Uploaded January 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The British Columbia Court of Appeal has released the decision in a Charter challenge to the province’s COVID-19 vaccine passport scheme for failing to create a workable system for medical exemptions.
The case is called Kassian v British Columbia, 2025 BCCA 20. You can read it here: bccourts.ca/jdb-txt/ca/25/00/2025BCCA0020.htm
The Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) and the three patients who brought this appeal were unsuccessful, but there were some important positive findings in the case. In particular, the court found that the lack of blanket medical exemptions was unreasonable. However, the court declined to do a Charter analysis.
The case involved three women, named Sharon, Veronica and Erica. Sharon had developed a rare reaction to the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, a neurological condition called brachial neuritis. Erica, a teenage girl, had developed a more common reaction among pediatric patients, a type of heart inflammation called pericarditis. Veronica is a medically complex individual with a long history of adverse outcomes in response to surgeries and drugs, who declined vaccination.
The CCF is grateful to these women for being a part of this case, and commends them on their courage and resilience. Although this was not the outcome we had hoped for, there were some glimmers of hope in the case, and the result will give pause to future governments looking to do something similar.
The CCF would also like to thank all of those who had the courage to support this case. We would not have been able to bring this fight without you.
The British Columbia Court of Appeal has released the decision in a Charter challenge to the province’s COVID-19 vaccine passport scheme for failing to create a workable system for medical exemptions.
The case is called Kassian v British Columbia, 2025 BCCA 20. You can read it here: bccourts.ca/jdb-txt/ca/25/00/2025BCCA0020.htm
The Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) and the three patients who brought this appeal were unsuccessful, but there were some important positive findings in the case. In particular, the court found that the lack of blanket medical exemptions was unreasonable. However, the court declined to do a Charter analysis.
The case involved three women, named Sharon, Veronica and Erica. Sharon had developed a rare reaction to the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, a neurological condition called brachial neuritis. Erica, a teenage girl, had developed a more common reaction among pediatric patients, a type of heart inflammation called pericarditis. Veronica is a medically complex individual with a long history of adverse outcomes in response to surgeries and drugs, who declined vaccination.
The CCF is grateful to these women for being a part of this case, and commends them on their courage and resilience. Although this was not the outcome we had hoped for, there were some glimmers of hope in the case, and the result will give pause to future governments looking to do something similar.
The CCF would also like to thank all of those who had the courage to support this case. We would not have been able to bring this fight without you.
