City of Toronto employees who refuse to get double vaccinated against COVID-19 will lose their jobs by Christmas.

Starting November 1st, staff who do not provide proof of two doses of vaccine will be suspended for six weeks without pay, and staff who don’t show proof by December 13th will be fired for not complying.

Brad Ross is the city’s chief communications officer and says so far, 95-percent of active staff have completed the disclosure form. Of those, 89 percent are fully vaccinated and 5 percent are partially vaccinated.

“We do want those numbers to go up of course, and so over the next couple of weeks, we’re going to have vaccination clinics at certain work locations to encourage people who have yet to get both doses of vaccine or need to finish their vaccination to get those vaccines,” Ross explained.

The mandate applies to all of the more than 35,000 people currently employed by the City of Toronto, with few exemptions.