Updated - COVID-19 Guidelines - January 14 - No outings will be organized

Updated - With the high number of COVID-19 cases in the Ottawa area, we have decided to stop organizing in-person activities until it is safer to do so.

We ask that you help everyone stay safe by following the basic COVID-19 guidelines at all times, so that we can all continue to enjoy this beautiful outdoors that we have:

• stay 2 metres apart at an absolute minimum
• wear a mask when you can't maintain that distance
• clean your hands

We thank you.

When we can again offer our outdoor activities, we will resume them based on the following guidelines, subject to change based on the information and recommendations available at the time.

• Participation
  • You must pre-register; see the Pre-registration section below.
  • Group sizes may be limited.
  • Non-members may participate. When group sizes are limited, members will have priority up to around the outing's pre-registration time.
  • If you need to cancel, please inform the leader as soon as possible so that the leader can open your spot to another person (should space be limited) and so that the leader knows not to wait for you at the meeting location.
  • At the starting point, the leader will ask you that your answers to the health questions are still all "no", to confirm all of your answers and just in case symptoms just appeared.
  • During the outing, if any symptoms appear that might suggest COVID-19, please tell the leader immediately. You will be requested to isolate from the group as much as possible. In addition, you will not be permitted to participate in any OOC outing for the next 14 days. The other participants in the outing will be informed.
  • Dogs are not permitted.
• Pre-registration (including COVID-19 questions)
  • Required for all outings
  • Pre-register here by the outing's pre-registration deadline. This includes COVID-19 health questions.
  • You will be informed as to whether or not you can participate in the outing. (Restrictions are usually due to limitations on the group size.)
• Transportation to and from the starting point
  • We are not organizing carpooling. All participants must meet at the starting location. The outing will be finished once the participants have returned to the starting location.
• During the outing
  • For hikes and walks, please maintain a distance of at least 2 metres from each other unless you're from the same "social circle". Distancing is one of the recognized ways of reducing your chance of passing along COVID-19 to others and your chance of acquiring COVID-19.
  • You must have a mask. The leader will indicate when it needs to be worn. If you do not put on your mask when requested, you will not be permitted to join future outings of any type with the OOC. There will be no exceptions.
  • Stay in the group and away from other groups.
  • Supply your own hand sanitizer and / or disinfectant wipes, etc.
  • Since a shelter is an enclosed space where there is a greater risk of being exposed to the SARS-COVID-2 virus, we will not use any shelters. To reduce the risk of potentially infecting other members of the group, please do not enter a shelter.
  • If possible, please take your own first aid kit.
  • If someone is injured and another group member must provide first aid, unless the injured person and the person providing first aid are part of the same "social circle", neither will be permitted to participate in any OOC outing for 14 days. (Unless the medical situation is urgent, we will try to use emergency personnel.)

Information about COVID-19 is available from Ottawa Public Health, Public Health Ontario, Quebec health information, and the Government of Canada.