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Vaccination and masking policies for students, staff, and faculty members of both Canadore College and Nipissing University will remain in effect for now.
Following guidance from the Council of Ontario Universities and "to minimize uncertainty and disruption and to continue to support our students, staff, faculty and university communities, Ontario’s universities, including Nipissing, will maintain their COVID-19 vaccination and masking policies until at least the end of the current term."
At Canadore College, the current academic delivery model will remain in place until the end of the winter semester — in April for most programs. This includes a requirement for Canadore students and employees to wear a three-layer procedure mask while on campus. According to Canadore, this protocol will remain in place until Public Health Ontario rescinds the requirement.
In Timmins, Northern College announced Tuesday that it will eliminate its on-campus mask mandate on March 21, although students and staff are still encouraged to wear a mask.
See related: Health units recommend masking beyond lifting of mandates — if necessary
On August 30, 2021, as the fall semester neared, the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health issued instructions requiring every post-secondary institution to establish, implement and ensure compliance with a mandatory vaccination policy.
Since that time, all COVID-19 vaccine-eligible individuals attending the North Bay Campus of Nipissing University have been required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and to provide proof of vaccination satisfactory to the university.
Meanwhile, Canadore notes while Dr. Kieran Moore confirmed the vaccine mandate has been rescinded for colleges, the school will maintain its COVID-19 vaccination policy until April 30.
See also: Most mask mandates end March 21, other COVID-19 changes coming
And: 'They aren’t medical experts': Ford tells school boards to follow mask-lifting protocol
Nipissing and Canadore have adjoining main campuses and access has been limited throughout the pandemic.
At Nipissing, proof of a completed Ontario COVID-19 Self-Assessment is no longer required to attend campus, however, "active screening for Vaccine Passports will continue and individuals will be required to present their Vaccine Passport QR code at the door via the Nipissing Safe app in order to access campus."
All Canadore campuses remain in restricted access. "All students and guests of the college must be currently registered in a Canadore College program or accessing the campus for academic programming, a specific event, or obtaining pre-arranged support or services through a department."
The policies are similar to those found at institutions in Greater Sudbury. The president of Laurentian University has said the university will continue its masking and vaccination requirements until at least April 30, as is the case with all universities and colleges in Ontario, as will Cambrian College.
Collège Boréal, Greater Sudbury’s French-language college has indicated its COVID-19 vaccination policy will expire May 1 yet mandatory masking will continue at the college until the end of the summer.
“Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, recently announced that COVID-19 vaccination policies in post-secondary institutions would no longer be required and that the mask mandate will be lifted in the province on March 21,” said Laurentian president Robert Haché, in a statement released Friday afternoon.
Dr. Moore "recognized that this decision should be made by the institutions themselves. In response, all colleges and universities in Ontario, recently announced that both their vaccination requirements and masking policies would remain in effect until at least April 30.”
With files from Heidi Ulrichsen
