In its latest response to the COVID-19 developments, Communitech has closed its facilities to the general public and instructed staff to work from home effective end-of-business on Friday.
Work and meetings will continue digitally.
As a result of the closure, Communitech employees at both the Communitech Hub in Kitchener and the Communitech Data Hub on Erb Street in Waterloo will work from home until April 6. Communitech’s corporate tenants, startups and scaleups will continue to have access to both facilities via their existing security cards, but have been encouraged to also work from home; several corporate tenants – including Manulife, Ontario Digital Services, FairVentures, TD and WSIB – have indicated they will do so.
The measures coincide with the temporary closure Thursday of Ontario’s schools, and will be reviewed prior to April 6.
“The national and international situations are continuing to evolve very quickly and it’s important we respond in kind,” said Communitech CEO and President Iain Klugman.
“We are being, and will continue to be, proactive and aligned with emerging best practices in the community. Our priority is to keep everyone safe and do everything possible to avoid adding to the burden of the province’s health-care workers.”
On Thursday, Communitech announced a number of measures to help contain the spread of the disease, including the cancellation of public tours for 90 days through June 10 and the suspension of all in-person events, workshops and peer-group meet-ups. It has also cancelled the True North Festival, its signature public-facing event, which was slated for early June.
