Safety updates for VCC campuses

Good afternoon VCC community,

On Tuesday, Aug. 24, Anne Kang, Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Training (AEST), and Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer (PHO) announced updated safety measures for post-secondary institutions for the 2021-22 school year.

Key points

• Effective Wednesday, Aug. 25, everyone 12 years old and over must wear a mask when in indoor public settings.
• The mask order will apply to all indoor public areas on post-secondary campuses including lobbies, hallways, stairwells, elevators, libraries, cafeterias, classrooms, and labs.

For VCC this means that all employees, students and visitors are to wear a mask when:

• walking in hallways,
• moving through common traffic spaces (e.g. stairwells, elevators),
• when in non-academic group activity spaces (e.g. cafeteria, bookstores, bakery, library, etc.),
• in the classroom (masks will be required to be worn by students and faculty)

Social distancing is not required.

Please remember, there are those for whom wearing a mask is not an option. Wear a mask if you are able, and respect those who cannot.

Returning to campus

VCC strongly encourages all students and employees who are eligible and able, to be vaccinated.

Vaccination is the best line of defence we have against COVID-19. 

Starting Monday, Sept. 13, everyone 12 years old and over will need to provide proof of vaccination to access a broad range of social, recreational, and discretionary events and businesses throughout the province. This will include some services on campus that are also accessible to the broader public.

VCC will continue to work with AEST and the PHO on details on implementation of these requirements and any further actions we may need to take.

Learn more about vaccinations at gov.bc.ca/getvaccinated. For more information for student vaccinations, visit the Vancouver Coast Health webpage for students.

Keeping our community safe

It goes without saying that over the last 18+ months we have been navigating dynamic health and safety issues, and we will continue to do so.

I am proud of all we have accomplished to keep our community safe. And, I know we will continue to work together to ensure our classrooms and our workspaces remail safe and in-line with the orders from the PHO.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email secure@vcc.ca.

Sincerely,

Surinder Aulakh
Director, Safety, Security & Risk
Vancouver Community College

More Information

• VCC Communicable Disease Plan
• Information about Ministry of Health proof of vaccination requirement announcement
• Information about returning to post-secondary
• Get secure access to your health information through Health Gateway
• Free mental health support for post-secondary students