# 2022-199 Careers, COVID-19

Case summary

F&R Date: 2024-02-16

The grievor contested the denial of his request for religious accommodation under the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) COVID-19 vaccination policy. He also grieved the remedial measures (RM) issued for non-compliance with this policy and the administrative review (AR) that led to the grievor's release under item 5(f) Service Completed – Unsuitable for Further Service, of the table to article 15.01 of the Queen's Regulations and Orders for the Canadian Forces.

There was no Initial Authority decision, given that the decision being grieved concerned a decision, act or omission of the Chief of the Defence Staff.

The Committee found that the grievor had failed to establish a religious nexus required to grant a religious accommodation request as required by Defence Administrative Order and Directive 5516-3, Religious or Spiritual Accommodation. The Committee found that the denial of the grievor's religious accommodation request was reasonable and the grievor was not aggrieved by it.

For the body of CAF COVID-19 vaccination policy related grievances, the Committee conducted an in-depth analysis of whether this policy infringed on the protected rights under section 7 the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the Charter), namely the right to liberty and security of the person. The Committee concluded that the CAF vaccination policy infringed on these rights and that their limitation was not in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice. This was because the Committee viewed the policy, in some respects, to be arbitrary and overly broad, and because its implementation was disproportionate. This led to a full analysis and conclusion that such limitations were not justified under section 1 of the Charter.

Additionally, the Committee found that the RM and the AR should not have occurred as the grievor was exercising a protected Charter right. Consequently, the Committee found that the grievor's release under item 5(f) was unreasonable due to serious breaches of procedural fairness.

The Committee recommended that the Final Authority (FA) cancel the RM and the AR decision, and remove all associated documentation from the grievor's file. The Committee also recommended that the FA facilitate the grievor's re-enrolment, if he remained eligible and wished to, as well as consider awarding the grievor financial compensation for being unjustly released, through an ex gratia payment or through reference to the Director of Civil Claims and Litigation.