In light of the coronavirus, several large-scale entertainment, sports, music & film events have been cancelled as large gatherings are being discouraged. On Monday, March 23, Premier Doug Ford announced that non-essential businesses will be forced to close at the end of the day, Tuesday, March 24. Essential businesses will include grocery stores, pharmacies, and the LCBO. A full list of businesses that will be allowed to stay open will be released on Tuesday.

Schools:

• All publicly funded and schools in Ontario will remain closed for two weeks following March Break until April 5th.
• All Quebec daycares, elementary and high schools, CEGEPs and universities will close for two weeks, starting Monday, March 16.
• Carleton University has cancelled all classes on Monday, March 16, and Tuesday March 17. All classes will be delivered online, or other means, for the rest of the semester. The summer semester will also be delivered online.
• The University of Ottawa is taking the same step. Classes at the U of O are canceled Monday and Tuesday, with instruction moving online after that.
• Algonquin College has suspended in-person classes and labs from Monday, March 16, to Sunday, March 22. That will give faculty the time to prepare to deliver the rest of the semester’s content online, or through other means. Classes currently being offered online will continue.
• Ciena‘s Kanata campus will be closed until March 30th.

Ottawa Events & Venues:

• All Ottawa bars, theatres and entertainment venues are asked to close temporarily and restaurants are asked to limit operations to take-out and delivery.
• Mayor Jim Watson has announced that the city’s recreational facilities, pools, and libraries, will close on Monday, March 16, and won’t re-open until April 5 at the earliest.
• All Ottawa bars, theatres and entertainment venues are asked to close temporarily and restaurants are asked to limit operations to take-out and delivery.
• The Archdiocese of Ottawa has cancelled masses scheduled for Saturday, March 14, and Sunday, March 15.
• March Break Camps: University of Ottawa has cancelled all of their camps & Carleton University has cancelled their athletic camps.
• March Break Open Houses: Algonquin College, University of Ottawa and Carleton University have postponed their Open Houses.
• The Canadian Tire Centre has postponed all events until further notice.
• TD Place has closed down until further notice.
• The National Arts Centre has cancelled all events & performances until April 5th. Instead, you can catch performances online as part of their collaboration with Facebook.
• The Ottawa St. Patrick’s Day Parade & Party are postponed to later in the year.
• The Mayfair Theatre has closed down until further notice.
• All Quebec casinos, including Casino Du Lac Leamy will be closed until at least April 12th.
• Gatineau Park will close at 9:00 pm on Monday, March 23, and remain closed until further notice.

Ottawa Food & Drink:

• All Ottawa bars, theatres and entertainment venues are asked to close temporarily and restaurants are asked to limit operations to take-out and delivery.
• All Bridgehead coffee shop locations have closed across the city.

Awards Shows:

• The 2020 Juno Awards have been cancelled.
• The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2020 Induction Ceremony has been cancelled.
• The Nickelodeon 2020 Kids’ Choice Awards have been cancelled.

Festivals:

• Coachella and its accompanying festival, Stagecoach have been postponed until October.
• South by Southwest 2020 (SXSW) has been cancelled.
• Lollapalooza has postponed it’s South American festivals.

Concerts, Tours & Music:

• Live Nation is putting a pause on all tours until the end of March, including those of Billie Eilish & Post Malone.
• Pearl Jam has postponed the first leg of their Gigaton tour to an unspecified time period. This run included a stop in Ottawa on March 20th.
• Broadway is suspending all of its shows until April 12th.
• Rage Against the Machine have postponed the first leg of their upcoming tour from March until May 20th.
• Cardi B has delayed the release of her new music.

Sports:

• The National Basketball Association (NBA) has suspended the season.
• The National Hockey League (NHL) has suspended the season.
• Major League Baseball has delayed the start of the season by at least two weeks. Spring training games have been cancelled.
• The Major Soccer League (MLS) has suspended games for a month.
• March Madness has been cancelled with no plans to reschedule as of yet.
• The CFL has cancelled its regional and national combines.
• The Canadian Hockey League has suspended OHL, QMJHL & WHL seasons until further notice.
• The Little Native Hockey League has cancelled its hockey tournament.
• The Premier League has postponed games until April 4th.
• The Ontario Minor Hockey League has suspended activities until further notice.
• UEFA has announced that The 2020 European Championships have been postponed until 2021.

Film & Television:

• Several television shows have stopped filming in front of a live audience, including Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune and The Daily Show.
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon & Late Night with Seth Meyers are on hiatus, at least through the next week until March 23rd.
• The release of the upcoming James Bond film, No Time to Die has been postponed until November 2020.
• The release of the upcoming horror film, A Quiet Place 2 has been postponed until an unspecified date.
• The release of the upcoming film, Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, has been postponed until August 2020.
• The release of the upcoming film, Fast and the Furious 9, has been postponed until April 2021.
• Disney has postponed the release of Mulan, Antlers & The New Mutants.
• Production of Mission Impossible 7 has been shut down.
• Production of season 41 of Survivor has been postponed until May.
• Production of new seasons of The Morning Show & Riverdale are on pause.

Other events:

• The Kingston Canadian Film Festival has been cancelled.
• The E3 video game conference has been cancelled.
• Disney’s theme parks in California, Orlando, Florida & Paris, France will close down at least until the end of March.