Dear Everyone,

This afternoon, Premier Ford confirmed that the entire province of Ontario will be going into lockdown as of December 26. Restrictions for southern Ontario (including Toronto) will not be lifted until January 23 at the earliest. This means that the AGO will continue to be closed to the public until at least January 23.

Many of you have spent countless hours preparing to open Studio 54: Night Magic, and I’m disappointed that audiences won’t get the opportunity to visit over the holidays. However, we must follow the directive of our public health professionals and the government as the health, safety and well-being of our visitors, employees, volunteers and our extended AGO community is always our top priority.

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

• AGOBistro will continue to offer takeout and curated dinners
• shopAGO will continue to take and fulfil online orders with curbside pickup
• Using Studio 54: Night Magic as the theme, we will be hosting an online New Years Eve Countdown, with family friendly activities and a countdown from 4 – 5pm.
• After the holiday break, on January 11 our virtual schools program will continue providing parents and schoolchildren with art classes every weekday.
• Our online courses and talks will continue as planned

This newest lockdown will have an impact on labour. After we closed in November, thanks to our union leadership and the Board of Trustees, a plan was approved to pay scheduled/active employees who work onsite for the initial 28 day closure. At that time, we stated that if the lockdown was extended past December 20, employees who did not have meaningful work beyond that date would be served temporary lay-off notices. Notifications have taken place. This is difficult news for our colleagues who have been impacted and we hope to be able to bring these team members back as soon as possible. I want to also take the opportunity to reiterate that the uncertainty of the spread of the virus can be stressful.

We are committed to following the advice of health and government officials and we will continue to communicate with you regularly during the closure. Please reach out to your manager or Leadership Team member if you have any questions or concerns.

Hang in there, everyone. 2020 is almost over. In the coming months, the vaccine will be here and we’ll turn the corner on COVID-19. Until then, continue to focus on your own health and safety.

Sincerely,

Mike Mahoney

Capital Projects & Operations