COVID-19 Proof of Vaccination Fund: Response letter from Nova Scotia

December 19, 2022

The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos
Minister of Health
Government of Canada
Ottawa ON K1A 0K9
Canada

Dear Minister Duclos:

Re: Expected Commitments in Response Letters from Provinces and Territories for access to the COVID-19 Proof of Vaccination Fund (the Fund)

This letter confirms receipt of your correspondence dated October 28, 2022, and indicates Nova Scotia's agreement on the following commitments to access the Fund.

Nova Scotia is committed to maintaining alignment with the pan-Canadian specification for the Canadian PVC and continuing to follow the specification as it evolves to keep pace with a changing context, to ensure it remains interoperable domestically and internationally.

As the pandemic continues to evolve, we also commit to maintaining the Canadian PVCs (including continued issuance) for as long as other international or domestic jurisdictions are requiring it, for up to three additional years beginning in April 2022.

Further, we commit to providing dedicated and sustained points of contact to other provincial and territorial governments and the Government of Canada, to address user issues, including out-of-jurisdiction issues such as those that may occur outside of the province or territory that issued the PVC, collaboratively. This will help ensure the federal-provincial-territorial collaboration needed to address issues, in parallel with the Government of Canada commitment to continue to be a first point of contact to support holders of Canadian PVCs while travelling abroad.

Nova Scotia supports efforts to improve the Canadian PVC and user experience and remains committed to working with the Government of Canada in key areas of collaboration, taking into account important considerations for Indigenous communities and organizations.

As such, we welcome the constructive partnership with the Government of Canada and reaffirm our commitment to sustained collaboration in areas including consistent PVC eligibility and accessibility across Canada, vaccine registry accuracy and completeness, and technology infrastructure security and integrity, as you have outlined in your letter.

We appreciate the Government of Canada’s support for the PVC program and look forward to continuing our collaboration.

Sincerely,

Honourable Michelle Thompson
Minister of Health and Wellness