Roughly 8,625 students in the Halton Region, Ontario, face potential suspension from school if their families do not update their vaccination records. Of these, 5,157 elementary students must submit their information by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, March 27, 2026, while 3,468 secondary students have until April 28, 2026, to comply. The enforcement action specifically targets students born between 2008-2013 and 2016-2018, representing approximately 7.7 per cent of the total student population within the Halton District School Board and the Halton Catholic District School Board.
According to Halton Region Public Health, parents are legally required under the Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA) to report their child’s shots for nine specific diseases, including measles, polio, and whooping cough. Health officials note that many of these students may already have their vaccinations, but because Ontario lacks a provincial registry and doctors do not automatically share this data with health units, parents must submit the records to the region themselves. Failure to provide these records or a valid exemption can result in a student being suspended from school.
Families can update their records online through the Immunization Connect Ontario (ICON) portal, by calling 311, or by sending them through the mail or via fax. Because the health department is currently handling a high volume of updates, officials say it can take four to five weeks to process a submission. To help families get the necessary shots, community clinics have been running since March 10, 2026.
Parents are also able to apply for exemptions based on medical reasons or personal beliefs. However, students with these exemptions might still be required to stay home from school if there is an outbreak of a disease in the community. During the previous 2024-2025 school year, the region reported 2,039 student suspensions related to missing health records.
