The Minister’s Directive on Long-Term Care Home COVID-19 Immunization Policy was revoked effective March 14, 2022. The requirements in this directive no longer apply and are included below for reference only.

Effective February 10, 2022

This Minister’s Directive is issued pursuant to section 174.1 of the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007, which authorizes the Minister of Long-Term Care to issue operational or policy directives respecting long-term care homes where the Minister considers it in the public interest to do so. Every licensee of a long-term care home shall carry out every operational or policy directive that applies to the long-term care home.

This directive updates and replaces the previous version of this directive dated January 27, 2022.

This directive sets out requirements for proof of vaccination against COVID‑19 for people working (including as staff and support workers), undertaking a student placement, volunteering, or visiting at long-term care homes.

Vaccination remains the best defence against COVID‑19, and combined with other measures and actions, high vaccination rates can help prevent and limit the spread of this virus in homes. Vaccination against COVID‑19 helps reduce the number of new cases, and, most importantly, reduces severe outcomes including hospitalizations and death due to COVID‑19 in both residents and others who may be present in a long-term care home.

For definitions applicable to this directive, please refer to the Definitions section.

I hereby issue the following directive to every licensee of a long-term care home:

Definitions

All terms in this directive have the same meaning as under the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007 and Ontario Regulation 79/10 under the Act, unless otherwise defined.

The following definitions apply for the purpose of this directive:

  • Antigen test means a point-of-care rapid antigen test for the novel coronavirus known as COVID‑19 where the test kit has been obtained from Ontario Health and is taken in accordance with rapid antigen screening guidance.
  • Caregiver means a type of visitor who is visiting the home to provide direct care to a resident in order to meet the essential needs of a particular resident. Caregivers must be at least 16 years of age and must be designated by the resident or their substitute decision-maker (if any). Direct care includes providing support or assistance to a resident, such as providing direct physical support (for example, eating, bathing, and dressing) or providing social and emotional support.
  • Covered individual refers to all staff, support workers, student placements, volunteers, general visitors and caregivers entering a long-term care home, regardless of the frequency and duration with which they attend the home.
  • Directive #3 means Directive #3 for Long-Term Care Homes under the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007 issued under section 77.7 of the Health Protection and Promotion Act (HPPA), R.S.O. 1990, c. H.7, by the Chief Medical Officer of Health, as amended from time to time.
  • Eligible for a third dose has the meaning described in the Ministry of Health’s COVID‑19 Vaccine Third Dose Recommendations guidance.
  • Fully vaccinated against COVID‑19 has the same meaning as in the Ministry of Health guidance: COVID‑19 fully vaccinated status in Ontario.
  • General visitor means a type of visitor who is visiting the home to provide non-essential services related to either the operations of the home or a particular resident or group of residents, including visiting for social reasons.
  • PCR test means a validated real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay laboratory test for the novel coronavirus known as COVID‑19.
  • Recommended interval for those infected with COVID‑19 has the meaning described in the Ministry of Health’s COVID‑19 Vaccine Third Dose Recommendations guidance, which describes the recommended interval between symptom onset or positive test (if asymptomatic) and the third dose “booster dose” for individuals infected with COVID‑19. However, for the purposes of this definition the recommended interval for those infected with COVID‑19 commences on the date that the individual was tested on with a rapid antigen test or PCR test.
  • Staff has the same meaning as under the Act.
  • Student placement means a person working in the long-term care home as part of a clinical placement requirement of an educational program of a college or university and who does not meet the definition of “staff” or “volunteer”.
  • Substitute decision-maker has the same meaning as under the Act.
  • Support worker means a type of visitor who visits a home to provide support to the critical operations of the home or to provide essential services to a resident. Essential services include, but are not limited to: services provided by regulated health professionals, emergency services, social work, moving services, legal services, post-mortem services, maintenance and repair services, food and nutrition services, water and drink delivery services, mail, delivery and courier services, assistive devices program vendors, and election or voting services.
  • Volunteer has the same meaning as under the Act.