BC Hydro has joined the list of employers in British Columbia that will require workers to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19.
The Crown corporation announced Thursday that all employees and contractors working at its worksites, offices or facilities, including the Site C dam megaproject, must be immunized.
BC Hydro is setting a deadline of Nov. 22 for its 6,000 employees to get their shots. Consultants along with contracted and sub-contracted workers will have until Jan. 10.
“BC Hydro is not the direct employer for contract workers and the additional time is required to allow those companies time to align with BC Hydro’s vaccination requirements and implement the required systems and processes,” BC Hydro said in a media release.
The announcement comes a day after LNG Canada announced it will require workers at its Kitimat, B.C. project site to be immunized by Nov. 30.
Both the Site C dam and LNG Canada projects have seen COVID-19 outbreaks at their worksites.
The companies join a growing list of employers and government bodies who will require immunization from their workforce.
On Wednesday, Ottawa announced members of the federal public service and federally-regulated transport sector will need to be vaccinated, and on Tuesday, the B.C. government announced the provincial public service will as well.
Several major private sector employers, including Air Canada, have also implemented vaccine mandates.
As of Thursday, 82.1 per cent of eligible British Columbians had been fully immunized against COVID-19.
Over the past week, people who were not fully vaccinated accounted for seven in 10 COVID-19 cases, while over the past two weeks they represented 78.3 per cent of hospitalizations.
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