Message from President & CEO Ingrid Jarrett
Federal Government Mandates Vaccinations for Air & Rail travel plus Public Servants
Dear Accommodation Community & Stakeholders,

Today’s announcement by the federal government mandating vaccinations for federal public servants and federally regulated sectors provides the messaging and direction our industry has been asking for to support safe operations, confidence in the workforce and an ability to confidently answer the questions from guests regarding vaccinations. We have received many emails and phone calls asking if mandating vaccinations is possible. Employees are asking employers to confidently confirm that all employees are vaccinated, or they don’t feel comfortable coming back to work. Guests are calling businesses and asking if they can guarantee all employees are vaccinated – and if not, they will find another hotel. Employers are already reeling from the devastating impact of the pandemic. This vaccination mandate supports moving forward with confidence.
 
I recently had a conversation with an industry colleague, remembering that not so many years ago when governments and businesses mandated non-smoking. At that time as I remember our population was 80% non-smoking and 20% smoking. Wendy’s restaurants took the lead on mandating all restaurants be non-smoking. The voice of the 20% seemed to rise above the voice of the 80%, adamantly claiming the right to smoke and not be discriminated against. Today’s discussion all over Canada rings of the same conversation, but now we are talking about vaccinations.
Non-smoking businesses: buildings, public spaces, and transportation to name a few, and all businesses where the public can access are non-smoking, to ensure the safety of all citizens. I believe the vaccination mandate is aligned with the responsibility of our federal and provincial government to keep our citizens safe.

The announcement today is the start of ability to have confidence in managing the virus to the better health of us all, and at the same time ensuring we are respecting the rights of those who chose to remain unvaccinated. We all have the same rights, and that is the right to choose.

Be well, we encourage everyone to find a vaccination clinic near you – so we can look to the future with confidence towards recovery. 




Kind regards,

Ingrid Jarrett
President and CEO
British Columbia Hotel Association

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Government of Canada announces mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for federal public servants and federally regulated sectors, including air, train, and marine travel
Today, the Minister of Transport, Omar Alghabra, announced that the Government of Canada will require all public servants to be vaccinated for COVID-19. Vaccination will be required for federal employees as well as those working in federally regulated sectors such as airlines, banking, broadcasting, railways, and telecommunications.
 
This mandate, expected to be in place by the end of October, will affect more than 300,000 federal public servants and hundreds of thousands more working in industries that fall under the federal labour code.
 
This mandate is also expected to extend to travellers, including all commercial travellers and passengers on interprovincial airplanes, trains, and marine vessels with overnight accommodations, such as cruise ships.
 
Details on implementation of this mandate are expected in the days and weeks ahead and will include negotiations with requisite unions in the public sector.
 
In advance of an expected election call on Sunday, August 15 and rising COVID-19 case numbers across the country, today’s announcement is a commitment of the governing Liberal Party to its pandemic response, should it earn a third election win this fall.
Government of Canada moving forward on proof of vaccination for international travel 
Also this week, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Marco Mendicino, announced that the Government of Canada is working with the provinces and territories to develop a system of vaccine certification for international travel. This certification will include data on the type of vaccines received as well as when and where the doses were administered. The Government plans to introduce a form of documentation this fall and stated it will be available to all citizens, permanent residents and temporary residents living in Canada.
 
Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Dominic Leblanc, stated that the Government of Canada will work with the provinces and territories on using the federal credential system in their respective jurisdictions. More information can be found here.
 
This announcement is made in the context of vaccine passport and certification announcements across the country. With significant support in most public interest polls for a form of vaccine certification, discussions around this matter will continue at both federal and provincial levels over the coming weeks.