Strategy

Gym owners warn that it won't be fitness as usual as many Ontario facilities implement new measures to keep members safe while they get back in shape after months of COVID-19 languor. Fitness centres in much of Ontario are set to reopen Friday as part of Stage 3 of the government's COVID-19 restart plan. However, exercise enthusiasts in regions stuck in Stage 2, such as Toronto and Peel, will have to sweat it out on their own for a bit longer.

Federal health officials are extending the U.S. ban on cruise ships through the end September as coronavirus infections rise in most U.S. states, including Florida. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that it was extending a no-sail order that had been scheduled to expire July 24.

Although the Canadian border has been closed since March 21 to limit the spread of COVID-19, the number of international travelers counted at Canadian airports has increased considerably in recent weeks. Between June 29 and July 12, 91,300 travelers entered Canada, according to the Canada Border Services Agency. About 40,000 of the 91,000 passengers were neither Canadian citizens nor permanent residents of the country.

Nova Scotia's auditor general says the COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to raise costs for a health care expansion project that represents the largest capital output in the province's history. Michael Pickup released his second report on the expansion of the Halifax Infirmary and the construction of a community outpatient centre, which has an estimated $2-billion price tag.

Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday his government has a plan to deal a second wave of COVID-19 this fall, a pledge that comes as Ontario's hospitals warn the surge may come as flu season strikes. Ford said he has been consulting with provincial health officials about the plan, but offered no details about how or when it will be announced.

Nearly two weeks after a loosened travel agreement between their provinces came into effect, Atlantic Canadian premiers are not rushing to set a date to welcome visitors from the rest of the country. The Atlantic travel "bubble'' that opened July 3 allows residents of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island to travel between the four provinces without being required to self-isolate for 14 days.

The union's primary concern is that province's emergency order suspends collective bargaining

The federal government is extending its program to subsidize wages in companies hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic until December, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday. The program is the heart of the government's promise to help Canadians get back to work, even if has to be at a slower pace, as the pandemic wanes.