On Wednesday, the province’s proof of COVID-19 vaccination system goes into effect.
Starting September 22, patrons will need to show proof of full vaccination and a piece of ID to enter some businesses.
The list of businesses includes:
1. 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.
2. The indoor and outdoor areas of food or drink establishments where dance facilities are provided, including nightclubs, restoclubs and other similar establishments, but not with respect to takeout and delivery service.
3. 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.
4. 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, but not including places described in subsection 16 (4) of Schedule 2.
5. The indoor areas of casinos, bingo halls and other gaming establishments.
6. The indoor areas of concert venues, theatres and cinemas.
7. The indoor areas of bathhouses, sex clubs and strip clubs.
8. The indoor areas of horse racing tracks, car racing tracks and other similar venues.
9. 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.
Those with medical exemptions and those under 12 will be permitted to enter.
A negative COVID-19 test or recent COVID-19 infection will not entitle unvaccinated people to enter these settings.
Click here for information on how to get proof of vaccination.
The province said businesses and patrons who don’t follow the rules could be fined.
The system will initially require you to show a paper or digital receipt of vaccination along with a form of government-issued identification, such as a driver’s licence, birth certificate or health card.
Businesses must ensure the name and date of birth on the vaccination receipt match those on the identification document before allowing customers access to the venue.
Businesses will not have to validate medical exemption notes that may be presented.
The province says a standardized note is in the works.
The province is telling businesses to contact law enforcement about harassment or threats over the policy.
All provincial offences officers, including bylaw, police and public health inspectors can provide education on the system and issue fines related to it.
On October 22, the province will launch a QR code and verification app for businesses.
