Toronto Public Health is reminding parents and guardians to check their child's vaccination records, catch up on any missing routine childhood vaccines, and report those vaccinations to the public health unit before the new school year begins.
The reminder, issued in a City of Toronto news release on September 2, comes as Ontario's Immunization of School Pupils Act requires students to be vaccinated against nine designated diseases or hold a valid exemption.
The required vaccines, which follow Ontario's publicly funded immunization schedule, protect against measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, polio, pertussis (whooping cough), meningococcal disease and varicella, also known as chickenpox. The chickenpox requirement applies to students born in 2010 or later.
For the 2026-2027 school year, TPH is mailing letters to parents and guardians of students in Grade 2, who were born in 2019, and Grade 11, who were born in 2010, if their vaccination records are incomplete or no valid exemption is on file.
Those letters warn that students could be suspended from school if the required information is not submitted by a specified deadline. According to Toronto Public Health, students whose records remain incomplete will receive a suspension order before any active suspensions begin.
The health unit said it assesses immunization gaps in the student population and promotes catch-up vaccination opportunities in order to prevent illness and the spread of infection among students and the broader community. Families are given multiple chances to update records or file a valid exemption before suspensions take effect.
Parents, guardians, or students aged 16 and older are responsible for reporting vaccinations to TPH, since doctors and other health-care providers do not submit vaccine reports on a patient's behalf. Records can be submitted through Immunization Connect Ontario, the province's online reporting system.
Support is available in multiple languages through the City's student vaccines webpage, by email, or by phone at 416-338-7600, Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Students who have missed doses can catch up by contacting their health-care provider or booking an appointment at a Toronto Public Health community immunization clinic.
"Ensuring the health and safety of students in Toronto is at the heart of our work," Dr. Michelle Murti, Medical Officer of Health, said in the news release. "We know many families are busy preparing for a new school year, and we want to make it as easy as possible to keep children's vaccine records updated as part of that preparation."
The health unit added that it provides support for catching up on missed vaccines, help with submitting records, and works with families and schools to prevent illness.
