Canada to implement mandatory COVID-19 vaccines for all federal workers by fall

Canada is making COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for all workers in federal service by this fall, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Dominic LeBlanc announced on Friday.

“We are also calling on all federally-regulated industries and sectors, and we are also calling on crown corporations to follow suit,” LeBlanc told reporters in French at a news conference.

The implementation will take place no later than October, he added.

There are close to half a million people who work directly for the federal government, a Crown corporation, the military or the RCMP.

Nearly a million more work in federally regulated industries, which includes banks and airlines.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a week ago that he had asked the clerk of the Privy Council, the nation’s top bureaucrat, to consider the mandate.

Speaking at the same press conference, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra also stressed that by the fall, there will be a vaccine requirement for transportation workers.

“No later than the end of October, the government of Canada will require employees in the federally regulated air, rail and marine transport sectors to be vaccinated,” he said.

“The vaccination requirement will also extend to certain travelers.”

— more to come