EverythingGP some of those businesses will still face staffing issues they were hit with at the start of the pandemic.

He does say however this is good for non-profit organizations for attracting events.

“What is encouraging is organizations can have their events in person again and non for profits can start fundraising again, which is critical for their operations,” he added.

“Overall, these new measures will also be good for tourism in our region which will benefit our community and the various small businesses.”

While many will get the feeling the pandemic is over, Genis says we aren’t quite out of the woods yet and encourages people to be cautious, but still enjoy themselves.

“There is still a continued need for personal responsibility, self-monitoring and safe distancing. We have to respect the personal choices of those who will wear a mask. We should still remain alert and aware that COVID-19 is still with us and not over yet. We have to continue to be kind to others during this transition and continue to support our local businesses and community.”