City of Toronto employees who refuse to get vaccinated will lose their jobs by Christmas

If you can't (or for some reason won't) provide proof to the City of Toronto that you've had two doses of a Health Canada-approved COVID-19 vaccine by the end of this month, then you can't work for them.

City officials announced today that, beginning November 1, "staff who do not provide proof of receiving two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine will be suspended for six weeks without pay."

This applies to all of the more than 35,000 people currently employed by the City of Toronto, whether an executive director, business analyst, senior planner, fire technician, waste collector or lifeguard — with the exception of staffers who "are not able to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine under a protected ground set out in the Ontario Human Rights Code."

During the six-week suspension period, staff can return to work at any time — all they have to do is prove that they've been double vaxxed. Those who don't by the end of it will be fired. With cause.

"After the unpaid suspension, on December 13, if staff do not provide proof that they are fully vaccinated, their employment will be terminated for cause as they will have chosen not to comply with the mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy," reads a release issued by the city on Wednesday.

"As the largest employer in Toronto, the city is taking a leadership role in making COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for its workforce. It is now a condition of employment that all new city hires be fully vaccinated."

Fortunately, the city says that 95 per cent of its active staff members have already completed vaccination disclosure forms, as they were required to do by September 17.

A total of 26,138 members of the Toronto Public Service had been fully vaccinated as of October 5, representing 89 per cent of all workers. The city says that five per cent of staffers who disclosed their status are partially vaccinated, and that two per cent of the service chose not to disclose their vaccination status at all.

"The vast majority of City of Toronto staff are fully vaccinated," said Mayor John Tory in today's release.

"I look forward to more staff joining their colleagues in becoming fully vaccinated in the coming weeks so that all of our workplaces are as safe as possible during the ongoing fourth wave and as our city reopens."