Summary#

Bill 12, the Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccinations in the Education and Healthcare Sectors Act, 2021, would create a new Ontario law; it does not amend an existing Act. Its stated goal is to require covered education and healthcare organizations to require vaccination against COVID-19 for employees and others they retain to provide services.

• The duty would apply to school boards, school authorities, private-school operators, licensed child-care operators, health service providers and ambulance-service operators.
• An organization could retain an unvaccinated person if their duties are unlikely to increase COVID-19 transmission risk, or if requiring vaccination would breach the Human Rights Code.
• For the Human Rights Code exception, the organization must ensure the person has no direct contact with students or children, or with patients, and completes training on vaccine benefits and risks.
• Organizations may redeploy employees or assign alternate duties. The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make rules about that process, including rights and responsibilities.
• A medical officer of health could make an order under the Health Protection and Promotion Act for non-compliance. The bill says non-compliance is sufficient grounds for an order, which may require specified steps to comply.
• If enacted, the law would start 28 days after Royal Assent.

What it means for you#

• Employees and service providers in covered organizations: Their organization would have to require them to be fully vaccinated, subject to the exceptions. The bill does not set out a process for proving vaccination or a direct penalty for an individual who is unvaccinated.
• People who qualify for the Human Rights Code exception: The organization must ensure they do not have direct contact with the specified groups and that they complete training. The organization may redeploy employees or assign alternate duties.
• Students, children and patients: The bill does not directly require vaccination from them.
• Covered organizations: They would have to apply the vaccination requirement and meet the conditions for exceptions. A medical officer of health could order an organization to take specified measures to comply.
• General public: The bill does not create a general vaccination requirement.

Money#

No cost information is in the available material.

• The bill provides no cost estimate or specific funding for organizations to meet the requirements.
• Organizations may face staffing or administrative costs to apply the rules; the bill does not estimate these costs.

What is unclear#

• The bill does not define “fully vaccinated,” “reasonable efforts” to get a second dose, or how an organization would determine whether a person’s duties are unlikely to increase transmission risk.
• It does not set out how people would request or establish a Human Rights Code exception, or how organizations would assess it.
• The bill does not set vaccination-record rules, timelines for compliance, or an appeal process.
• Regulations could set training and redeployment rules, but those rules are not included in the bill.
• The available material does not explain how this requirement would interact with any existing workplace or public-health rules.

Case for#

• A possible argument for the bill is that it sets a vaccination requirement across covered education and healthcare organizations, where employees and service providers may work around students, children or patients.
• The bill allows exceptions where duties are unlikely to raise transmission risk or where requiring vaccination would breach human rights law.
• For the Human Rights Code exception, the bill pairs limits on direct contact with training about vaccine benefits and risks.

Case against#

• One concern is that the requirement covers a wide range of roles, while the bill does not explain how organizations should assess whether an unvaccinated person’s duties are unlikely to increase transmission risk.
• The Human Rights Code exception comes with mandatory limits on contact and training, but the bill does not explain how those conditions would work in practice.
• The bill allows redeployment but leaves key rules about it to possible regulations, including how existing agreements and individual rights would apply.
• The bill provides no cost estimate or funding, so the resources needed to put the requirement into effect are unclear.