Infectious diseases are commonly spread among children who are not immunized. Learn about how and where to immunize your children in Halton Region.
Report all your child's immunizations to the Halton Region Health Department. Health care providers do not report them for you.
At your family doctor’s office. If you do not have a family doctor you can:
Halton Region Public Health provides school-based vaccines for grade 7 students at public, private, Catholic and French schools twice during the school year – once in the Fall and once in the Spring.
Visit Halton’s’ school immunization page for more information.
Halton Region Public Health holds community immunization clinics throughout the summer months and at various times throughout the school year to help students catch up on missed doses of routine vaccines.
Visit Halton’s school immunization page for more information on school and community immunization clinics.
You can access your child’s immunization records through our online portal ‘Immunization Connect Ontario (ICON)’ (external link) or by calling 311.
The Immunization Connect Ontario (ICON) tool is a secure web based provincial program designed for the public. ICON enables the public to:
We may not have an immunization record in ICON if:
Please view tips for locating old immunization records (external link). When physicians retire or relocate to another practice, you may be able to get help locating records by contacting the Advisory Services Department with the College of Physicians and Surgeons at 1-800-268-7096, ext. 603.
According to Ontario’s Child Care and Early Years Act (2014) (external link), students who attend licensed child care centres must be immunized against certain diseases, unless they have an exemption. Your child care centre requires proof of immunization or exemption before your child can attend the centre. It’s the law and helps keep our children safe and healthy!
The Halton Region Health Department collects, assesses and maintains immunization records for all children in licensed child care centres. This allows us to identify students who are at risk of certain diseases. Your child’s family doctor does not report their immunizations. Parents must submit these records to the Health Department AND to their child care centre.
Parents should do the following:
Children attending child care must be immunized against:
The following immunizations are recommended and available free of charge:
The Halton Region Health Department administers the following publicly funded vaccines for Grade 7 students at school clinics:
*Meningococcal Conjugate-ACYW-135 is a required immunization for school attendance under the Immunization of School Pupils Act. Learn more about obtaining a medical or non-medical exemption for this vaccine and other mandatory vaccines.
**Human Papillomavirus and Hepatitis B are recommended for students in this age group.
Visit Halton’s School-based Immunizations page for more information.
All immunizations listed in the Publicly Funded Immunization Schedule are recommended. However, specific immunizations are legally required for students attending school in Halton Region as per the Immunization of School Pupil’s Act (ISPA) (external link). Halton Region Health Department enforces ISPA on behalf of the province.
Parents must provide proof that their children have the following immunizations to legally attend school:
For more information, download this Parent Handout (external PDF) developed by the Province of Ontario, or call the Health Department by dialing 311.
A parent/guardian can temporarily or permanently exempt a child from receiving immunizations based on the following:
An exemption allows an unimmunized or under-immunized child to attend school. However, in the event of an infectious disease outbreak, the Medical Officer of Health has a responsibility to ensure that the child does not attend school until the outbreak is over.
See more information on the vaccine exemption process.