Text follows:
PDF Available in Library>Covid>Education>Post Secondary
Ministry of Health
Office of Chief Medical Officer of Health, Public Health
393 University Avenue, 21st Floor Toronto ON M5G 2M2
Ministère de la Santé
Bureau du médecin hygiéniste en chef, santé publique
393 avenue University, 21e étage
Toronto ON M5G 2M2
Instructions issued by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health
WHEREAS under subsection 2(2.1) of Schedule 1 and Schedule 4 of O. Reg. 364/20: Rules for Areas at Step 3 and at the Roadmap Exit Step under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020 (ROA) the person responsible for a business or organization that is open shall operate the business or organization in compliance with any advice, recommendations and instructions issued by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health (OCMOH):
a) requiring the business or organization to establish, implement and ensure compliance with a COVID-19 vaccination policy; or
b) setting out the precautions and procedures that the business or organization must include in its COVID-19 vaccination policy.
AND WHEREAS:
- some employees, staff, contractors, volunteers and students at post-secondary education institutions remain unvaccinated, posing risks to staff and students;
- keeping students in school to the fullest extent possible is critical to learning, development and well-being;
- vaccines provide the best protection against COVID-19; and
- the protection of staff and students in post-secondary education institutionsfrom COVID-19 disease also enhances the protection of other community members by reducing the risk of disease transmission during an outbreak.AND HAVING REGARD TO the prevalence of the Delta variant of concern globally and within Ontario, which has increased transmissibility and disease severity than previous COVID-19 virus strains, in addition to the declaration by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020 that COVID-19 is a pandemic virus and the spread of COVID-19 in Ontario.I AM THEREFORE OF THE OPINION that instructions from the OCMOH must be issued to establish mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies in the post-secondary institutions listed below.
1
Date of Issuance: August 30, 2021
Effective Date: Every Covered Organization (as defined below) must establish a COVID-19 vaccination policy by no later than September 7, 2021 and implement it by no later than September 7, 2021.
Issued To: The following post-secondary institutions: • a university;
• a college of applied arts and technology;
• a private career college;
• an institution that is authorized to grant a degree by an Act of the Legislature,
• a person who is delivering in-person teaching or instruction in accordance with a
consent given under section 4 of the Post-secondary Education Choice and
Excellence Act, 2000;
• a person approved to provide training for apprenticeship programs under
paragraph 5 of section 64 of the Ontario College of Trades and Apprenticeship
Act, 2009; or
• any other institution that is a designated learning institution within the meaning of
section 211.1 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (Canada), other than a school or private school within the meaning of the Education Act.
(collectively the “Covered Organizations”). Required Precautions and Procedures
1. Every Covered Organization must establish, implement, and ensure compliance with a COVID-19 vaccination policy requiring its employees, staff, contractors, volunteers, and students (herein referred to as “Required Individuals”) who attend campus to provide:
- a) proof of full vaccination[1] against COVID-19; or
- b) written proof of a medical reason, provided by a physician or registered nurse in the extended class that sets out: (i) a documented medical reason for not being fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and (ii) the effective time-period for the medical reason; or
- c) proofofcompletinganeducationalsessionapprovedbytheCovered Organization about the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination prior to declining vaccination for any reason other than a medical reason. The approved session must, at minimum address:
[1] For the purposes of this document, “fully vaccinated” means having received the full series of a COVID- 19 vaccine or combination of COVID-19 vaccines approved by WHO (e.g., two doses of a two-dose vaccine series, or one dose of a single-dose vaccine series); and having received the final dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days ago.
2
- how COVID-19 vaccines work;
- vaccine safety related to the development of the COVID-19 vaccines;
- the benefits of vaccination against COVID-19;
- risks of not being vaccinated against COVID-19; and
- possible side effects of COVID-19 vaccination.
- Despite paragraph 1, a Covered Organization may decide to remove the option set out in paragraph 1(c) and require all Required Individuals to either provide the proof required in paragraph 1 (a) or (b).
- Where a Covered Organization decides to remove the option set out in paragraph 1(c) as contemplated in paragraph 2, the Covered Organization shall make available to the Required Individuals an educational session that satisfies the requirements of paragraph 1(c).
- Every Covered Organization’s vaccination policy shall require that where a Required Individual does not provide proof of being fully vaccinated against COVID- 19 in accordance with paragraph 1(a), but instead relies upon the medical reason described at paragraph 1(b) or the educational session at paragraph 1(c), the Required Individual shall:a) submit to regular antigen point of care testing for COVID-19 and demonstrate a negative result, at intervals to be determined by the Covered Organization, which must be at minimum once every seven days.b) provide verification of the negative test result in a manner determined by the Covered Organization that enables the Covered Organization to confirm the result at its discretion.
- Every Covered Organization must collect, maintain, and disclose statistical (non- identifiable) information as follows:a) documentation that includes (collectively, “the Statistical Information”): i. the number of Required Individuals that provided proof of being fullyvaccinated against COVID-19;
ii. the number of Required Individuals that provided a documented medicalreason for not being fully vaccinated against COVID-19;iii. the number of Required Individuals that completed an educational session about the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination in accordance with paragraph 1(c), where applicable; and
3
iv. the total number of the Covered Organization’s Required Individuals to whom these Instructions apply.
b) disclose the Statistical Information to the Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU) in the manner and within the timelines specified by MCU. MCU may seek additional detail within the requested Statistical Information outlined above which will also be specified in the request. MCU may further disclose this Statistical Information and may make it publicly available.
Questions
Covered Organizations may contact the following with questions or concerns about these Instructions:
Private Career Colleges, Language Schools, and other Designated Learning Institutions – Laura Adams, Director & Superintendent, Private Career Colleges Branch, at pcc@ontario.ca
Publicly-assisted Colleges and Universities, Consent Holders and Other Private Institutions – Ivonne Mellozzi, Director, Postsecondary Accountability Branch, at Ivonne.Mellozzi@ontario.ca.
Covered Organizations are also required to comply with applicable provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act and its Regulations.
Kieran Moore MD, CCFP (EM), FCFP, MPH, DTM&H, FRCPC Chief Medical Officer of Health
