Calgary's mask bylaw will remain in place until at least July 5
Calgarians will be required to continue to wear masks in indoor public spaces and on Calgary Transit, even after the province enters Stage 3 of its reopening plan.
Council voted to come back and discuss repealing the city's mask mandate on July 5. Alberta will remove nearly all of its provincial health restrictions on July 1.
"Our second dose rates are really good," said Mayor Naheed Nenshi.
"But I know right now there's no appointments available. So I just want to make sure enough people have their second dose so that when the Delta variant wave comes, most people will be protected."
When council returns to discuss its mask bylaw on July 5, it will look at Calgary hospitalizations, ICU numbers, case rates and the amount of Calgarians who have received two doses of the vaccine to determine when to lift the mandate.
Council could vote to repeal the mask mandate immediately on that day, the mayor said.
Earlier on Monday, Cllr. Jeromy Farkas pitched a motion to align Calgary's mask bylaw with the provincial reopening plan. But the motion to repeal the city's mask bylaw when Alberta enters Stage 3 on July 1 was lost on a 7-7 tie.
The mayor also says the Calgary Stampede is also currently planning to make it mandatory that everyone wear a mask in indoor settings.
"Their current safety plan will require masks indoors, whether or not the mask bylaw is in place," said Nenshi, who sits on the Stampede board. He said that plan could be updated to remove that requirement, however.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
For the first time in report's history, Canada's air quality worse than U.S.
Air quality in Canada is now worse than in the U.S., according to the 6th Annual World Air Quality Report. Of the 15 most polluted cities in the two countries, 14 were in Canada.
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
WATCH LIVE As former prime minister Mulroney lies in state, public tributes in Ottawa begin
Members of the public who wish to pay tribute to Brian Mulroney can visit his casket in Ottawa starting this afternoon.
BREAKING Roy McMurtry, former Ontario attorney general, dies at 91
CTV News has confirmed that former Ontario attorney general Roy McMurtry has died.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
Images taken deep inside melted Fukushima reactor show damage, but leave many questions unanswered
Images taken by miniature drones from deep inside a badly damaged reactor at the Fukushima nuclear plant show displaced control equipment and misshapen materials but leave many questions unanswered, underscoring the daunting task of decommissioning the plant.
DEVELOPING February inflation rate slows to 2.8% as price growth unexpectedly eases
Canada's annual inflation rate unexpectedly fell to 2.8 per cent last month, amid sharp declines in cellular and internet services as well as slower grocery price growth.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.