Waterloo Region’s public health unit said 1,624 elementary school students were suspended Wednesday over incomplete vaccination records.
Families are responsible for updating their child’s records and providing proof they have received their shots for measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, polio, meningitis, pertussis (also known as whooping cough) and chickenpox, or they must file an exemption with public health as part of the Immunization of School Pupils Act.
“We’re not asking anyone to do anything that’s beyond their belief system, or what would be medically dangerous for them,” explained David Aoki, director of infectious disease, sexual health and harm reduction for the Region of Waterloo. “The more people that are vaccinated, it reduces transmission to people who maybe can’t get the vaccine for whatever reason or are susceptible to the virus because they’re going through medical treatment or something that makes their immune system compromised.”
What to do if your child was suspended
Parents of children who were suspended and don’t have the required vaccines are advised to book an appointment with their family doctor or public health.
“We want suspensions to be as short as possible,” said Aoki. “We did everything we could to try and reduce the number that was suspended [Wednesday], and now we’re trying to resolve all those who are suspended and get them back into school as quickly as possible.”
If a student has had their shots, parents must contact public health to update their records.
Suspension warning
According to Aoki, families were given plenty of warning.
“We provided notices to parents in the fall letting them know if their child was not up to date,” he said.
Public health then issued 8,981 suspension orders to elementary students in February.
At that time, parents were warned that their child would be suspended if their vaccination records weren’t updated by April 2.
Measles outbreak
The suspensions come amid a growing measles outbreak.
According to Public Health Ontario, there were 557 measles cases reported across the province in the first three months of 2025.
More than half of them were in the area monitored by Southwestern Public Health and Grand Erie Public Health.
In Waterloo Region, there were 14 confirmed cases of the illness as of Wednesday.
“While we only have 14 cases, there are no fences or borders between our neighbours,” said Aoki. “We often live, work and play outside of the region. So, the risk is there to have transmission occur, even if [it’s] not in Waterloo [Region].”
Public health is hoping to raise the local immunization rate for measles to 90 per cent or higher.
“We were there pre-COVID,” Aoki explained. “We’re expecting that will be the same, if not a little higher, after the end of this year.”
