The Canadian Government has announced that more than 95 per cent of Federal Public Servants have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, bringing most of its workforce in line with the nationwide vaccine mandate.
The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat said 99.7 per cent of the roughly 268,000 workers had submitted attestations as to their vaccination status by the end of October, as required under the mandate.
Of those, 1,255 employees, or about 0.5 per cent of the workforce, remained unvaccinated, while 3,150 employees, or 1.2 per cent, had requested an exemption.
Nearly three per cent of employees had received only one vaccine dose.
President of the Treasury Board, Mona Fortier thanked Public Servants for stepping up in the fight against COVID-19.
“Public Servants have demonstrated leadership in our national vaccination effort against COVID-19,” Ms Fortier (pictured) said.
“Having a fully-vaccinated workforce means that not only are worksites safer, so are the communities where this large population lives and works.
“It also means better protection for Canadians coming in-person to access Government services,” she said.
Disciplinary action against employees who are not unvaccinated is expected to begin this week (15 November) with workers placed on unpaid leave.
Those employees won’t not qualify for unemployment benefits.
Those who have had one dose ware expected be given 10 weeks to get their next one before they are put on unpaid leave.
They won’t be allowed back at work until they are either vaccinated or the policy is no longer in effect.
Under the mandate, accommodations can be made for people who can’t get a vaccine on grounds protected under the Human Rights Act, which includes certain religious and health reasons.
However, Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau promised last month that exemptions would be difficult to obtain, and having a personal belief that vaccines were “bad” would not be accepted.
Ottawa, 5 November 2021
