Today, City of Windsor Council met and approved a motion directing Administration to craft a mandatory workplace vaccination policy for all City of Windsor employees modeled on the policy announced by the Government of Ontario for all Ontario Public Service employees.

Administration has already begun work on establishing a policy that is specific to the City of Windsor, while keeping up with the best practices across major employers across Canada.

As communicated, the Ontario Government policy will require mandatory vaccinations or bi-weekly testing of individuals who choose not to be vaccinated. The policy will be in place no later than September 7, 2021 at which point full details will be available, including the effective date.

City Council also directed Administration to work with each of our Agencies, Boards & Committees (such as the Windsor Police Service) and Government Business Enterprises (such as ENWIN), to extend this policy to those employees.

With COVID-19 cases beginning to rise again and a fourth wave appearing inevitable, the single best chance we all have to avoid additional illness is to ensure that as many individuals as possible are vaccinated.

As a major employer in the region, the City of Windsor has an obligation to set the tone and show leadership. Residents accessing services at City Hall need to have confidence that they are interacting with staff who are fully vaccinated and employees returning to the workplace need to know that all steps have been taken to safeguard their health and safety.

Since the start of this global pandemic, the City of Windsor has taken significant steps to protect the health and safety of all residents. The development of a new mandatory workplace vaccination policy is the next step in our community’s fight against COVID-19.

-Mayor Drew Dilkens