Alberta
Team sports and group dance not yet approved. Restaurants open with restrictions. – Details on health measures easing February 8

From the Province of Alberta
More health measures will ease on Feb. 8
Additional health measures will be eased for restaurants, indoor fitness and some children’s activities, effective Feb. 8.
Step 1 of Alberta’s four-step framework to ease restrictions is based on a COVID-19 hospitalization benchmark of 600, including intensive care patients. This benchmark was reached on Jan. 28.
The full, four-step framework for easing restrictions can be viewed here.
“Albertans have done a great job of bringing our numbers down from our peak in December. We aren’t out of the woods yet, but there are opportunities where we can safely ease restrictions while also protecting our health-care system. This first step is a cautious one, and it will bring relief to many Albertans and Alberta businesses.”
“We are able to ease restrictions on Feb. 8 thanks to the efforts of Albertans. We need to stick to a stepped approach so we don’t risk the steady improvements we’ve made. Although restrictions will remain in place, the path forward gives us all more options in our daily lives.”
Indoor and outdoor children’s sport and performance
- Children’s sport and performance activities are permitted if they are related to school activities, such as physical education classes.
- This will allow K-12 schools and post-secondary institutions to use off-site facilities to support curriculum-related educational activities.
Indoor fitness
- Only one-on-one training is permitted for indoor fitness activities (e.g. fitness in dance studios, training figure skating on ice, one-on-one lessons).
- One-on-one sessions cannot interact with others and there must be a minimum of three metres distance between sessions in the same facility.
- Sessions have to be scheduled or by appointment.
- No drop-in for individuals or groups is allowed.
- No sports games, competitions, team practice, league play or group exercise of any kind.
- Trainers must be professional, certified and/or paid trainers who are providing active instruction and correction. Passive supervision of a physical activity is not considered training.
- Trainers should remain masked during the session; clients are not required to wear a mask while exercising.
- More than one trainer and client ‘pair’ are allowed into the facility, studio, rink, court, pool, ice surface, etc., as long as:
- Each trainer and client stays three metres away from all other trainers and clients at all times, including in entryways and exits.
- Each trainer only interacts with their assigned client, and each client only interacts with their assigned trainer.
- No interaction between clients or between trainers is allowed.
- No ‘cycling through’ multiple trainers, as in circuit training.
Restaurants, cafes and pubs
- Restaurants, cafes and pubs must collect the contact information of one person from the dining party.
- Up to a maximum of six people per table; individuals must be from same household or the two close contacts for people living alone.
- Liquor service ends at 10 p.m.
- In-person dining must close by 11 p.m.
- No entertainment allowed (e.g., no VLTs, pool tables, live music, etc.)
Alberta’s government is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by protecting lives and livelihoods with precise measures to bend the curve, sustain small businesses and protect Alberta’s health-care system.
Alberta
Calgary police identify 15-year-old girl killed in shooting, investigation continues

Calgary (CP) – Calgary police have identified a 15-year-old girl who was fatally shot this week as investigators try to determine whether she was the intended target or if it was a case of mistaken identity.
Officers responded to reports of a shooting in an alley in the Martindale neighbourhood early Tuesday morning.
They say the teenager was a passenger in a vehicle when she was shot and that the driver, who was not injured, immediately fled the scene before pulling over to call police.
Police say investigators have received several tips from the public.
They say evidence from the scene leads police to believe it was targeted, but investigators haven’t determined whether the occupants of the vehicle were the intended targets.
The girl has been identified as Sarah Alexis Jorquera of Calgary.
“This was a senseless act of violence that took the life of a young girl,” Staff Sgt. Martin Schiavetta of the homicide unit said in a statement Wednesday.
“At this point, we have more questions than answers and are working around the clock to hold those responsible accountable. Losing a 15-year-old is a tragic loss for our community, her school, her friends and, most importantly, her family.”
Police ask anyone with any information about the shooting to call investigators.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2023.
Alberta
‘A crisis’: Calgary charity seeks one-month homes for Ukrainian refugees after influx

Ukrainian evacuees Dmytro Syrman, left, his wife, Anastasiia, centre, and their four-year-old daughter Varvara attend a news conference highlighting the need for temporary housing in Calgary on Wednesday, March 29, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
By Bill Graveland in Calgary
After six months under Russian occupation, Dmytro Syrman and his family decided to flee Ukraine for a safer life abroad and are now in Calgary.
The family lived in Dniprorudne, a mining city of 17,000 in southern Ukraine. Syrman worked as a human resources manager at an iron factory.
In August, Syrman, his wife, Anastasiia, and four-year-old daughter Varvara embarked on a six-day, 3,000-kilometre drive to Poland.
“On the 24 of February, when the Russian army attacked Ukraine and occupied our city in March 2022, we lost everything,” Syrman said Wednesday.
He said they began planning their escape when they realized Russian soldiers weren’t leaving their city.
“We started all of this because we were scared for Varvara,” he said. “When Russian bombs were falling near our city it was really scary.”
Their home is still under Russian occupation.
For the past year the family stayed in Poland, sent in their paperwork to come to Canada, and two weeks ago arrived in Calgary.
They’re now staying with a host family for a month while they look for long-term accommodation and to find jobs.
“We are here and starting a new life. We can’t believe about people who don’t know us and many helped us. We’re really shocked,” Syrman said.
The Syrmans were helped by Calgary’s Centre for Newcomers, which started a campaign to find 100 hosts for Ukrainian families or individuals for a month while they find housing of their own.
Kelly Ernst, chief program officer with the centre, said there has been a flood of Ukrainians trying to take advantage of a federal program that allows them to temporarily resettle in Canada.
The Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel program has been extended until July and Ernst said he expects people will continue to flee the war-torn country.
“We’re in a desperate, dire need at the moment for host homes to try to accommodate the evacuees coming from Ukraine. It’s reaching the proportions of being a crisis moment,” said Ernst.
He said people arriving elsewhere in Canada are migrating to Calgary because the rents are lower than in larger cities such as Toronto and Vancouver.
Ernst said approximately 450 people have been arriving in Calgary every week from Ukraine and his organization has helped people staying nights in the airport, off the street and at homeless shelters.
Natalia Shem, who is the manager of housing for the Ukrainian evacuees, said it’s difficult for the newcomers to find somewhere to live before arriving.
“It’s almost impossible to find long-term rent being outside of Canada and people who come here need one month of stay,” Shem said. “It’s an average time a family can find long-term rent, job and settle down here in Canada.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2023.
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