Provincial plans for loosening restrictions

[amw]

McGill said they are looking at having most classes online in the fall and some on-campus (labs for examples). Courses in a big auditorium are a big no imo but maybe a hybrid system could be possible. There's also the problem of international students potentially not being allowed to come study in Canada. So many unknowns!

My DDs best friend was supposed to go to McGill (we’re in Ontario). She was sent notice last week that first term would all be online. No Rez. She asked and received a refund immediately. She’s now looking at going to Western — so far they’ve announced a mixed online/small class with accommodations in Rez. But things could change at any time. My older DD goes there & already has an apartment lined up — so no matter what she’s living there in the Fall.
My Younger DD is going to Brock. They announced it would mostly be online. But haven’t said anything about Rez yet. So hard on these kids. They’ve had prom cancelled, grad cancelled, no yearbooks, no sports, no seeing their friends, and now potentially no first-year university experiences. I know first-world problems. But as a parent, I’m even mourning these lost milestones. I can’t imagine the depression thats weighing on these kids.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

My niece is going to UPEI for nursing and that will be in-person.

 

[bookbabe626]

My niece is headed to her first year at Wilfred Laurier, and just got the news that the fall term will be online. She had to pick a residence for the winter term, just in case, but didn't have to pay a deposit, which is nice, I guess. Her mom is thrilled she’ll be at home (Brampton) a bit longer, my niece not so much. She‘s already lost all the extras of her final year of high school, like the Gr 12 trip to NYC, prom, grad, etc. and is now losing all the extras of her first year of university. I feel so bad for her.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

Tell her at least she also gets to lose the dreaded Freshman 15! Lol

 

[hdrolfe]

Schools in Ontario closed through June, plans for the fall will be unveiled before the end of this school year (so end of June). I may have missed what they said about daycare/camps. I heard no overnight camps but not sure about the day camps.

 

[Kaadk]

Looks like day camps are still being decided based on the one article I read. There was a lot of 'maybe' in there.

 

[Jrb1979]

Looks like day camps are still being decided based on the one article I read. There was a lot of 'maybe' in there.

I think they are waiting til we allow larger group sizes. I wouldn't be surprised they will be cancelled for the summer.

 

[Kaadk]

I think they are waiting til we allow larger group sizes. I wouldn't be surprised they will be cancelled for the summer.

Thanks for reminding me, that was one thing I did see in there, gatherings are still limited to 5, which means still no going to visit family (officially). I'm hoping for that more so than getting things open again.

 

[Jrb1979]

Thanks for reminding me, that was one thing I did see in there, gatherings are still limited to 5, which means still no going to visit family (officially). I'm hoping for that more so than getting things open again.

Me too. That's what I want and to be able it open my trailer. Its at a conservation area so they aren't opening yet.

 

[hdrolfe]

They mentioned when it moves to the phase for daycares to reopen they will be limited to 50 kids, so I imagine daycamps would be the same? And not sure how it would impact those daycares that are located in schools.

I was glad to hear they will provide a plan for fall by the end of June though, gives time to make sure we are ready (my kiddo needs to know what is happening before it does, so having time to get ready is great). One of the reporters did try and push, are they looking at half days? half the kids? and they said they are looking at all options.

 

[isabellea]

They mentioned when it moves to the phase for daycares to reopen they will be limited to 50 kids, so I imagine daycamps would be the same? And not sure how it would impact those daycares that are located in schools.

I was glad to hear they will provide a plan for fall by the end of June though, gives time to make sure we are ready (my kiddo needs to know what is happening before it does, so having time to get ready is great). One of the reporters did try and push, are they looking at half days? half the kids? and they said they are looking at all options.

I think it's great ON will provide a plan for fall before the end of June. I hope QC will do the same because it does help my anxious kid to know things in advance (while the little one couldn't care less). We should know more about day camps this week. I have a LOT of money already paid for those and I want to know asap if I need to make new plans or not and whether I can get a refund if I don't feel confortable with the plan of a camp.

 

[Jo-Anne]

My DDs best friend was supposed to go to McGill (we’re in Ontario). She was sent notice last week that first term would all be online. No Rez. She asked and received a refund immediately. She’s now looking at going to Western — so far they’ve announced a mixed online/small class with accommodations in Rez. But things could change at any time. My older DD goes there & already has an apartment lined up — so no matter what she’s living there in the Fall.
My Younger DD is going to Brock. They announced it would mostly be online. But haven’t said anything about Rez yet. So hard on these kids. They’ve had prom cancelled, grad cancelled, no yearbooks, no sports, no seeing their friends, and now potentially no first-year university experiences. I know first-world problems. But as a parent, I’m even mourning these lost milestones. I can’t imagine the depression thats weighing on these kids.

I know this is a very stressful time for the Grade 12 grads. I feel so bad for them. My daughter graduated from Brock and now works for them. She said that info about Rez should be coming out within the next week or so. The policy that was posted was left open ended so they have the flexibility to adjust as public health guidelines become more clear. Most residence rooms at Brock are single, so if they did open up rez they would be in a decent position to offer, but the delivery of classes would be altered for at least the start Fall term.

 

[ottawamom]

@isabellea what's up with the Quebec #'s today. I only caught a bit of the press conference. Were the #'s localized to Montreal? mostly long term care? seemed like quite a jump.

Don't worry if you don't have the answers I just thought you might be up to date on what's going on.

 

[pigletto]

I have to say I am relieved with this decision to not send kids back. I just couldn’t see the sense in getting that whole machine up and running again and the massive exposure that would cause. I know how hard it is on parents of young children who need to work though.

I have a son in grade 10 who is struggling with the online learning format but he’s finding a rhythm and organizing himself and it’s helping. He’s a strong student and he works hard but he’s not breezing through .. they are basically teaching themselves the material and he benefits a great deal from teachers and an instructional environment. But.. we do the best we can.
He volunteered at a day camp last summer and he was assured he would work there this summer. Honestly though I don’t know if I want him to. To be responsible for people’s children when anxiety is so high seems like too much for a summer job. It’s a hard job to begin with but this really adds a layer of extra worry. We will see how it plays out. If they keep the group numbers very small it could be ideal.

 

[bcwife76]

I'm still stunned that schools are reopening here in BC on June 1. It's completely voluntary and we will not be sending our girls to school, but I understand it's not voluntary for teachers and I really feel for them The province has put them in a terrible position.

And don't even get me started on what education will look like for those last 4 weeks with a combination of in class and online learning. And the premier and education minister thinks a September return will look 'normal' I doubt that every much. Normal doesn't exist at the moment and won't for many months/years to come.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

NS still isn't in phase 1...each phase will be 28 days...do the math. I'll be here locked in my house for forever at this rate.

 

[Jrb1979]

NS still isn't in phase 1...each phase will be 28 days...do the math. I'll be here locked in my house for forever at this rate.

Its not like you can go outside the country right now. You can still go out of your house for a walk.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

Walks are getting old. I need some variety.

 

[isabellea]

@isabellea what's up with the Quebec #'s today. I only caught a bit of the press conference. Were the #'s localized to Montreal? mostly long term care? seemed like quite a jump.

Don't worry if you don't have the answers I just thought you might be up to date on what's going on.

I didn't listen to today's press conference with Premier Legault as I was watching a webinar on next-generation sequencing (yep boring!) but when I look at the stats, our number of cases is slowly going down even though we test a lot more than before (10-13K tests/day vs 6-7K/day a month ago). Hopefully this trend will continue as people slowly go back to work and things are opening up. And yes most cases are still in the Greater Montreal and long-term care (CHSLD cases). The situation in LTC is a true disaster with some centres with 100% of their residents testing positive. It's really an embarrassment and shows how much we need to change how things are run and how much we pay the workers.



This is a great website to see the evolution of our cases. The relevant graphs are only in French but it's very basic so should be easy to understand. They have graphs comparing the different age groups, where their residence were at time of death (not where they died), affected regions and QC vs other provinces and countries. Our early Spring break and proximity to NY really screwed us at the beginning and we never really recovered. Hopefully the population will do the right thing and continue proper social distancing.
https://www.inspq.qc.ca/covid-19/donnees
Our public health director, Dr Arruda, is supposed to show us the community curve vs the curve of cases related to the long-term care facilities. That's the curve we have to keep a close look on as we are slowly re-opening.

 

[wdwmom3]

My DDs best friend was supposed to go to McGill (we’re in Ontario). She was sent notice last week that first term would all be online. No Rez. She asked and received a refund immediately. She’s now looking at going to Western — so far they’ve announced a mixed online/small class with accommodations in Rez. But things could change at any time. My older DD goes there & already has an apartment lined up — so no matter what she’s living there in the Fall.
My Younger DD is going to Brock. They announced it would mostly be online. But haven’t said anything about Rez yet. So hard on these kids. They’ve had prom cancelled, grad cancelled, no yearbooks, no sports, no seeing their friends, and now potentially no first-year university experiences. I know first-world problems. But as a parent, I’m even mourning these lost milestones. I can’t imagine the depression thats weighing on these kids.

I have a daughter in exactly the same situation. We had bought her dress just a few weeks before the lockdown. Of all the kids that have “lost something” I think the high school grads are getting hit the worse. Both big years in life are nothing like they thought it would be.

Her school has always done grad in the fall so we are hopeful something will happen for that at least.