Job sites for unvaccinated thrive as vaccine mandates exclude employees

A new company is helping unvaccinated Canadians find work, as provinces refuse to introduce vaccine mandates in the private sector.

New platforms to help unvaccinated Canadians into jobs are springing up across the country as provincial health authorities stand firm on enforcing vaccine mandates only on customers, not employees, of non-essential businesses.

Meanwhile, governments around the world are turning to mandatory national vaccination regimes in an attempt to stem rising COVID-19 cases and to boost vaccination numbers in the face of the Omicron variant.

Experts in Canada say there is no justification for the discrepancy, saying vaccine mandates must apply to everyone in public settings to be effective.

“Requiring patrons to be vaccinated while not requiring the same of staff leaves gaps, which put everyone at risk,” said Dr. Alexander Wong, infectious disease expert at Regina General Hospital in Saskatchewan.

On Monday, New York City became the latest major centre to introduce a sweeping vaccine mandate. All private employers will be required to have their workers vaccinated by Dec. 27.

In Canada, however, while health authorities have imposed vaccine certificates across most of the country for people wanting to access non-essential businesses, such as restaurants and gyms, no such mandate exists for employees of these same businesses, in most provinces.

Private employers are left to decide for themselves what rules they will impose on their staff.

This is despite vaccine mandates being proven as the most effective strategy for increasing uptake, according to a report in the Canadian Medical Association in Journal published in September. Quebec, British Columbia and Ontario all saw vaccination appointments double the day they unveiled plans to require proof of vaccination for recreational activities, the report said.