Information for visitors

Last updated: January 23, 2023

We know how important visitors are to our patients, and it is our priority to keep patients, staff and visitors safe. Visiting hours are between 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day in most hospital units.

The guidelines below may change should the need arise with the pandemic. Please check back frequently for the most up-to-date information.

Visitors are required to:

• Wear a mask at all times, including when you are in patient rooms and other clinical areas. While the provincial mask mandate expired on June 11, 2022, Sunnybrook’s universal masking policy remains in place. If you arrive without a mask, please take one (free of charge) from the dispensers that have been installed at our entrances, and wear it so that it covers your mouth and nose.
• Visit guidelines specific to the Veterans Centre and Palliative Care Unit for specific requirements for the Veterans Program and Palliative Care Unit.
• At all other entrances across Sunnybrook’s campuses: Passive screening is now in effect. Visitors and patients are still required to wear a mask at all times and self-screen for the symptoms listed below, and should be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
• If you have tested positive for COVID-19 or been exposed to someone with COVID-19 in the past 10 days (including the patient you are visiting), do not visit the hospital. Exposed means you spent 15 or more minutes within 6 feet of the person who has tested positive with COVID-19, and you weren’t wearing a mask. This is why it is important you keep your mask on the whole time you are visiting. If possible, the patient you are visiting should also wear a mask.
• If you have experienced one of the following symptoms in the past 10 days, do not visit the hospital:
  • Fever
  • Sore throat or difficulty breathing
  • New or worsening cough
  • Runny/stuffy nose
  • Shortness of breath
  • Conjunctivitis (pink eye)
  • Unexplained fatigue/muscle aches
  • Loss of sense of taste or smell
  • Vomiting or diarrhea
• Eat or drink only in approved areas. Do not eat or drink in patient rooms or waiting rooms. If you need to eat or drink, you must visit a cafeteria.

Visiting an inpatient

Two visitors are permitted to visit an inpatient at a time. Patients are permitted multiple visitors but can only have two by the bedside at a time. Other visitors can wait in common areas such as cafeterias (not on the unit or in corridors). Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

Emergency Department

Each patient in our ED is allowed one visitor at a time. The visitor must be masked, and have no symptoms of COVID-19.

For admitted patients that remain in the ED, visiting hours of 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. apply

To learn more, please visit our Emergency Department visitor policy.

Veterans Centre and Palliative Care

Visiting guidelines specific to the Veterans Centre and Palliative Care Unit