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

May 5, 2023

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

Dear Minister Duclos,

This letter confirms receipt of your correspondence from October 25, 2022, regarding the Government of Canada's COVID-19 Proof of Vaccination Fund and indicates Saskatchewan's agreement on the following commitments to access the Fund.

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

We also commit to maintaining the Canadian COVID-19 Proof of Vaccination Credential (PVCs) (including continued issuance) for as long as other international or domestic jurisdictions are requiring it, for up to three additional years beginning 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, 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.

Saskatchewan also seeks to further 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 remain committed 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.

Sincerely,
Paul Merriman
Minister of Health