City updates during Stay-at-Home order and State of Emergency

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

The Government of Ontario has extended the Stay-at-Home Order and the State of Emergency, and announced further province-wide restrictions as well as extending the order under the Reopening Ontario Act.
 
The Stay-at-Home Order is an order under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, and requires everyone to remain at home except for essential reasons, such as grocery shopping, going to the pharmacy, accessing health care services (including getting vaccinated), outdoor exercise or for work that cannot be done remotely. The COVID-19 Response Framework (colour-coded zones) is on hold at this time.
 
During this time, the following City services will be affected by the Provincial orders:
 
Administrative Offices:
  • The Cemetery office, GFL Memorial Gardens, Ronald A. Irwin Civic Centre, Sault Transit, Fire Services Administration and Public Works and Engineering Services offices will be open for essential services. Citizens with urgent matters requiring the attention of staff are advised to contact the appropriate department. 
Required Recreation Closures:
  • Community Centres will be closed. This includes the John Rhodes Community Centre, the Northern Community Centre, Seniors’ Centres and the Ermatinger Clergue National Historic Site. All bookings and programming are cancelled.
  • City operated arenas will be closed. This includes the GFL Memorial Gardens (open for scheduled vaccination appointments), the John Rhodes Community Centre and the McMeeken Centre. All ice time rentals will be reimbursed.
  • Outdoor recreational amenities, including baseball diamonds, soccer fields, disc golf locations, tennis courts, pickleball courts, and skate parks are closed.
  • Outdoor sports facilities, including any portion of a park or recreational area containing outdoor fitness equipment, or any outdoor picnic site or picnic table are closed.
  • Under the provincial orders, Bellevue Park and Roberta Bondar marinas are allowed to open in a limited capacity, i.e., limited to repair, placing boats in the water to be secured to a dock until the marina is open to the public, or if necessary to allow access to a residence. Specifically, the order prohibits the use of the marina for recreational boating. 
Permitted Recreation:
  • Parks and recreational areas including trails will be open to allow people to walk through them.
  • Off-leash dog parks, park benches, outdoor playgrounds, outdoor play structures and play equipment are open but any person using them or an open park or recreational area must maintain a physical distance of at least 2 meters from other people using the amenity, other than people in the same household. 
Public Works Operations:
  • Waste and recycling collection and spring and winter operations are not impacted.
  • The City’s Household Hazardous Waste Depot (HHW) is open Tuesday to Saturday 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. For a complete list of acceptable waste visit saultstemarie.ca/hhw.
  • The City’s landfill located at 402 Fifth Line East is open Monday to Saturday 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. For the safety of staff and visitors, security will be on-site enforcing social distancing and public health recommendations including mandatory mask wearing. Expect vehicle lineups as space at drop-off bins is being limited.
  • Leaf and yard waste begins May 3 for Collection A and May 10 for Collection B. To view the Leaf and Yard Waste Collection calendar visit saultstemarie.ca/collectioncalendar
Transit – Avoid Non-Essential Trips:
  • There will be no change to the schedule during this time.
  • The Transit terminal will be closed.
  • Enhanced cleaning and disinfection of buses remains in place with a focus on high touch areas.
  • Essential trips only. Do not use public transit if you feel unwell or exhibit any symptoms. For more information, call 705-759-5438. 
Parking:
  • Hassle free parking for curbside pick-up is available to support local businesses in the Downtown area. During this time, you do not need to feed the meter.
  • Officers will continue enforcing all other parking regulations. 
Building Services:
  • Building Services continues to receive, review and issue all building permits but inspections will only be carried out on projects deemed essential under the new provincial restrictions put in place April 17, 2021.
  • Building and by-law inquires and service requests can be submitted by phone to 705-759-5410 or online at building@cityssm.on.ca
Cemetery office:
  • The Cemetery office is open for essential needs only.
  • Funeral directors, families in need and delivery services will be accepted. 
Clerk’s office:
  • The City’s Clerks department is open for essential needs only.
  • Cemetery and funeral services and urgent marriage licence for Algoma District residents applications will be processed.
  • Further inquiries can be directed to 705-759-5388 or cityclerk@cityssm.on.ca
Legal department:
  • The Legal department and Provincial Offences office are open for essential needs only.
  • Fine payments can be made by mail, in the drop box located at the Civic Centre or online at saultstemarie.ca/eservices. Payments cannot be made over the phone.
  • Damage claims can be completed online.
  • All Freedom of Information requests with the accompanying $5 can be mailed to the Legal Department for processing.
  • Provincial Offences Court continues to operate remotely.
  • For further inquiries regarding the services of the City’s Legal department contact 705-759-5400.
Fire Services:
  • Fire Halls remain closed to the public. Administration will be available by phone at 705-949-3333 Press #0.
All City facilities continue to operate under strict health and safety measures which must be adhered to by residents to limit the spread of COVID-19 and for the safety of facility patrons and City staff. Due to the rapidly changing nature of the pandemic, services are subject to ongoing assessment and potential change.
 
For the most current information, updates will be posted to the City’s website at saultstemarie.ca/covid19 and on social media.
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Contact Us

Phone
705-759-2500

Email
info@cityssm.on.ca

Fax
705-759-2310

TTY
1-877-688-5528

Location
99 Foster Drive
Sault Ste. Marie, ON
P6A 5X6