Over 80% of Canadian Parents Skip COVID Vaccine for Their Kids: Report

A nurse draws out a vaccine at a drive-through COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Kingston, Ont., on Jan. 2, 2022. The Canadian Press/Lars Hagberg

A large majority of Canadian parents did not vaccinate their kids against COVID-19 in the past year, according to a recent report by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). Previous PHAC data indicate the trend has continued years after pandemic-era vaccination campaigns ended.

The latest survey report released in March, as first covered by Blacklock’s Reporter, found that 81.7 percent of parents or guardians of children (under 18) said their kids had not received a COVID-19 shot in the previous year.

Asked why their children were not vaccinated, nearly 40 percent of respondents said they “do not consider it necessary,” while about 25 percent cited concerns about vaccine safety or side effects. Another 24.6 percent said they believe their child had enough natural immunity after having contracted the virus before.

The findings were collected from a sample of 12,211 Canadian parents or guardians through online and phone surveys. PHAC paid market research firm Advanis Inc. $299,973.29 to conduct the poll between Oct. 7, 2025, and Feb. 16, 2026.

“Understanding parental knowledge, attitudes and views is essential to estimate expected vaccine uptake and to guide education and awareness efforts to promote vaccination,” said the PHAC report, titled “Childhood Seasonal Immunization Coverage Survey (CSICS), 2025.”

A 2024 version of the CSICS report indicated similar reasons among parents whose kids did not receive the shot. The report found 48 percent of respondents perceived the safety of COVID-19 vaccine as “low” or expressed concerns about side effects. Thirty-one percent said their kids had adequate natural immunity from a previous infection.

“Overall, 79% of parents/guardians refused to vaccinate their children,” the 2024 version of the report said.

The March 2026 report noted that the COVID vaccination rate among children varied across provinces and territories, based on respondents’ replies about whether their kids had received the shot in “the past year.”

Quebec has the lowest uptake at about 12 percent while British Columbia has the highest at just over 29 percent.

New Brunswick has the second-lowest rate at nearly 14 percent, followed by Ontario at roughly 17 percent. Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador tied at approximately 18 percent, while Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan ranged from 20 to 27 percent, at 20 percent, 21 percent, 26 percent, and 27 percent, respectively.

Yukon recorded 24 percent. Nunavut’s data was not reported due to “high sampling variability” or “small sample size,” the researchers noted. The rate for Northwest Territories was about 24 percent, though PHAC cautioned that the figure carries “moderate sampling variability.”

Parents Objected to ‘Feel Guilty’ Attempt

Participants were also asked whether any health-care provider had recommended that their children receive a COVID-19 vaccine in the past year. Nearly 9 in 10 said no.

For respondents whose children were not vaccinated but who did not indicate “opposed” to the vaccine, 63.7 percent said they were “not at all hesitant” or “not very hesitant” about having their kids vaccinated against COVID-19, while 36.3 percent were “somewhat hesitant” or “very hesitant.”

The report defined “vaccine hesitancy” as “being conflicted about or opposed to getting vaccinated, and can impact your decision to get vaccinated.”

A 2021 Privy Council Office (PCO) report indicated some parents rejected federal messaging saying that the COVID-19 vaccine would act as “a form of protection” and “help kids get back to life as usual.” The messaging was about COVID-19 vaccinations for youth between 12 and 17.

In particular, for parents of these youth in the City of Toronto/York Region, “participants objected to what they saw as an attempt to make them feel guilty and worried about the wellbeing of their children,” said PCO in the “Continuous Qualitative Data Collection of Canadians’ Views - June 2021” report, released in October that year.

The PCO report said parents harboured questions about how the injections would affect their children’s health in the long term.