Conestoga College 'considering' campus-wide vaccination requirement for winter semester

Conestoga College considering vaccine mandate From CTV Kitchener's Stephanie Villella: Conestoga College is considering a campus-wide vaccination requirement for the winter 2022 semester.

Waterloo — Conestoga College is considering a campus-wide COVID-19 vaccination requirement for the winter semester, the college's president says.

In a communication sent to Conestoga College employees on Tuesday morning, president John Tibbits said a vaccination requirement for in-person, on-campus activities could be implemented for the winter 2022 term.

"For the winter semester, Conestoga is considering a vaccine requirement for everyone learning or working on our campuses," he said in an emailed statement. "On-campus vaccination clinics and campaigns to promote broader awareness will contribute to increased vaccine uptake across the college community."

For the fall semester, Conestoga College has already opted to require COVID-19 vaccination for those living in residents and to participate in varsity sports.

Other post-secondary institutions in the region, including Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Waterloo and the University of Guelph, will also require vaccination for students living in residence.

Conestoga College is aiming to make a final decision about a winter semester vaccination requirement by October.

"We want people to know that this is serious business here, it is serious business. We need to be sure everyone that’s on campus can be safe," Tibbits said in an interview Tuesday. "Do we want an honour system? I don’t know, we’ll have to look at that. Do we have passports? I don’t know. But what we’re signalling is, we want people to get that vaccine."

If approved, Conestoga College would not be the first post-secondary institution in Ontario to mandate COVID-19 vaccination on campus.

Seneca College recently announced all students and staff learning or working on campus this fall must be vaccinated.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association's Cara Zwibel says vaccinations should be a choice.

"If we make certain things contingent on being vaccinated then we may be undermining the extent to which this is truly (something) that people do voluntarily," Zwibel said.

"This whole thing of human rights has to be looked at in a greater context. Human society was built to protect individuals. People have rights, but not rights to harm others," Tibbits said.

Conestoga College is not planning for a full return to normal in September, with many classes still taking place online. Tibbits estimates only about 8,000 students will be learning on-campus this fall.

Conestoga College is not planning for a full return to normal in September, with many classes still taking place online.

"This fall, Conestoga’s full-time enrolment is expected to exceed 25,000 students," Tibbits' email statement reads. "Under existing conditions, we cannot support a safe return to campus for all students and employees at this time."

The college says hands-on learning will still be offered in labs, shops and studios, adding more in-person services will gradually reopen throughout the semester.

"We are hopeful that a higher percentage of our students and employees will be vaccinated by the start of the winter semester 2022, thereby allowing for fuller easing of restrictions and a return to full on-campus operations," Tibbits said.