New Critical Worker Exemption In Alberta Allows Workers With COVID-19 To Attend Work

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Chief Medical Officer of Health for Alberta, signed an Order on January 3, 2022, and amended January 10, 2022, creating an exception to the isolation requirements for individuals who are symptomatic or have a confirmed case of COVID-19.

If a person is a critical worker, and the worker's absence would "cause a substantive disruption of services that would be harmful to the public", that worker can be granted a limited exemption from the requirement to isolate in order to attend work, even if that person has tested positive for COVID-19.

In essence, there are two hurdles:

1. the business/services must impact the public interest, and any substantive disruption of such services would need to be detrimental to the public interest; and