New post-secondary health and safety measures

The announcement by the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Training Anne Kang and Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry provided greater clarity on how the vaccine card requirement will affect non-essential services on campus and introduced a new mask order.

Mask mandate

Starting on Wednesday, Aug. 25, the Provincial Health Officer will be reintroducing the mask mandate in all indoor public areas including common areas of post-secondary institutions such as lobbies, hallways, stairwells, elevators, classrooms and labs. The mandate also includes libraries, recreation centres, areas of office buildings where services to the public are provided and common areas of fitness centres. Masks do not need to be worn in a gym while working out or when seated to eat.

Vaccine card

The vaccine card will be required to access our recreation centres, Dunlop House Restaurant including pub nights, Classroom Restaurant at Helmut Huber and indoor sporting events. One area where we await further clarity is around our cafeterias.

The Return-to-Campus Guidelines are being updated to reflect the new mask order and proof of vaccine requirement, and are expected by the start of the new academic year.

Community safety

Minister Kang said the goal is to get more people vaccinated to keep our campuses safe. I would echo this message and encourage students, faculty and staff to get vaccinated as soon as possible to keep our college community safe as we return to on-campus learning.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Sherri Bell, President