City of Toronto fires 461 employees who didn’t comply with vaccination policy by deadline

The City of Toronto says it has fired 461 employees who didn’t comply with its vaccination policy by the January 2 deadline.

In a release, the City says the terminated employees “had either not received any doses of a COVID-19 vaccine or had not reported their vaccination status.”

“These employees had been suspended without pay and not scheduled to work and, therefore, not factored into current staffing levels,” the City notes, adding that “contingency plans are in place to ensure service continuity.”

The City stresses that the terminated employees represent a small portion of its workforce, with 98.6 per cent complying with the vaccine policy that was first introduced in August 2021 and implemented over the next five months.

The City says 32,478 active employees are fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking on 248 employees who have only reported having one dose so far.

“Starting this week, those 248 employees with one dose will have a vaccination status meeting with their manager and, if applicable, their union representative. If at that meeting the employee is found to still not have two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, employment could be terminated that day. Consideration will be given to employees who have an appointment booked for their second dose.”

The City says 37 employees remain on temporary leave awaiting decisions on their accommodation requests.