Vaccination may be mandatory for feds
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is considering making COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for some federally regulated workplaces in a bid to boost Canada’s vaccination levels.
But the prime minister refused to say whether he will delay any use of booster shots in Canada until more of the world gets access to vaccines, as the head of the World Health Organization has requested.
Trudeau was in Montreal on Thursday to announce a $6 billion deal on child care, which Quebec Premier Francois Legault slightly upstaged by announcing in his speech Quebec would be imposing vaccine passports for some nonessential services in that province.
Trudeau, who has been reluctant before to support the use of vaccine passports domestically, thoroughly backed the Quebec plan. He said he has also asked the country’s top bureaucrat to look at whether any federal workers should be required to get vaccinated.
Almost 82 per cent of eligible Canadians at least 12 years old have their first dose, and 69 per cent have both doses. It is among the best vaccination rates in the world, but it still means almost six million eligible Canadians have no protection, on top of the 4.8 million children who haven’t yet been approved for the vaccine.
“That’s why I’ve asked the clerk of the Privy Council, who is responsible for the federal public service, to look at mandatory vaccinations for federal employees,” Trudeau said. “And we’re also looking at federally regulated industries, to encourage or perhaps even to mandate vaccinations for those industries.”
That would include airlines, railways, banking, Parliament and Crown corporations like Canada Post. There are almost one million workers in federally regulated industries, and close to half a million people who work directly for the federal government, a Crown corporation, military or RCMP.
Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam said most new COVID-19 cases in Canada are being found in unvaccinated people, she said Canada is closely monitoring breakthrough infections in fully vaccinated individuals. That data will drive decisions on whether, or when, booster shots will be needed, she said.