Legislative Building
Queen’s Park
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 1A1
Premier of Ontario
Édifice de l’Assemblée législative
Premier ministre Queen’s Park
Toronto (Ontario)
de l’Ontario M7A 1A1

To whom it may concern:

I want to begin by thanking you for your ongoing contributions to the provincial
response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ontario’s health care partners have
demonstrated remarkable bravery and resilience, often putting themselves in harm’s
way to care for our sick and most vulnerable citizens. As I have always said, our
government will do whatever it takes to protect the health and safety of all Ontarians.
That is why I am writing to you today requesting your input on vaccine mandates in
hospitals, recognizing the recent challenges we’ve seen in other provinces as they’ve
pursued similar policies.

To date, Ontario has administered over 22 million vaccines, meaning over 86 per cent
of all eligible Ontarians are fully vaccinated, and more than 81 per cent are now fully
immunized. These high numbers, achieved because of the incredible cooperation of
frontline health care workers, public health officials, and all levels of government, have
ranked Ontario as a world leader in vaccine coverage. Regardless of this success, we
continue to encourage all Ontarians who have not been vaccinated to book an
appointment as soon as possible.

In recent weeks, many hospitals in Ontario have implemented mandatory vaccine

policies as our government has maintained flexibility for health leaders to do so if they
thought it appropriate for their organization. However, some have suggested that a
province-wide mandate may be necessary.

Any decision will need to balance the risks posed by COVID-19 to hospitals with the
risk of further exacerbating health human resourcing challenges and the risks these
may pose to the sector’s ongoing delivery of high-quality care. We are already seeing
other Canadian jurisdictions that have implemented mandatory vaccine policies,
including British Columbia and Quebec, softening or delaying their implementation
date.

At the same time, existing public health and workplace safety have helped to limit
outbreaks in hospitals. In the past two weeks, there have been two active outbreaks in
hospitals. The first has a total of 5 cases, one of which is a health care worker. The
other has 14 cases, four of which are health care workers. The remaining cases are
unidentified.

Recognizing the complexity of this issue, before making any decisions we would like to
hear directly from organizations and health care providers across the province on
these important questions:

1. How could making vaccinations mandatory benefit hospitals?

2. Should the government make COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory in hospitals or
leave staffing decisions up to individual hospitals?
3. Currently, there are two active outbreaks in hospitals. This low prevalence is due
to strong IPAC measures and robust hospital safety policies. How would you
assess the risk posed by potential future outbreaks compared to the risk of
widespread HHR implications that may result from a vaccine mandate?
4. Do you believe mandatory vaccines would result in a diminishment of frontline
staff in other parts of our health care system? If so, where?
5. Do you believe this policy could result in negative impacts in areas that face
significant challenges recruiting and retaining health care workers, particularly in
northern and remote parts of the province?
6. Are there other parts of the system where unvaccinated workers can be
reassigned, including administrative or other non-patient facing roles?
7. In your opinion, is there anything else the government can or should be doing
to increase vaccination uptake among health care workers?

For hospital CEOs only:

8. Is your hospital concerned about the impact that making vaccines mandatory
may have on your hospital’s staffing levels?
9. Does your hospital have a plan in place to address a potential staff shortage
related to mandatory vaccinations?
10. Are you able to characterize the expected impact of a mandatory policy on
diagnostic procedures or elective surgeries?
We thank you for your assistance in this matter and we kindly ask that you please
provide us with your response to the specific questions no later than Tuesday, October
19, 2021.

Sincerely,

Doug Ford
Premier of Ontario

CC:

CEOs of all Ontario Hospitals

Addictions and Mental Health Ontario (AMHO)
AdvantAge
Alliance Ont
Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario (AFHTO)
Association of Ontario Midwives (AOM)
Canadian Mental Health Association – Ontario
Children’s Mental Health Ontario (CMHO)
Council of Medical Officers of Health (COMOH)
Home Care Ontario
Indigenous Primary Health Care Council (IPHCC)
MHA + Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (MHA + CAMH)
Nurse Practitioner’s Association of Ontario (NPAO)
OAPC (Ontario Association of Paramedic Chiefs)
Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP)
Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU)
Ontario Community Support Association (OCSA)
Ontario Hospital Association (OHA)
Ontario Long Term Care Association (OLTCA)
Ontario Nurses Association (ONA)
Ontario Medical Association (OMA)
Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU)
Ontario Retirement Communities Association (ORCA)
The Professional Association of Residents of Ontario (PARO)
Public Services Health and Safety Association (PSHSA)
Public Health Ontario
Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority (RHRA)
Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO)
Registered Practical Nurses Association of Ontario (RPNAO)
Réseau des services de santé en français (RSSFE)
Respiratory Therapy Society of Ontario (RTSO)
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Unifor
Dr. Kieran Moore, Chief Medical Officer of Health
The District of Algoma Health Unit, Dr. Jennifer Loo
Brant County Health Unit, Dr. Rebecca Comley
Chatham-Kent Health Unit, Dr. David Colby
Durham Regional Health Unit, Dr. Robert Kyle
Eastern Ontario Health Unit, Dr. Paul Roumeliotis
Grey Bruce Health Unit, Dr. Ian Arra
Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit, Dr. Matthew Strauss
Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit, Dr. Natalie Bocking
Halton Region Health Department, Dr. Hamidah Meghani
City of Hamilton, Public Health Services, Dr. Elizabeth Richardson
Hastings & Prince Edward Counties Health Unit, Dr. Piotr Oglaza
Huron Perth Health Unit, Dr. Miriam Klassen
Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Health Unit, Dr. Hugh Guan
Lambton Health Unit, Dr. Sudit Ranade
Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit, Dr. Paula Stewart
Middlesex-London Health Unit, Dr. Christopher Mackie
Niagara Region Public Health Department, Dr. Mustafa Hirji
North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit, Dr. Jim Chirico
Northwestern Health Unit, Dr. Kit Young Hoon
Ottawa Public Health, Dr. Vera Etches
Oxford Elgin St. Thomas Health Unit, Dr. Joyce Lock
Peel Public Health, Dr. Lawrence Loh
Peterborough County-City Health Unit, Dr. Ian Gemmill
Porcupine Health Unit, Dr. Lianne Catton
Renfrew County & District Health Unit, Dr. Robert Cushman
Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, Dr. Charles Gardner
Sudbury and District Health Unit, Dr. Penny Sutcliffe
Thunder Bay District Health Unit, Dr. Janet DeMille
Timiskaming Health Unit, Dr. Glenn Corneil
City of Toronto Health Unit, Dr. Eileen de Villa
Region of Waterloo, Public Health, Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang
Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Health Unit, Dr. Nicola Mercer
Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, Dr. Shanker Nesathurai
York Region Public Health, Dr. Karim Kurji
Dianne Martin, WeRPN
Miranda Ferrier, Ontario Personal Support Workers Association
Dr. Steini Brown, Science Advisory Table