Profs hope Ontario campus vaccine mandates will have ‘domino’ effect across Canada
TORONTO — The decisions of several top-tier universities to make COVID-19 vaccination a requirement to return to campus is putting added pressure on holdouts to follow suit, with some professors hoping the moves signal a sea change in higher-education pandemic protocols.
At least five of the Ontario schools calling for jabs are members of the U15 group of major Canadian research universities — University of Toronto, University of Ottawa, Western University in London, Queen’s University in Kingston and University of Waterloo.
University of Windsor joined the tide Friday, while Carleton University in Ottawa, University of Guelph, Ontario Tech University in Oshawa, Ont., and Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont., also issued immunization mandates Thursday.
Outside Ontario, the president of University of British Columbia voiced his support for mandatory vaccination Friday, and said the school is in talks with the provincial government about the issue.