VANCOUVER — More than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, as cases swell from the highly contagious delta variant, companies must decide when and how to return to the office. With vaccinations now widely available to most people in Canada, a big question centres on whether employers will ask their staff to prove they’ve received jabs of Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech or AstraZeneca—or allow unvaccinated people into their workspaces.

The Logic surveyed dozens of public and private companies across the innovation economy either based in Canada or with a significant presence in the country. Here’s how they plan to approach vaccines and back-to-office plans:

This article was last modified on Sept. 1, 2021 to include Google’s plan. We’ll continue to update this story as plans change.

THE FIRM YES

Telus announced in late August that its staff and guests who enter one of the company’s buildings must be fully vaccinated as of Oct. 1. By Oct. 15, its retail, health, technician or other staff who work outside their homes must be either fully vaccinated or undergo a rapid test twice a week. As of the new year, office workers who are fully vaccinated can return to their workplace full- or part-time, while those who remain unvaccinated must work from home. Telus International previously told The Logic it would follow policies set by the telecom.

Rogers informed staff in a note from chief human resources officer Jim Reid on Monday morning that all workers “must be fully vaccinated, with an approved COVID-19 vaccine, to enter our workplace by Oct. 18.” The telecom’s policy extends to retail staff and those out in the field. Anyone unable or unwilling to be vaccinated will have to wear a mask and take a rapid test.

Absolute Software, a cybersecurity company, implemented a mandatory vaccine policy at its offices, which are in Canada, the U.S., Vietnam and England. Staff who work in one of its nine offices, conduct business travel or meet with colleagues must be fully vaccinated, said Robert Booker, the company’s executive vice-president of human resources, in an emailed statement to The Logic. The company employed 731 people across the four countries as of July 1, and 275 in Canada. Absolute is seeking to tackle potential confidentiality issues by building a Slack bot with which staff can upload their vaccination certificates.

Shopify’s Tobi Lütke tweeted his company’s policy would be similar to Quebec’s, which announced that starting in September, anyone accessing public spaces would need to show proof of vaccination. “Any employee meetups will require proof of full vaccination,” wrote the founder and CEO. “Because science.”

Twitter will require staff who want to work out of its Canadian or U.S. offices to show proof of vaccination, wrote spokesperson Cam Gordon. The company has about 150 staff in Canada, mostly based in the Greater Toronto Area, and does not have a timeline for reopening any of its offices at this time, he said.

VerticalScope, a Toronto-based digital-media company that debuted on the Toronto Stock Exchange in June in an upsized initial public offering, gave staff a choice: continue working remotely or come back to the office fully vaccinated. It has 184 employees in Canada.

All of Canada’s major banks announced mandatory vaccination policies in quick succession late last week. RBC was first, distributing a memo just after 5:30 p.m. ET Thursday saying it will require all its staff to be fully vaccinated in Canada and the U.S. by the end of October if they want to work in the office. TD Bank, which did not respond to The Logic’s requests for comment, followed suit, as did BMO and CIBC. Scotiabank told staff it is “moving in the direction of making vaccinations mandatory.” All five banks imposed similar deadlines.

Maple Leaf Foods corporate staff who wish to return to the office can do so starting Sept. 7, with everyone back on Nov. 1, the company said. It will require proof of full vaccination. “It is our moral obligation to do everything in our power to ensure the safety of our team members, and in turn our communities,” wrote CEO Michael McCain in an emailed statement. Maple Leaf, however, is not requiring the same proof from its operating facilities staff.

THE YES, BUT…

Google announced in late July that “anyone coming to work on our campuses will need to be vaccinated.” The policy will first apply to staff in the U.S. and other regions, including Canada, in the coming months. “We currently are looking into local regulations globally where all our sites are located, including Canada,” said a company spokesperson in a statement to The Logic. In late August, Google decided to delay its return to the office from mid-October to Jan. 10.

Montreal-based flight-simulator company CAE has made vaccinations mandatory only for its staff travelling internationally for business, wrote spokesperson Catherine Thibault in an emailed statement to The Logic. Still, it “strongly encouraged” all its employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. It has asked all staff to report their vaccination status in an anonymous survey, and said it will use the results to better prepare a safe return-to-work plan.

Ceridian staff will have the option of returning to the office starting Sept. 7. They will have to be fully vaccinated or show a negative COVID-19 test from the prior seven days each time they work out of the office, said spokesperson Fahd Pasha in an email.

GeoComply does not and does not plan to require vaccinations. “We understand that people’s situations are varied and mandating vaccines could be uncomfortable for some of our staff,” spokesperson Jessi Hodgson said in an email. The company’s staff have successfully worked from home throughout the pandemic as their work is largely digital. Still, it is asking those who come into the office or travel for work to be fully vaccinated.

THE NO OR UNDECIDED 

MDA, the maker of the Canadarm, has “no plans” for mandatory vaccination, the company said in an emailed statement, “but we will continue to monitor government policy and the public environment.” Staff will return to the office for at least three days a week starting in September.

Farmers Edge, which went public in a $125-million initial public offering this March, doesn’t require staff to be vaccinated and doesn’t plan on changing that, the company said in an email. People who are unvaccinated, partially vaccinated or don’t want to disclose their status will need to wear a mask at the office, however.

MDF Commerce doesn’t require vaccinations, but is encouraging its staff to get jabbed. It “will assess the need to implement mandatory vaccinations only if it’s both highly recommended by health authorities and if it would be required to ensure the safety of all our employees with regards to business continuity,” wrote spokesperson Alexandrine Gauvin in an emailed statement.

Amazon doesn’t require its staff to be vaccinated. “We strongly encourage Amazon employees and contractors to be vaccinated as soon as COVID-19 vaccines are available to them,” the company said.

Quebec-based Lion Electric does not have a mandatory vaccine policy in place, said spokesperson Patrick Gervais in an email. 

Vancouver-based Hootsuite has “not imposed a vaccine mandate,” wrote spokesperson Sabrina Jensen in an email. The company is “monitoring the subject closely” and continues to have frequent discussions on the topic.

Indigo did not answer whether it had a vaccination policy in place, but said, in part, “We continue to monitor the evolving situation.”

Rogers said it “strongly” encourages staff to be vaccinated. It has used rapid screening since January in some of its offices where employees must do their jobs in person, administering more than 70,000 tests to date, and plans to roll it out as part of its broader return-to-work plan.

Grocer Metro said it has “been encouraging” its workers to get vaccinated. Some staff will return to the office in September “with all the appropriate prevention measures issued by Public Health” in place.

At Clio, a Vancouver-based legaltech company that is one of B.C.’s recently minted unicorns, “a COVID-19 vaccination policy is a likely scenario,” wrote Sarah Bettencourt, chief people officer, in an email, “but not a decision we will rush into without careful, broad-spectrum consideration.”

LifeSpeak, which went public in July, has no immediate plan to return to the office. “We are still evaluating our options, and we have not decided whether we will have a COVID-19 vaccination policy,” wrote Doug Berkowitz, senior vice-president of operations, in an email.

Saskatoon-based Vendasta, which recently raised $119.5 million in a financing round after shelving its IPO plans, “is evaluating the option” of mandatory vaccines for in-office workers, wrote spokesperson Dani Wawryk. It previously partnered with a pharmacy to provide first doses to staff who wanted them. About 55 per cent of its Saskatoon staff currently work out of the office, with physical-distancing measures in place, and the company anticipates the remainder will return in October when its headquarters is complete, though remote and hybrid models will be accommodated.

Magnet Forensics is still working on its return-to-office plan, as are Wealthsimple and Wattpad. Square has a mandatory work-from-home policy for now. “As conditions improve, we will consider the best path to reopen our offices in Toronto and Kitchener,” the fintech company said.

Facebook, which announced mandatory vaccinations for its U.S. workforce last month, did not have a specific Canadian policy to share yet. “We will be evaluating our approach in other regions as the situation evolves,” it said.

Another company that will require vaccines at its U.S. offices, Microsoft, is still finalizing its return-to-work policy for Canada, the company said, but doesn’t anticipate staff being back before October.

OpenText did not say whether or not it will require vaccinations, but sent a statement that reads, in part: “Vaccines work, and the company funds vaccines and annual boosters for all employees. Masks help them work better.”

This article was updated on Aug. 31, 2021 to include Telus’s plan.