Vaccine Passports and Indoor Condo Amenities

Ontario recently released the text of the upcoming changes to the Rules for Areas in Step 3, and as expected, vaccine passports/certificates will not be mandatory for the use of amenities in condominium corporations. The Minister of Health has confirmed that residential condominium corporations and their amenities are considered private dwellings and are not businesses or places that are open to the public that will require mandatory vaccine passports/certificates. 

Even though it will not be mandatory, corporations likely can require that individuals be fully vaccinated before they use the indoor amenities. We recommend that corporations considering implementing this requirement pass a rule rather than rely on a policy.

Whether a corporation should implement a vaccine requirement is a different question, and one that each individual Board should consider carefully. 

Generally, we think Boards should consider imposing a vaccine requirement because this is consistent with the guidance from public health authorities. We understand that this is not possible for every corporation. Requiring proof of vaccination is straightforward for buildings with available on-site staff – a staff member can review the printout or, after October 22, scan the QR code, and verify the person’s vaccination status each time the person has a booking. But for buildings without on-site staff, it may be impossible to control and track who is going in and out of amenities. We do not recommend passing rules that cannot be enforced. 

While we do not expect vaccines will become mandatory for condominium corporations, the regulations are complex and constantly changing. We will keep you updated as the situation changes and new rules are introduced.