The requirement that people visiting Service Canada offices must wear masks has been dropped, a parliamentary committee was told.
Conservative MP Rosemarie Falk informed Social Development Minister Karina Gould of complaints she had received from her constituents in a rural Saskatchewan riding regarding the Service Canada location there. Falk said her office had received an increasing number of calls about limited services available, and that one of her constituents was turned away for not wearing a mask, despite having a medical exemption.
Gould replied that Service Canada follows advice from the Public Health Agency of Canada, and that the decision to drop masking requirements for in-person visits was a recent policy change. Jean-François Tremblay, deputy minister of social development, said the policy change was announced by the federal Treasury Board on Feb. 10.
Health Canada announced in May 2022 that federal mask mandates were lifted for public servants, while cabinet suspended enforcement of its “Mandatory Covid-19 Vaccination Requirements” in October. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in September 2022 that his government had dropped COVID border restrictions, and that every decision had been guided by evidence and the best counsel of experts, with the priority of keeping Canadians safe.