City of Toronto to Drop Vaccine Mandate Starting Dec. 1

A pharmacist prepares a dose behind a counter lined with vials of COVID-19 vaccines in Toronto on June 18, 2021. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)

The City of Toronto has announced it will drop its mandatory vaccination policy for city staff, volunteers, and contractors as of Dec. 1.

In a news release issued on Nov. 8, the city said 350 unionized employees who lost their jobs as a result of the mandates are eligible for reinstatement. Approximately 35,000 Toronto employees, out of about 41,080 as of September 2022, complied with the vaccination policy.

“Based on recent arbitration and negotiations with the unions, the approximately 350 unionized City employees who either did not disclose their vaccination status, or did not get vaccinated, will be offered reinstatement into an unpaid leave,” said the release.

Staff who are on unpaid leave will also be eligible to start to return to the workplace when the updated policy comes into effect on Dec. 1, the city said.

While the mandatory vaccine requirement has been dropped, the city said it “continues to strongly encourage everyone to get vaccinated against COVID-19, including a fall booster dose.”

The city’s vaccine policy was first introduced in September 2021.

Three unions have filed grievances with the city. A number of non-union employees have also filed legal action against the city as a result of the policy.

“The policy reflected public health and occupational health advice at the time to keep staff and the public protected and to slow the spread of the virus,“ said the release. ”The City committed from the outset that it would continually review this policy, which would be based on science and evidence.”

The city said that 99 percent of its staff have had at least two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, and there is no longer a need for the policy.

Firefighters

Firefighters terminated over non-compliance with the vaccine policy were previously told by the city in a Sept. 27 letter that they would not be allowed to return to their jobs unless they were fully vaccinated.

Thirteen of the firefighters had taken their case to an arbitrator that ruled it was “unreasonable” for the city to discipline and terminate firefighters if they did not receive a minimum of two COVID shots. The arbitrator, however, did not order the city to reinstate the firefighters to active duty.

In a letter to fire crews obtained by the Toronto Sun, Matthew Pegg, fire chief and general manager for Toronto Fire Services, wrote that per the arbitrator’s ruling, “your status as City of Toronto employee will be immediately reinstated. The discipline issued to you as a result of non-compliance with the policy shall be removed from your record and your lost service and seniority will be restored.”

However, Pegg’s letter said mandatory vaccination is still a requirement under the city’s policy and that firefighters must remain “out of the workplace on a leave without pay or benefits” until they could provide proof of vaccination.

The city told The Epoch Times they are “developing a process to address reinstatements and determine vacancies within divisions, which will be the priority option for reinstatement. If there is not a vacancy in the division, in the position held prior to termination, other alternatives will be explored. Every attempt will be made to find vacancies for eligible staff.”

Ryan O'Connor, a Toronto civil litigation lawyer who has represented employees in cases involving municipal vaccine mandates, told The Epoch Times that Toronto “made the right choice to end its unnecessary employee vaccine mandate.”

Unfortunately, he says, the city waited a year after placing employees on unpaid leave, later terminating many employees, and is now only reinstating unionized employees.

“Many City employees who were placed on leave or terminated under its mandate worked wholly remotely. Many City employees continue to work remotely. There was no scientific reason for such employees to be subjected to a vaccine mandate when the only virus that one can contract and transmit while working alone, remotely, is a computer virus,” O'Connor said.

“While other Ontario municipalities rescinded their vaccine mandates earlier this year—particularly after it was clear that such public mandates were not preventing transmission of the COVID virus—Toronto was a holdout,” the lawyer added.

“Instead of simply placing employees on leave, like some other Ontario municipalities, it took an aggressive approach and decided to terminate many of those unable to comply with the mandate.”