Ottawa businesses start asking for vaccination proof today

Many Ottawa businesses say they're ready to make yet another pandemic-erapivot and start screening customers for proof of vaccination if it means they can stayopen.

Business owners have posted signs on doorsalerting patrons that as of Wednesday the Ontario government now requires they show a paper or digital receipt of being fully vaccinated, along withidentification.

Under the provincial rules announcedat the beginning of September, people age 12 and older will need such vaccination prooftodine indoors, go to a gym, a sporting event, a theatre, and in several other situations.

The receipts won't be necessary forretail and grocery stores, when picking uptake-out food, or for youth under age 18 taking part in organized sports indoors.

• Ontario's vaccine passport: What you need to know

Many local businesses said they're ready, even if they are figuring out the new rules for themselves without much help.

"It's a large responsibility," said Devinder Kaur, owner of Prana Shanti Yoga Centre, who expects vaccine passports torequire extra staff time.

"We're not trained, we're not skilled in knowing all the nuances of the various documentationsthat we could see."

The Ridge Rock Brewing Company has also sorted out the new rules based onnews stories, andhas decidedits restaurant hosts or hostesses willcheckpeople's paperwork.

"It might create a little bit of lineup at the door, but this is for everybody's safety," said the Carp village brewery's marketing manager, Lindsey Osborne.

"The last thing we want as a small business is to have to close again."

QR codes to come Oct. 22

Should a particular customer give staff a hard time about showing vaccination proof, Osborne says a manager will explain the brewery is simply following the province's directions.

Pat Garland, owner and chef at Absinthe Caf on Wellington Street West, agreed he wouldn't have a problem turning people away, and telling them it's the government's requirement, not his restaurant's.

"I don't think it's unreasonable at all," he said of the vaccine passports."It's a global pandemic."

The director of Ottawa's bylaw department was askedduring a committee meeting last weekwhat businesses should do if they face customersunwilling to leave.

"If you've got somebody who's refusing to produce proof of their vaccine, and the restaurant management is having some difficulty with that person,they should be contacting the police," Roger Chapman told city councillors.

Chapman said city bylaw officers were meeting with business improvement groups to go over the new provincial regulations about vaccine passports and didn't expect to receive many calls. Ottawa Public Health also said it tries to keep businesses up-to-date on provincial changes through a regular newsletter.

• Ottawa businesses welcome vaccine passport, worry about enforcement

Osborne expects her brewerywill have a smoother process when the government introduces vaccine certificates that feature QR codes on Oct. 22, which can be scanned.

In the meantime, she expects customers will understandand practise patience, as they have for other pandemic restrictionssuch as wearing masks or eating only on patios.

"We've been pivoting and shifting gears for months now," saidOsborne. "It's another hump that we'll get over in order to keep everybody safe our guests and our staff and keep the doors open."