Canadian schools

[basilico]

Just curious, are Canadian schools (public and private) in the same boat as American schools with vaccines being "required" with few exemptions?  Or do schools not have anything to do with vaccines?  I'm just interested to what the situation is up north regarding vaccines.  Thanks!

[pers]

Differs by province.  In Alberta, school registration forms do not ask about vaccines, and there are no vaccine requirements to attend school.  I'm pretty sure some other provinces do have vaccines requirements, but I'd have to look up which ones. 

Here, vaccines given to infants and preschoolers are given at public health clinics. Nurses come to the schools to administer vaccines to grade 5 students (HPV and hepatitis B) and grade 9 students (dTap and meningococcal) there,  but it is not required for students to get them.  

[ma2two]

"Only three provinces in Canada have enacted legislation governing the vaccination of school children, Ontario, New Brunswick and Manitoba. All three provincial Acts contain legal exemptions for all vaccines required for school entry"

http://vran.org/exemptions/legal-exemption-forms/

[kathymuggle]

I live in Ontario.  For my children to attend school, I get a form from the health unit webpage, fill it out (exemptions states: due to sincerely held religious beliefs or reason of conscience" and have it stamped by the municipal registrar.  It is pretty easy.  

I think exemptions are completely unnecessary.  To the best of my knowledge there is little difference in vaccination rates or VAD between provinces (exemptions or not) and there is little difference in VAD or vaccinations from USA to Canada (one country with somewhat strict exemptions, one with easy to obtain or non-existant exemptions).  Really, we are not dropping like flies up here from our non-existant or lenient exemptions.  

[basilico]

Interesting.  Thank you so much!

[Magali]

2 years ago when my daughter was born my Dr. told me that is was going to be hard for me when it came time to start school, since we weren't vaccinating.  I had to school my Dr. on the law.  There are plenty of people up here who believe that vaccines are mandatory for school.

[Bronwen13]

Both my kids attend school in British Columbia and we've never had to do anything. At the beginning of the school year the vaccination forms come home and I just send them back with 'unvaccinated' written across it.

[MountainMamaGC]

Yeah the nurse tried telling me that my child would not be able to get into school. Its not true at all, and here you dont even need an exemption. 

[threenorns]

btw:  it's against canadian federal law to state or even imply that vaccination is "mandatory" or "the law".  if there were an epidemic, either federal or provincial govt can over-ride charter rights but they have to do it regionally, not individually, and there has to be a direct threat to society as a whole.

[dot1]

Originally Posted by basilico 

Just curious, are Canadian schools (public and private) in the same boat as American schools with vaccines being "required" with few exemptions?  Or do schools not have anything to do with vaccines?  I'm just interested to what the situation is up north regarding vaccines.  Thanks!

They ask you to note the dates of their last vaccines for each major illness, but no one will ban you from school entry.  Here there is no longer funding for school nurses (school district funded, that is) and admin is already so stretched....that honestly no one probably even has time to check anyway!

[Chloebelle]

I'm in BC, and we've had no issues. The Health nurses sent some vaccination forms home a few times last year (Our first year), but we just ignored them.

[basilico]

Thats great that Canada is a lot more lenient with vaccines!  I really wish it wasn't such a big deal down here.