The Windsor Police Service has suspended its Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination Policy for all current members.
Effective immediately, members of the Windsor Police Service who are on leave as a result of the policy will be allowed to return.
"Through the Windsor Police Services Board, just an evaluation of the current status of the pandemic, the situation we're in locally and provincially, and just determining what was best for the community, what was best for the Police Service, and ultimately arrived on the decision to suspend the policy," says Jason Bellaire, Acting Windsor Police Chief.
In early October 2021, the Windsor Police Services Board approved a policy which mandated proof of vaccination and those who failed to meet the deadline would be placed on unpaid leave.
In November 2021, just two percent of employees had failed to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19.
Shawn McCurdy, President of Windsor Police Association says the association had been trying to get the employees back for some time now.
"Many of the government restrictions and health orders were lifted some time ago, so the association has been continuously trying to get the board to rescind or suspend their vaccination policy and bring our members back to work."
He says he's pleased that the decision has finally been made to bring the Windsor Police Services employees back to work.
"We're very pleased that they finally suspended it. It's unfortunate that it took so long, we thought that it would've happened early on when Toronto lifted theirs and some other police services in the province. But, we're pleased that they finally came to the decision, and we're just going to move forward from here."
McCurdy says there were some employees on a leave due to the policy.
"Currently we have five members that are off and will be returning back to work. But, we also have a number of other members that will be effected by this because they were off on other leaves, maybe maternity, or sick leave, or WSIB, that will be able to return once they're able to do so."
Windsor and Stratford are the last services left in Ontario that still have vaccination mandates in place.
Stratford's employees who failed to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19 are still on a leave at this time.