CICC joins Ontario Vaccination Support Council

Asks that convenience workers be included with other essential retail workers in province's vaccination plans

The Convenience Industry Council of Canada is part of the new Ontario Vaccination Support Council (OVSC), founded by close to 100 businesses, organizations, and the Ontario Chamber Network.

"The group is made up of a diverse and important group of businesses and organizations and CICC is pleased to have a seat at this table and contribute to this important initiative," the CICC said in a recent email to members.

The OVSC, whose members represent hundreds of thousands of employees from across the province, is "to provide support for Ontario’s historic COVID-19 vaccination effort with the ultimate goal of ending the pandemic."

The Council will be co-chaired by James Scongack, EVP of corporate affairs & operational services at Bruce Power and Garrick Tiplady, the managing director of Facebook.

“We are pleased to launch the Ontario Vaccination Support Council with our partners at Bruce Power and Facebook Canada,” said Rocco Rossi, president and CEO of the OCC. “The faster the Ontario population is inoculated, the faster we can safely reopen and work together on the province’s economic recovery. Ontario’s business community stands ready to assist in the fight against COVID-19 and help drive our economic recovery in the future.”

• Provide Ontario’s business community with a window into the Ontario Vaccine Distribution Task Force to share public health information; updates on logistics and distribution plans and seek input on non-health-related issues.


• Consolidate a directory of capabilities and services within the Chamber Network that could be utilized and procured by government, hospitals and public health in the distribution of vaccinations.


• Share policies, best practices and approaches with government to ensure the maximum participation of employers and their employees in vaccination efforts with a specific focus on being proactive and removing barriers.

“Now more than ever we need an ‘all hands-on deck’ approach to engage and support Ontario’s historic vaccination program with the ultimate goal of ending the pandemic. While there will be challenges ahead in such a large and critical effort, the Council will bring together Ontario’s business community, leveraging their agility, capability, innovation, and engagement to ensure we face this challenge together as Ontarians,” said Scongack.