Today the province of Alberta announced that they will be providing residents with four non-medical masks to each Albertan, totally roughly 20 million masks.

The province is partnering with A&W, McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada Ltd. and Tim Hortons to help with the distribution of the masks, which will be free of charge to Albertans. Individuals will be able to pick them up at drive-thru locations at almost 600 restaurants in Alberta.

This program will begin in early June.

Tyler Shandro, Minister of Health says, “It’s time to get the system working again and show people that health care is safe.”

Shandro highlighted that it may be difficult to maintain social distancing of two meters when going grocery shopping or on public transit.

“Now in these situations, the chief medical officer of health recommends wearing a non-medical or homemade face mask. This helps provide an extra level of protection for everybody,” said Shandro.

He said that wearing a home-made, or non-medical mask is another way to prevent the spread of the virus.

“Mask use is not mandatory, but we would like Albertans to have the option of wearing a mask if they choose. To give everybody that option our government has ordered 20 million non-medical masks for distribution to Albertans,’ said Shandro.

“The masks are three-layer, non-medical face masks with ear loops intended to filter germs and pollution particles. These non-medical masks are not personal protective equipment,” he explained.

In terms of First Nations communities, and Metis settlements local agencies and the government will work together to distribute the masks.

Mike Hancock, chief operating officer, Tim Hortons says, “Throughout the pandemic, the 1,500 Tim Hortons owners across Canada have been eagerly supporting their local communities and stepping up to answer calls for assistance. When we were asked by the Alberta government to help distribute masks through our drive-thrus we did not hesitate. We’re proud to have been asked to participate in this important program and do our part to help Alberta move forward on its relaunch strategy.”