Non-medical face masks or face coverings are now mandatory for shoppers at all Walmart Canada locations starting today, August 12.
According to a statement to Victoria Buzz, this measure has already been in place at Walmart and Sam’s Clubs stores in the United States since mid-July.
The mandate will cover Walmart stores in jurisdictions where there is not already a local government mandate requiring people to wear face coverings indoors.
“Customers have done a great job following face covering requirements in those jurisdictions where it is mandated by the local government,” said spokesperson Felicia Fefer in an email.
“We trust that customers in the rest of our stores where we are initiating this policy will respect and follow it and will bring their own face coverings when they shop.”
According to Fefer, 60 per cent of Walmart Canada’s 400 locations are in jurisdictions where there is some form of government mandate on face coverings.
Making masks mandatory as a company will bring more consistency across the chain network.
Walmart Canada says in addition to the mandatory face covering policy, the company will continue to undertake safety measures like enhanced cleaning, wellness checks (including temperature checks) of all staff at the start of their shifts, limiting the number of shoppers in store at a time, cleaning shopping carts, and more.
