Quebec: An Employer's Right To Request Its Employees' Vaccination Status

Introduction

While the COVID-19 vaccine passport has been deployed in various sectors of activity in Quebec and the federal government has imposed mandatory vaccination on federal public service employees as well as on employees under federal jurisdiction, on November 3, 2021, the Quebec government confirmed that it will not require mandatory vaccination for public or private employers, subject to some very limited exceptions in the health sector¹. Accordingly, without a Quebec government decree or clear directive from Public Health allowing employers to impose mandatory COVID-19 vaccination on their employees, employers were left in the dark as to whether mandatory vaccination policies could be challenged by employees on the basis of an infringement of their rights under the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms (the "Charter").