Dear Everyone,

Due to a rising number of COVID-19 infections, this afternoon Premier Ford announced that the City of Toronto and the region of Peel will face further restrictions as of 12:01 a.m. Monday, November 23.  This means that the AGO will be open this weekend and close to the public as of Monday, November 23.

I know that this is not the news we wanted to hear. We have been living with the virus now for 8 months, and the uncertainty has taken a toll. Everyone has worked very hard to ensure that our visitors have had a safe and enjoyable experience while at the museum.  All of us have done an excellent job and we have delivered. However, the health, safety and well-being of our visitors, employees, volunteers and our extended AGO community is always our top priority. We must follow the directive of our public health professionals and the government.

At this time, we anticipate remaining closed through Sunday, December 20. The Province did not provide a firm end date but suggested that they will assess the new measures over the next four weeks. We will continue to monitor the situation, and we look forward to welcoming visitors to the AGO again. Any visitor who had booked a time ticket to visit over the next four weeks will be contacted and offered a refund.

Although the AGO is closed, we will still be serving our public in the following ways:

• Our virtual schools program will continue providing parents and schoolchildren with art classes every weekday
• Our online courses and talks will continue as planned
• shopAGO’s online shop will continue to take and fulfil orders

Leadership Team has determined the list of employees who are critical to sustaining the AGO’s operation and need to be onsite while we are closed. Critical staff were identified in March.

Since March, the majority of our colleagues have been working from home, following work plans that have been approved by their manager.  We will be reviewing the onsite work that will need to continue while we are closed and will communicate this with you as soon as possible. I know that this creates more uncertainty and it’s my commitment to you that we will resolve this quickly.

We are committed to following the advice of health and government officials and we will communicate with you regularly during the closure.

Sincerely,

Stephan