COVID-19 vaccine to be mandatory for federal employees

Ottawa is requiring that federal employees be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Dominic LeBlanc, president of the Privy Council, says the government expects employers in federally regulated industries to do the same.

There are close to half a million people who work directly for the federal government, a Crown corporation, the military or the RCMP.

Nearly a million more work in federally regulated industries, which includes banks and airlines.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a week ago that he had asked the clerk of the Privy Council, the nation's top bureaucrat, to consider the mandate.

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra says by the fall, there will be a vaccine requirement for transportation workers.

At last count, nearly 82 per cent of Canadians 12 and older had at least one dose of vaccine, while 70 per cent had been fully vaccinated.