Winners & Homesense Customers Have To Wear Masks Even If It's Not A Local Law

Canadians should be pretty used to putting their masks on before going to any stores by now. However, some businesses haven't actually made it an official rule, leaving it up to local by-laws. Winners and Homesense are the latest retailers to make the 2020 fashion item mandatory.

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The new rules came into effect for both stores on August 17, according to updated information on both the Winners and Homesense safety pages regarding COVID-19.

They both note, however, that exemptions will be made for young children, as well as those who have health conditions that prevent them from wearing face coverings.

Winners and Homesense staff were already required to wear masks while working.

The same requirements will also be implemented at Marshalls.

Because the rule is being instituted by the stores themselves, customers will have to follow it even if they live in a region where masks in indoor spaces are not a requirement.

All three businesses, which are part of the TJX family of companies, join Walmart Canada, which instituted this same rule at all of its locations across the country.

Walmart noted that the majority of their stores were already in regions where masks had been mandated by local laws.

Winners, Homesense, and Marshalls were among some of the earliest Canadian retailers to reopen their doors after non-essential businesses were forced to close.

In Ontario, they welcomed people back on May 27, with some stores seeing massive lines forming around the block.

Locations in other provinces also opened up. However, Newfoundlanders had to wait a little bit longer before they could shop at them again.

The sense of relief and happiness over Winners and Homesense opening back up was so huge that Canadians were even making some hilarious Tiktok videos about being able to finally go back and hunt for some great bargains.

Along with mandatory masks, the stores have also implemented other precautions, such as limiting the number of customers in the store and providing sanitizer.