Baby, Children and Youth Vaccinations
Reporting your vaccination choice is required by law in Ontario for children attending licensed child care or school.
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Protect your child's future
As you make your decision, remember that vaccine preventable diseases can have severe impact - they can make even a previously healthy child very sick.
Childhood vaccines have been around for decades and have been proven to protect children from diseases.
Many of these diseases can result in serious complications, some may be permanent. For example, polio infection can cause paralysis and mumps can lead to deafness.
Vaccines help keep all children safe, protecting their long-term health and well-being.
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Protect others
Most people can get vaccinated.
Some people in our community are unable to get vaccine(s) because they are too young, have a medical condition or severe allergy.
These people may be our family, friends, neighbours, classmates or coworkers. They are counting on the rest of us to protect them from vaccine preventable diseases.
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Making the decision with your child
Parents and guardians are encouraged to discuss vaccination with their child. Look for trustworthy information to help you make informed decisions.
If you are uncertain, have concerns or just want to learn more, you can:
Learn more about when a person is capable of giving consent to vaccination under the Health Care Consent Act.
Getting vaccinated
Your child's vaccines are based on a routine schedule starting at two months of age.
When following the routine schedule, timing matters. It's designed to protect your child when they are most at risk for those diseases. A delay or gap leaves your child at high risk of infection.
The schedule gives optimal age ranges for your child to receive a vaccine. For example, the adolescent Tdap (tetanus / diphtheria / pertussis) booster is indicated between 14 to 16 years of age.
This means if they get their four to six year booster at four years of age, they become due for their adolescent booster 10 years later at 14 years of age. If you have any questions, contact our Vaccine Team.
Find out:
- Where to get vaccinated
- How to make vaccine visits easier and less stressful if your child gets nervous about vaccination
- What to expect after vaccination
Reporting vaccination information to Public Health for children 0 to 17 years
Every time your child receives a vaccine, it must be reported to Public Health.
Doctors, child care facilities and schools don't do this for you.
Learn how to report vaccine(s) received, including the benefits to children and their families.
Learn how to protect your unvaccinated child and how to get an exemption applied to your child's immunization record.
Checking immunization records
To see if your child has the vaccinations they need to attend child care or school, you can:
- Compare their personal immunization record (yellow card) to the required vaccines
- Ask your health care provider
- Request your records online using Immunization Connect. Children 16 years of age and older must request their own records due to privacy laws.
Babies under six months of age
Cocooning is an easy way to prevent babies younger than six months old from getting sick from the people around them. This can be from parents, siblings and grandparents.
When everyone in your baby's circle is up-to-date on their vaccinations, they are less likely to spread infections to your baby. They create a "cocoon" of protection, keeping your little one safe from serious diseases such as pertussis (whooping cough), the flu and other respiratory illnesses.
Children two months to three years of age
Learn when to get vaccines for your baby or toddler.
Children in child care
By law in Ontario, Public Health must have an up-to-date immunization record or valid exemption on file for each child attending a licensed child care centre or licensed home child care agency (Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014).
- Diseases your child will be protected from
The Child Care and Early Years Act (CCEYA) protects children and others at child care centres from getting and spreading vaccine preventable disease.
Some of these diseases spread easily in childhood and children are at highest risk of getting very sick if they are infected with a vaccine preventable disease.
By vaccinating your child, you are protecting them from the following diseases:
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Vaccination information is needed for enrollment
During the enrollment process, you will need to provide your licensed child care operator with one of the following:
- Up-to-date immunization record, OR
- Original completed Statement of Medical Exemption, OR
- Original completed Statement of Conscience or Religious Belief Affidavit
Your licensed child care operator will send a copy to Public Health so it can be applied to your child's immunization record.
After your child is enrolled
It's important to keep your child's vaccination record up-to-date by reporting each vaccination to Public Health using Immunization Connect.
If you chose to submit a valid exemption, you don't need to do anything more until the September your child enters school. At that time, you will need to complete the exemption process for your school aged child.
- If you received an Immunization Reminder Notice from Public Health
Public Health reviews immunization records annually. If you received a letter, it means that Public Health is missing vaccination information, such as the following:
- Your child may have received all the required vaccines, but Public Health does not have this information on file. Report any vaccines received to Public Health.
- If your child needs to get vaccinated, find out where to get vaccinated in the community. Report any vaccines received to Public Health.
- Public Health does not have a valid exemption for your child on file. Submit a valid exemption to Public Health.
School age children
By law in Ontario, Public Health must have an up-to-date immunization record or valid exemption on file for each child attending school (Immunization of School Pupils Act). This law is important to protect our community from diseases.
Niagara Region Public Health will review immunization records and exemptions for all school age children starting Fall 2024. You will not be contacted if Public Health has complete vaccination information on file for your child.
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Kindergarten registrants and students new to Ontario
Public Health doesn't require schools to collect and submit student vaccination records.
Parents and legal guardians of junior and senior kindergarten registrants and students new to Ontario are asked to report their vaccinations to Public Health using Immunization Connect.
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Grade 7 vaccinations
Learn about school vaccinations for Grade 7 students.
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Immunization datasets by school
Data is available for measles, mumps, rubella immunization, and diphtheria, tetanus and polio.
Search for immunization coverage and exemption rates by school.
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Health Care Consent Act
In Ontario, the Health Care Consent Act sets out certain rules on when consent is needed for treatment and how it must be obtained.
Vaccination is considered a treatment and requires consent.
The consent must:
- Relate to the treatment being proposed
- Be informed
- Be voluntary and not have been obtained through misrepresentation or fraud
Individuals who can give consent
A person is capable of giving consent to vaccination if they both:
- Understand the information that's important to making a decision concerning vaccination
- Understand the consequences of a decision or lack of a decision
Informed consent
Consent is informed if before giving it, the person both:
- Received information about the proposed treatment in the manner that any person in the same circumstances would require in order to make a decision
- Received answers to their request for additional information about the proposed treatment.
For more information, contact our Vaccine Team.
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