# 2023-154 Careers, COVID-19

Case summary

F&R Date: 2025-09-02

The grievor challenged the denial of his request for religious accommodation in respect of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) COVID-19 vaccination policy. He was subsequently imposed remedial measures for failing to comply with the vaccine mandate, which he argued violated the Canadian Human Rights Act.

The Initial Authority found the denial of the grievor's religious accommodation request reasonable.

The Committee began by considering the grievor's request for religious accommodation and concluded that the grievor did not demonstrate the link between his religious belief or practice and the requirement to vaccinate, pursuant to Defence Administrative Order and Directive 5516-3, Religious or Spiritual Accommodation. The Committee concluded that the grievor's request for religious accommodation had been reviewed and denied in a reasonable manner.  

The Committee conducted an in-depth analysis to determine whether the CAF Directives on COVID-19 vaccination infringed on the rights protected under section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (“the Charter”), particularly the right to liberty and security of the person. The Committee found that the policy infringed on those rights and that this infringement was not in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice. The Committee considered that some aspects of the Directives were arbitrary in nature and overly broad and that the implementation of the policy was disproportionate. The Committee then conducted a comprehensive analysis to determine whether this infringement on protected rights was justified under section 1 of the Charter.

The Committee concluded that the CAF had not demonstrated that the public interest justified the overly broad and disproportionate implementation of the CAF Directives on COVID-19 vaccination, in a context where the vaccination rate among members was high and where the CAF had not considered the occupation, tasks or place of duty of its members. The Committee found that the CAF did not fulfil its obligation to ensure minimal impairment of Charter rights in the implementation of this policy. The Committee therefore found that the infringement on protected rights was not justified under section 1 of the Charter. 

As the policy violated Charter rights, the Committee concluded that remedial measures should not have been imposed on the grievor. Lastly, the Committee further concluded that the remedial measures were unreasonable due to serious breaches of procedural fairness. 

The Committee recommended that the Final Authority cancel the remedial measures.