The Province has announced the start date and guidelines for the new vaccination verification program.
Beginning on September 22, one week from today, people going out to dinner, or attending sporting events, concerts, or movies will be required to show proof they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Business owners will be responsible for matching the vaccine receipt with government-issued identification.
Officials say businesses that don’t comply could face fines ranging from $750 up to $10-million for corporations.
Areas where vaccine passports will be required:
- The indoor areas of restaurants, bars and other food or drink establishments where dance facilities are not provided, but not with respect to takeout and delivery service.
- The indoor and outdoor areas of food or drink establishments where dance facilities are provided, including nightclubs, resto-clubs and other similar establishments, but not with respect to takeout and delivery service.
- The indoor areas of meeting and event spaces, including conference centres or convention centres, but not including places described in subsection 4 (2) of this Schedule.
- The indoor areas of facilities used for sports and recreational fitness activities, including waterparks and personal physical fitness trainers, including, for greater certainty, the indoor areas of facilities where spectators watch events.
- The indoor areas of casinos, bingo halls and other gaming establishments.
- The indoor areas of concert venues, theatres and cinemas.
- The indoor areas of bathhouses, sex clubs and strip clubs.
- The indoor areas of horse racing tracks, car racing tracks and other similar venues.
- The indoor areas of places where commercial film and television production takes place, where there is a studio audience. For the purposes of this paragraph, a member of the studio audience is considered to be a patron of the production.
Indoor purposes where patrons will not require proof of vaccination:
- to use a washroom;
- to access an outdoor area that can only be accessed through an indoor route;
- to make a retail purchase;
- while placing or picking up an order, including placing a bet or picking up winnings in the case of a horse racing track;
- while paying for an order;
- to purchase admission; or
- as may be necessary for the purposes of health and safety.
Exemptions will also be made for those attending wedding or funeral services as long as you are not attending any related social gatherings in a meeting or event space.
Patrons under the age of 18 who are entering an indoor premises of a facility used for sports and recreation solely for the purse of actively participating in an organized sport will not have to show proof of vaccination. However, many sports leagues have already unveiled their own vaccination policies.
The vaccine passport does not apply to those under 12 who are not yet eligible to receive the COVID vaccine.