Ontario Chamber releases vax-pass policy document

TORONTO — The Ontario Chamber of Commerce has released a proof-of-vaccination framework to guide reopening plans for businesses in the province.

The framework, called Vax-Pass Tenets, was prepared with guidance from McCarthy Tetrault. It contains five principles for private sector businesses to consider in the development of customized proof-of-vaccination frameworks.

“We have said from the beginning that we support a centralized, Canada-wide approach to COVID-19 proof-of-vaccination that could be easily used to confirm vaccination status for international and domestic use,” said OCC president and CEO Rocco Rossi in a recent release. “In the absence of government guidance on domestic applicability, we hope these principles can avoid a piecemeal approach in the province.”

The chamber noted that a number of businesses, organizations, associations, unions and post-secondary institutions have already implemented their own proof-of-vaccination policies.

The Vax-Pass Tenets provide businesses with five principles to consider:

• Safety: Businesses must take all steps reasonable in the circumstances to protect the health and safety of their workforce and place of business.
• Science: Vax-pass programs should be consistent with current science and public health recommendations on COVID-19.
• Accommodation: They must provide human rights-related accommodation.
• Privacy: Businesses should use the least intrusive vaccination verification.
• Transparency: They should engage in clear, ongoing dialogue with employees and customers to manage understanding and expectations and educate about the importance of COVID-19 vaccination.