Seneca College to require vaccinations for in-person activities

Ontario's Seneca College has announced that all staff and students will have to be fully vaccinated by September 7 in order to participate in in-person on-campus activities. Seneca College is the first Canadian post-secondary institution to mandate vaccines for participation in the 2021-2022 school year.

"While we believe everyone should get vaccinated against the deadly COVID-19 virus to protect their health and the health of others, getting vaccinated is not required in Ontario. Seneca’s vaccination policy applies to those students and employees who are coming on campus in the fall term for in-person teaching, learning and working," spokesperson Caroline Grech said in a statement provided to CP24.

"This fall, Seneca will be delivering programs in various formats: online, hybrid, on-campus and flexible. Should students choose not to be vaccinated, they will need to take a program that is offered either online or in a flexible delivery format." More than 500 American colleges and universities have already announced that they will require vaccines for in-person staff and students.

Seneca College has campuses spread around Toronto, York Region and Peterborough and offers a mixture of college and university level courses. The policy lacks clarity on if partially vaccinated people will be allowed on campus.

So far about 78 percent of Ontario residents have received their first dose and nearly 54 percent of people in Ontario are fully vaccinated. Ontario continues to reopen with Stage 3 taking affect Friday, July 16.