COVID-19 Proof of Vaccination Fund: Response letter from Alberta

January 13, 2023

The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos
Minister of Health
House of Commons
Parliament Buildings
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6

Dear Minister Duclos:

Thank you for your letter regarding the COVID-19 Proof of Vaccination Fund and Alberta's allocation of $29,748,138. I too appreciate the significant collaboration over the past year to roll out a pan-Canadian Proof of Vaccination Credential (PVC), and the Government of Alberta looks forward to continued collaboration.

I agree with the points outlined in your letter. Alberta is committed to securely issuing the Canadian PVC for as long as other international or domestic jurisdictions require it, including up to three additional years from April 2022. Further, the Government of Alberta commits to aligning with the pan-Canadian specification for the PVC and following the specification as it evolves in order to keep pace with a changing context and to ensure it remains domestically and internationally interoperable. We also rely on the federal government's work with international partners to ensure the existing Smart Health Card standard and data elements continue to be accepted to protect public health investments.

Similarly, Alberta commits to providing dedicated and sustained points of contact with provincial and territorial governments and the federal government in order to collaboratively address user or jurisdictional issues. This will help ensure federal-provincial-territorial collaboration in parallel with the federal government's commitment to serve as a first point of contact for Canadian PVC holders travelling abroad. We also remain committed to working with the Canadian government to improve the PVC and its user experience, while taking into account important considerations for Indigenous communities and organizations.

Finally, I reaffirm the Government of Alberta's commitment to sustained collaboration toward consistent PVC eligibility and accessibility, vaccine registry accuracy and completeness, and technology infrastructure security and integrity.

Sincerely,

Jason Copping
Minister of Health