A labour board has ruled that a federal agency’s decision not to grant religious exemption for COVID-19 vaccine mandates amounted to “significant interference” with employees’ freedom of religion and breached Charter rights.
The Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board cited the National Research Council for twice dismissing pleas for exemption from Christian staff, who objected to the source of cells used in production of COVID-19 vaccines.
“Being placed on leave without pay because of a sincerely held religious belief interferes with the freedom of religion in a way that is more than trivial or insubstantial,” wrote adjudicator Patricia Harewood in her May 14 decision, which was first covered by Blacklock’s Reporter.
Harewood ruled in two cases that employees’ freedoms were breached, while noting the board has “over 350 cases like these ones.”
In the first case, a Catholic meteorologist was suspended without pay after refusing to get vaccinated, citing concerns with the Johnston & Johnston and AstraZeneca vaccines being developed using fetal cell lines. The Johnston & Johnson and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines were developed using fetal cell lines but the vaccine itself does not contain fetal cell DNA.
In the second case, a Pentecostal IT analyst refused to comply with the vaccine mandate on religious grounds, also arguing that the vaccines were developed and tested using fetal cell lines. The employee said he was against abortion and that using fetal tissue for medical research, “no matter how far removed, violates God’s command against killing.”
In both instances, the labour board cited a landmark 2004 Supreme Court ruling, Syndicat Northcrest v. Amselem, which found that religious freedoms must be broadly interpreted.
Back in October 2021, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat implemented a policy requiring federal employees in the core public administration to be vaccinated against COVID-19, but suspended this policy in 2022.
Many Canadians who have gone to court over being terminated from employment over their COVID vaccination status have not been successful, while a few have seen courts rule in their favour.
In late 2024, a federal judge dismissed a class-action lawsuit by 330 active or former Canadian Armed Forces members, who alleged the military rushed an “untested product” onto their members and did not give adequate options for members to refuse the vaccine. The justice said the plaintiffs failed to “establish all elements of the alleged cause of action,” in their pleading,” and said the military’s internal grievance process should address the cases.
In 2025, the B.C. Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal of the province’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health-care workers, saying it was moot or no longer relevant.
However, in December 2023, Purolator was ordered by a Teamsters union to give financial compensation to employees terminated for not receiving the vaccine, with the arbitrator stating the mandate was “unreasonable.”
On May 13, 2025, an Alberta court also ruled in favour of a former WestJet employee who was terminated for refusing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine because of her religious beliefs. WestJet was ordered to pay the employee $65,587.72 in compensation.
