TTC to adjust service on busy routes after several employees refuse to comply with vaccine mandate

To protect the health and safety of its employees and daily users, the Toronto Transit Commission says it will be adjusting service over the next two months on several of its routes.

The move comes in response to a significant number of employees who have refused to follow the service’s vaccine mandate.

Transit officials say the goal of its plan for November and December is to maintain scheduled service on some of the busiest routes, including Wilson, Jane, Eglinton, Finch and Lawrence East stations.

Other routes will see service levels similar to seasonal changes made in the summer and holiday seasons.

In the updated schedules, the TTC has considered employees who will be ineligible to work due to being unvaccinated or not disclosing their vaccination status.

To ensure enough operators are available to match demand, the TTC will:

• Temporarily defer capital construction projects, as well as cancel weekend and night closures
• Continue hiring new operators over the next several months
• Re-deploy other qualified bus operators who are generally responsible for moving vehicles
• Invite recent retirees to return to the TTC temporarily

Contingency plans have been under development since the TTC announced its mandatory vaccine policy back in September.

Employees who remain unvaccinated or have not shared their status by Nov. 20 will be placed on unpaid leave until they receive both doses.

TTC CEO Rick Leary said he “stand[s] firmly behind [their] vaccination policy,” maintaining that is the right thing to do to protect the health and safety of TTC employees, their families and the community.

More than 9,300 shots have already been administered to employees and customers at clinics held by the TTC – with more clinics planned in the coming weeks.

TTC spokesperson Stuart Green tells CityNews the agency doesn’t have specific numbers for how much of a staffing shortage it expects to face, but that “it could be in the hundreds we have to make up for.”

“That’s why we are ramping up hiring, bringing back retirees who are interested and cancelling closures to redeploy operators,” Green said.

To date, 88 per cent of the agency’s 15,090 active employees have shared their COVID-19 vaccination status and the “vast majority” are already fully vaccinated.

TTC ridership is at roughly 50 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, the agency noted.

With files from The Canadian Press