Waterloo Region – Families are reminded to make sure their child’s routine vaccination records are up to date and reported to Public Health. Region of Waterloo Public Health is working to keep our school communities safe from vaccine-preventable diseases with the annual enforcement of the Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA). Public Health began notifying families with missing or out-of-date records in October 2025.    

The Immunization of School Pupils Act requires all elementary and secondary school students to have proof of vaccination for nine diseases or a valid exemption on file with Public Health. These routine vaccinations provide protection against measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, polio, meningococcal, pertussis (whooping cough) and varicella (chickenpox). 

“Vaccination protects us from serious and preventable diseases,” said Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, Medical Officer of Health. “The enforcement of the Immunization of School Pupils Act protects our schools and community. As we saw with the measles outbreak last year, it also helps Public Health to respond quickly to outbreaks with up-to-date information to mitigate the spread of disease.” 

To reduce disruptions for families and schools, Public Health is introducing some changes to this year’s ISPA reporting period. This year, reporting will begin with secondary students, followed by elementary students.  

“In previous years, we worked with elementary school students first,” said David Aoki, Director of Infectious Disease and Chief Nursing Officer. “However, this is generally the largest cohort of students we see with outdated records. Moving elementary school students later in the reporting period gives families more time to work with their health care provider and Public Health to ensure their child has the vaccines that they need and their records are reported.” 

In addition, Public Health has added a day of processing time between the deadline to submit vaccination records and the suspension day. This enables Public Health to provide schools with final suspension lists the day before suspension day, giving families and schools more certainty.   

Secondary school students 

• Request for vaccination record notices were mailed to families on December 10, 2025. 
• Deadline to submit vaccine records is April 6, 2026, at 4:30 p.m.  
• Public Health will process and update vaccine records on April 7, 2026. 
• Schools will receive final suspension lists on April 8, 2026.  
• Suspensions will take effect on April 9, 2026.  

Elementary school students 

• Request for vaccination record notices will be mailed to families starting January 23, 2026. 
• Deadline to submit vaccine records is May 4, 2026, at 4:30 p.m.  
• Public Health will process and update vaccine records on May 5, 2026. 
• Schools will receive final suspension lists on May 6, 2026.  
• Suspensions will take effect on May 7, 2026.   

For more information about your child’s vaccination records, how to report vaccines, submit valid exemptions and more, visit regionofwaterloo.ca/vaccines. 

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