Ontario's top doctor says province needs to modernize vaccine registry, calls for national schedule

Hannah Alberga
Sep 7
1 min read

"Ontario is lagging behind other provinces who have modernized their vaccine records, including British Columbia, Quebec, Alberta, Manitoba and Nova Scotia."

Hannah Alberga · The Canadian Press

Posted: Sep 04, 2025 4:03 PM EDT

Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health, speaks at a news conference at the legislature in Toronto on Monday, April 11, 2022. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)

Ontario's top doctor is calling for a national immunization schedule and registry to address gaps exposed by the resurgence of measles in Canada — but first, he says his own province needs a centralized digital vaccine system.

Dr. Kieran Moore's annual report, recently tabled with the provincial legislature, says a co-ordinated approach from all levels of government and the health-care system is needed to keep vaccine-preventable diseases at bay amid a rise in vaccine hesitancy.

Each province and territory has its own immunization schedule and data system but for more than 20 years, health-care providers and public health experts have been advocating for a national vaccine registry. The Canadian Paediatric Society has also called for vaccine schedules to be harmonized across the country since 1997.