Niagara's Regional chair says if medical professionals suggest masks be made mandatory, regional council would likely move quickly to implement the measure.
Chair Jim Bradley says the decision should be made based on the recommendations of health and science authorities.
"When you do it politically people will say, 'Well you're ignoring what the scientific and medical advice is, and you're just making a political decision,'" he says. "Were that recommendation to be province-wide or were it to be done locally we would certainly follow that very quickly."
He adds someone could make a motion at regional council to make masks compulsory.
Niagara's Acting Medical Officer of Health Dr. Mustafa Hirji says if people aren't in close quarters with others, it can be okay to be unmasked.
"If people aren't congregating, they're not in close quarters with others, I think that's probably okay. If you walk by someone on the street and both of you aren't wearing a face covering, that's not really an appreciable risk. If people are managing to stay distancing in a park or at a beach, I think that's okay too. But I think we need to be really mindful about where we can't keep that distance: if we're in a busy store, if we're on the bus, something like that, we absolutely should be wearing that face covering to stay safe."
However, Hirji admits he is not seeing a lot of people wearing face coverings right now.
This comes as mayors in the GTHA are discussing whether or not to make masks mandatory across the area.