TORONTO – The policy requiring employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19 has not been deleted. In Ontario the vaccination passport to access restaurants, bars, gyms, cinemas and events is no longer mandatory from Tuesday but, apparently, many municipalities do not care. 

Among the municipalities that maintain the policy in force is that of Toronto that has put its workers in front of an aut aut: two doses of vaccine or dismissal. “Ensuring that all employees, as well as new hires, are vaccinated is an important component of what the city is doing to help protect the health and safety of all employees and the communities they work with,” the city said in a statement.

In the same vein, York Region Director of Corporate Communications Patrick Casey said that “maintaining the vaccination mandate for employees is consistent with the municipality’s obligations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.” “As we have done during the pandemic, the York region continues to take every possible step to protect our employees and residents, including through our mandatory vaccination policy and strongly recommending that all staff be given booster doses as soon as possible,” said Casey.

The City of Windsor and the City of Clarington have also decided that mandatory vaccines for employees will remain in place. Sudbury also said it had revised its policy on mandatory immunization in the context of Tuesday’s provincial changes and decided to keep it in place.

The City of London has not yet made a decision and is still reviewing the policy to which it has not yet made any changes. “During the pandemic, we have made decisions whose purpose is to ensure the health and safety of our employees and the citizens we serve,” the city said.

The Municipality of Ottawa has not yet pronounced that in the meantime it has asked unvaccinated employees to complete a training course on Covid-19 vaccines: on Tuesday a spokeswoman said that the city would follow public health advice. “This policy is a temporary measure that aims to reduce the risks associated with Covid-19 and can be changed as new public health directives, laws, regulations or provincial or federal orders are formalized,” said Valerie Turner, general manager of innovative customer service.

The mandatory Covid-19 vaccination required by the City of Hamilton for municipal employees will remain in place, at least for now, despite Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Moore suggesting that it is no longer needed. During a media briefing Mayor Fred Eisenberger said that “at the moment there are no plans to revoke it.”

Nor should it be forgotten that hospitals, which drafted a course of action that went beyond the standard and laid off employees who refused to get vaccinated, determined that their strict requirements will remain in place despite the relaxation of restrictions decided by the province of Ontario.