Priority services and activities

Following the conference on Monday, March 23rd, the government has announced the closure of all non-essential businesses and services.

As a reminder, this is the list of the public establishments that have been closed since March 15th:

• Libraries
• Museums
• Theaters
• Concert halls
• Bars and nightclubs
• Swimming pools, spas, saunas, aquaparks
• Recreational areas, including ski resorts, mega parks, trampoline centers;
• Cinemas and arcades
• Training centers, gymnasiums, dance halls, spinning, Zumba, yoga
• Arenas
• Indoor soccer centers
• Zoos
• Aquariums
• All other installations with a similar vocation.

Here is the government's official list of establishments allowed to remain open during this quarantine period:

Priority health care services

Priority health care services, including:

• all professions in the health and social services network;
• emergency pre-hospitalization services (ambulance attendants and dispatchers);
• private professional resource offices (health network);
• drugstores;
• dentists (emergency consultations);
• optometry (emergency services);
• intermediate resources and private seniors’ homes;
• homecare services for seniors, people with disabilities and vulnerable individuals;
• specialized shelter services (conjugal violence, homelessness, drug addiction, and so on);
• community based family organisations;
• 811 and 911 call centre staff;
• Héma-Québec;
• Transplant Québec;
• the Red Cross;
• the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ);
• the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ);
• the production, procurement and distribution of medications, vaccines and pharmaceutical goods and medical equipment, including laboratories and research centres;
• veterinaries;
• animal shelters.

Public security services

Public security services, including:

• police services, including municipal and Sûreté du Québec emergency call dispatching;
• fire departments;
• correctional services;
• special constables;
• security agencies;
• the Ministère de la Sécurité publique (civil protection and coroners);
• forest firefighters and all professionals who support civil protection operations;
• communications services;
• enterprises associated with environmental emergencies.

Priority government services

Priority government services:

• Gouvernement du Québec departments and bodies;
• childcare workers and emergency childcare service support staff;
• online higher education;
• suppliers of goods and services for disadvantage people;
• food inspection and safety;
• garbage collection and residual materials management;
• government air services;
• suicide prevention centres;
• assistance services for the victims of conjugal violence;
• staff that the municipalities deem essential (administration, public works, and so on);
• food banks;
• courts of law and administrative tribunals in cases that they deem urgent;
• legal services.

Maintenance and operation of strategic infrastructure

Maintenance and operation of strategic infrastructure, including:

• the production, procurement, transmission and distribution of energy (hydroelectricity, fossil energies, wind power, wood pellets);
• the maintenance in good operating condition of essential public infrastructure such as bridges, municipal buildings, and so on;
• construction, maintenance and the maintenance of essential activities related to public and private infrastructure that may pose a threat to public health and safety (private dams, the management of hazardous and radioactive materials, and so on);
• health services and supply chain, for example, a water treatment plant;
• computer resources (security, maintenance, urgent needs related to the situation);
• data centres.

Priority manufacturing activities

Priority manufacturing activities, including:

• food production, such as farming enterprises, food processing, beverages, slaughterhouses, market garden production;
• the production of inputs necessary for priority sectors;
• the pulp and paper sector;
• the manufacture of medical instruments;
• the manufacture of chemical products;
• the manufacture of health products;
• the manufacture of microelectronics components;
• industrial complexes, especially the aluminum sector, and mining complexes must reduce to a minimum their activities;
• manufacture and maintenance for the defence sector.

Priority stores

Priority stores, including:

• grocery stores and other food stores;
• drugstores;
• convenience stores;
• megastores outside shopping centres that offer grocery, drugstore or hardware services;
• products for farms such as mechanical equipment, fertilizer and so on;
• the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) and the Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC);
• funeral homes, crematoria and cemeteries;
• restaurants (takeout counters or delivery only);
• hotels;
• drycleaners and laundromats;
• medical and orthopaedic supply stores;
• pet food and supplies stores;
• movers;
• work equipment (safety and protection).

Media and telecommunications

Media and telecommunications:

• telecommunications (network and equipment);
• cable operators;
• printers (solely for printing newspapers);
• national media;
• local media.

Banking and financial services

Banking and financial services, including:

• financial services (financial institutions, ATMs and other payment methods);
• insurance services (telephone service);
• payroll services;
• accounting services;
• services related to financial markets;
• services related to financial markets and stock markets.

Construction sector

Construction sector:

• construction firms for emergency dispatching or security purposes;
• electricians, plumbers and other trades for emergency services;
• rental equipment.

Building maintenance services

Building maintenance services, including:

• janitorial work;
• building-maintenance firms (elevators, ventilation, alarms, and so on).

Priority transportation and logistics services

Priority transportation and logistics services:

• mass transit and passenger transportation;
• ports and airports;
• locomotive and aircraft maintenance services and essential aeronautical services (air transport);
• procurement and distribution of foodstuffs, grocery stores and convenience stores;
• transportation, warehousing and distribution of essential goods;
• snow removal and maintenance of functional road links;
• service stations and mechanical repair of motor vehicles, trucks and specialized equipment for industries deemed essential and roadside assitance;
• taxis, paratransit;
• postal services, message handling and parcel delivery.

If your company is not on this list but you consider its activity essential, you can report it by filling out this form: Information form.