The internal memo indicated that if any “essential workers” were not able to “attest” to receiving the recommended doses of a vaccination, they must participate in the company’s rapid-test screening program, which it began piloting in May.Ĭanada’s largest banks have yet to make firm decisions about whether to require vaccination for employees returning to the workplace. Just 2 per cent of Sun Life employees – those deemed “essential workers” – have been accessing office buildings (and they do not currently require a vaccination to enter the buildings). Last month, Sun Life was one of the first Canadian companies to commit to a flexible return-to-work arrangement where employees will not be required to work from the office any minimum or maximum number of days each week. The insurer began working on the pilot project prior to last week’s announcement by the federal government that COVID-19 vaccinations will be mandatory across the federal public service as early as next month in order to help increase the number of fully vaccinated Canadians.Ī Sun life spokesperson told the Globe the company have not made “any decisions regarding vaccinations beyond the pilots” but will be “monitoring the case numbers, vaccination rates and the delta variant closely.” 20, at a 25-per-cent capacity for each of the three offices, according to the internal memo obtained by The Globe and Mail. Sun Life’s return-to-work policy has been planned in phases, with the most recent, Phase 2, beginning on or around Sept. has told its 12,000 Canadian employees they must receive the COVID-19 vaccination in order to return to offices in three major Canadian cities, becoming one of the first federally regulated financial institutions to mandate vaccinations for its staff.Ĭanada’s second-largest insurer announced the vaccination requirement in an internal memo on Tuesday afternoon, saying employees who have volunteered in a return to work pilot project in offices in Toronto, Montreal and Waterloo, Ont., “must attest to having received all recommended doses of the approved COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days prior to first entering the office.”