Vital updates:

• The Government of Ontario today launched a webpage to report COVID-19 cases in schools and child care centres. This page will be updated every weekday with the most up-to-date COVID-19 information available, including a summary of cases in schools and licensed child care centres and agencies, if a COVID-19 case is confirmed at a particular school, and where the numbers come from. This information will be useful not only to working parents but also to employers, as outbreaks and shutdowns in local schools and daycares may affect the availability of their workforce.
• The Ontario government is launching an online survey that will help inform long-term transportation planning for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, and guide highway and transit investment from today to the year 2051. This regional transportation plan will aim renew and expand modern infrastructure, foster a healthy environment, and allow the region to stay competitive in a global economy. By 2051, population and employment are forecasted to grow from 9 million to 14.9 million people, and 4.5 million to 7 million jobs, respectively.
• The federal Minister of Transport, the Honourable Marc Garneau, announced today that Transport Canada, provincial and territorial governments, public health authorities, and Canada’s largest air carriers have established a consistent approach for air carriers to collect and share passenger information necessary to alert Canadians of possible COVID-19 exposure while travelling by air, in compliance with applicable privacy legislation. This would facilitate timely contact tracing and exposure notification for passengers on domestic flights.
• Ontario reported 213 new cases of coronavirus today, marking the first time the province’s numbers have crossed the 200 mark in months. Premier Ford had previously declined to rule out a return to Stage 2 of the provincial re-opening framework or even a lockdown. The GNCC believes that a rollback of the reopening must be avoided, and the only way to accomplish this without compromising public health is through keeping the number of cases low through rigorous observation of public health guidelines.
• A group of border city mayors is calling on the federal government to keep the Canada-U.S. border closed to non-essential travel until at least next year. The current border closure has been extended until September 21.

Reading recommendations:

• Canadians are paying down debt during COVID-19 — but a ‘tsunami’ of bankruptcies could be coming, Pete Evans, CBC News
• Is the office finished? The fight over the future of the workplace, The Economist
• The Great Rethink: It’s time to reassess how our provinces manage natural resource wealth, Geoffrey Morgan, Financial Post