TORONTO - Ontario continues to take important steps to protect the province's supply chain and make sure the heroes on the front lines have the essential goods and services they need in the fight against COVID-19 like ventilators, masks and swabs. 

"COVID-19 is impacting supply chains across Canada, and around the world," said Lisa Thompson, Minister of Government and Consumer Services. "That's why we are proclaiming the Supply Chain Management Act to make sure we can deploy critical supplies, equipment and services to where they are needed most."

These regulations willenable the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services and the Ministry of Health to centrally manage public sector supply chains. It will allow the collection of key data on inventories, orders and supply constraints and the development of a virtual inventory tool so that demand for crucial supplies are visible and trackable. With these measures in place, the government can prioritize buying what is needed most, deploying them, and allocating them on a priority basis to support the delivery of essential services to Ontarians.

Support will also be available to other public entities, such as publicly funded social service agencies and municipalities if they choose to participate.

"Ontario is implementing critical and necessary measures to ensure that we are able to protect the health and well-being of Ontarians," said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. "This includes working with innovators and businesses across the province who can supply emergency products and cutting-edge solutions to support ongoing efforts to contain COVID-19."

Ontario has also launched Ontario Together, a new website that is helping businesses work with the province to meet the challenges of COVID-19. This removes barriers allowing Ontario's manufacturing sector to redeploy capacity towards the production of essential equipment.

QUICK FACTS

• Ontario declared a state of emergency on March 17, 2020 in the fight against COVID-19.

• As part of Ontario’s Action Plan: Responding to COVID-19, Ontario has announced $935 million for the hospital sector, to address capacity issues, an additional 1,000 acute care and 500 critical care beds, and for additional assessment centres.

• The government launched OntarioTogether to invite businesses and their employees to supply emergency products and innovative solutions in the battle against this disease.