(AGENPARL) – Wed 27 August 2025 City of Toronto Media Relations has issued the following:
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News Release
August 27, 2025
Toronto Public Health reminds parents and guardians to update student vaccinations for the new school year
As students prepare for school, Toronto Public Health (TPH) is reminding parents, guardians, school staff and students about the importance of staying up to date with vaccinations. Vaccinations help prevent the spread of serious diseases in schools. All students are required to have certain vaccinations as outlined in Ontario’s Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA) unless they have a valid exemption. These include vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, polio, pertussis (whooping cough), meningococcal, and for students born in 2010 or later, varicella (chicken pox).
During the 2025-2026 school year, TPH will assess and enforce ISPA requirements for public elementary students born between 2015 and 2018 (grades 2 to 5). As the risk of measles exposure in Ontario persists, TPH will assess these grades due to low rates of submitted measles vaccine records. Students who are missing any of the records required for ISPA compliance may face suspension for up to 20 school days.
Key actions for parents and guardians
• Check vaccine records: Make sure the child’s vaccine records are current. This can be done by checking their Ontario Immunization Record (yellow card) or by logging into Immunization Connect Ontario (ICON): https://tph.icon.ehealthontario.ca/#!/welcome.
• Get vaccinated: Vaccines are available through a primary health care provider or at a TPH community clinic.
• Report vaccinations to TPH: Parents and guardians, or students 16 years of age and older, must report the student’s vaccinations to TPH. This can be done online using ICON. A how-to video on using ICON is available on the TPH YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/amxlL4g4zrU?si=nSGNei6LHjqJPNh5. Health care providers, such as doctors and nurses, do not report vaccines to TPH.
Visit toronto.ca/StudentVaccines to book an appointment at a TPH community clinic or to report a child’s vaccinations through ICON.
School-based vaccination programs
TPH’s School Immunization Program (https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/health-wellness-care/health-programs-advice/immunization/school-immunization-program/) will resume this school year, offering free hepatitis B, human papillomavirus (HPV) and meningococcal vaccines to students in grades 7 and 8 at school-based clinics. The meningococcal vaccine prevents meningitis and is required by the ISPA. Hepatitis B and HPV vaccines are voluntary but highly recommended to help prevent cancers. Students in grades 7 to 12 who missed these school-based vaccines can still receive them for free by booking an appointment at a TPH community vaccination clinic or with a health care provider. Learn more about the program at toronto.ca/StudentVaccines.
Measles Protection
Exposure to measles is a risk in Ontario and around the world. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommends that students and school staff have two doses of measles vaccine. In the event of a measles case at a school, anyone without two doses of the vaccine or proof of immunity may be excluded from attendance to prevent further spread.