The Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators are back to limited capacity

With COVID-19 cases rising in the province, and the Omicron variant likely to become the dominant strain in the coming weeks, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced on Wednesday afternoon that his government has decided to reintroduce capacity limits on all entertainment venues including arenas and stadiums.

Any arena or stadium in the province with a seating capacity of 1,000 or more is now only allowed to hold up to 50%.

"#BREAKING - Starting Saturday at 12:01 a.m, Ontario is introducing capacity limits of 50 per cent for indoor entertainment venues, meeting and event spaces, sports venues with a indoor capacity greater than 1,000 people, as well as movie theaters and casinos." CityNews' Richard Southern tweeted after the news was made official by Doug Ford.

This news now means that Scotiabank Arena, the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs and NBA's Toronto Raptors, will only be able to have 9,900 fans in attendance, while the Canadian Tire Centre, home of the Ottawa Senators, is only allowed to have a capacity of roughly 9,576 fans.

It's unclear how long these restrictions will be in place, but it's a disappointing day for all sporting fans in Ontario, especially given the optimism that was brought on in October with the return of full capacity in arenas and stadiums.

#BREAKING - Starting Saturday at 12:01 a.m, Ontario is introducing capacity limits of 50 per cent for indoor entertainment venues, meeting and event spaces, sports venues with a indoor capacity greater than 1,000 people, as well as movie theaters and casinos.— Richard Southern (@RichardCityNews) December 15, 2021

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