City of Toronto fires nearly 500 unvaccinated employees

“As of the deadline," the city wrote in a statement, "a total of 461 employees had either not received any doses of a COVID-19 vaccine or had not reported their vaccination status and have had their employment with the City of Toronto terminated."

The city said that staffing levels would not be affected by the firings, as those who were fired were already suspended without pay. The initial deadline to comply with the vaccine mandate was October 30, but was pushed back to January 2.

Nearly 99 percent of the city's active workforce have complied with the mandate, and are adequately vaccinated, reports CP24.

248 employees have just one dose of vaccine, and 37 employees are still on temporary leave, with their accommodation requests being reviewed.

The city's vaccine policy states: "This policy applies to all City of Toronto employees, volunteers and students. For the purpose of this policy only, reference to 'employees' shall also be read to include volunteers and students."

Employees in certain divisions may have obligations in addition to this policy under division-specific policies regarding COVID-19 vaccination or under regulations, legislation or guidelines applicable to them.

New City of Toronto employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of being hired by the City of Toronto.