# 2022-141 Careers, COVID-19

Case summary

F&R Date: 2025-04-30

The grievor contested the denial of her request for a religious accommodation under the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) COVID-19 vaccination policy, as well as the Remedial Measures (RM) issued for non-compliance with this policy. 

There is no Initial Authority decision for this file. The Canadian Forces Grievance Authority referred this file directly to the Final Authority since the grievance relates to the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) COVID-19 vaccination policy.

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

For the numerous 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 of 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.

The CDS and her predecessor rendered decisions in previous grievances on this subject, disputing the Committee's analysis of the Charter provisions leading to its conclusion that the CAF COVID-19 vaccination policy infringed upon the protected rights of CAF members. Consequently, the Committee conducted additional review and its position remained that the limitation imposed on members' Charter rights was not justified under section 1 of the Charter. 

The Committee also found that the RMs issued to the grievor were unjustified and unreasonable, as the grievor was exercising a protected Charter right. Consequently, the Committee found that the grievor had been aggrieved by the issuance of the RM. Accordingly, the Committee recommended that the CDS afford the grievor redress by ordering that the RMs issued under the CAF COVID-19 vaccination policy be quashed, and that all associated documentation be removed from the grievor's personnel file. The Committee also recommended that all documentation pertaining to the Administrative Review initiated for non-compliance with the COVID-19 vaccination policy be removed from the grievor's personnel file.