All unvaccinated TTC employees will be fired at end of year

All unvaccinated TTC employees will be officially let go at the end of the year, the transit agency announced on Friday.

In an update to its mandatory vaccination policy that saw an extension of the vaccine deadline, the TTC said that all employees who remain unvaccinated or who have not shared their proof of complete vaccination by December 31 will have their employment terminated.

Prior to that, employees who do not share their vaccine status by the end of the day on November 20 will be placed on an unpaid leave of absence until they complete their vaccine course.

The previous deadline for complete vaccination was October 30, but TTC chose to revise the date after more than 600 employees went to receive their first dose over the past few weeks.

“Safety is always our top concern. Our priority during the pandemic continues to be making sure everyone working at the TTC is kept as safe as possible,” said TTC CEO Rick Leary. “I want to thank everyone who has gotten vaccinated and disclosed their status to us. This is an important step in putting the pandemic behind us and ensuring that we are doing everything we can to keep our family, friends and communities healthy.”

The vaccine deadline will not apply to employees who have an approved exemption.

As of Friday, 85% of the TTC’s 15,061 employees had shared their vaccine status, with 89% of those being fully vaccinated and 11% having one dose.

The TTC says it is looking into a number of options to deal with any potential staff shortages and service disruptions that could come after the November deadline, including hiring more operators and even asking recent retirees to come back to work. The possible shortage may result in schedule changes, in which case the TTC says it will prioritize the busiest routes at the busiest times of day.