TORONTO — Seneca College said Monday that it will drop its mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy in the new year, with its president citing recent provincial and federal changes for the decision.
Seneca, which has campuses across the Greater Toronto Area, was one of the last post-secondary institutions in Canada with a campus-wide COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
“Regretfully, but necessarily, I am announcing … that Seneca’s vaccination policy will end on Dec. 31, 2022,” president David Agnew wrote in a statement posted to the college’s website.
Agnew said Seneca had felt supported in its policy earlier by federal and provincial policies that made vaccinations mandatory in certain circumstances.
“Now, those measures are gone, and we are unable to independently and accurately verify vaccination status,” he said.
A Seneca spokesperson clarified the decision was linked to the province’s decision to discontinue the proof-of-vaccination Verify Ontario app and the federal government’s recent move to make use of the ArriveCan app optional for international travellers.
Students could send their vaccine records directly to the college but Corey Long, executive director of communications at the college, said it’s tougher to verify proof-of-vaccination without the government platforms.
The college’s announcement comes a month after Ontario’s Superior Court dismissed an application by two unvaccinated students asking the court to block Seneca from enforcing its policy.
While people on campus will no longer be required to show proof of vaccination starting Jan. 1, the college said it is keeping its mask mandate until further notice.
Meanwhile, Western University – the last university with a COVID-19 vaccination mandate – announced Monday it was extending its masking requirement until the end of the fall term.
Last month, the London, Ont., university extended the deadline to submit proof of vaccination from Oct. 1 to Jan. 9, 2023, after Health Canada approved an Omicron-targeting vaccine.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2022.
