How to download your enhanced vaccine certificate with QR code

Ontarians will soon need to provide an enhanced vaccine certificate with an official QR code as proof of vaccination to access certain businesses and organizations.

Starting Jan. 4, vaccine receipts without a QR code will no longer be accepted as valid proof of vaccination.

Ontario says businesses must accept both electronic and paper versions of the certificate and photo identification will still need to be provided.

Here’s how to download the enhanced certificate with QR code and a list of where residents need to provide proof of vaccination.

Online

You can download your enhanced vaccine certificate from Ontario’s vaccination portal. To log in securely, you need:

• • a green photo health (OHIP) card (you will need numbers from both the front and back of the card, expired cards will be accepted)
  • your date of birth
  • your postal code (the one associated with your health card)

By phone
If you do not have a computer, a photo health card, or need help, call the Provincial Vaccine Contact Centre at 1-833-943-3900 to request a copy of your vaccine certificate by email or mail.

If you have a red and white health card
Call the Provincial Vaccine Contact Centre at 1-833-943-3900 and they will email a secure URL through which individuals can access their vaccine certificate.

If you don’t have any health card or a COVID ID
You can contact your public health unit to have your identity verified and get a COVID ID (a unique number assigned to you by your public health unit in place of an Ontario health card number to obtain a copy of your vaccine certificate). You can then call the Provincial Vaccine Contact Centre at 1-833-943-3900 and the contact center agent can email you a secure URL to access your vaccine receipt.

If you don’t have a computer, you can also:
visit your local library to use a public computer and internet resources
ask a trusted friend or organization to help print a copy
access a ServiceOntario location

For those who have medical and clinical trial exemptions, a note from a physician will no longer be accepted as of Jan. 10. Residents will have to ask an Ontario physician or registered nurse to submit the exemption request directly to the local public health unit. Once the exemption is accepted and entered into COVaxON by the public health unit, you can access your enhanced vaccine certificate with QR code through the Ontario COVID-19 vaccination portal.

Individuals who use an Apple mobile device can now choose to add their enhanced vaccine certificate directly to their Apple Wallet. The feature is only available with Apple’s newest operating system, iOS 15.1.

You must show your proof of vaccination certificate and ID to enter:

Indoor areas of:

• restaurants, bars and other food and drink establishments without dance facilities
  food or drink establishments with dance facilities, including nightclubs, restoclubs and other similar establishments, and outdoor areas of these establishments
• meeting and event spaces (with limited exceptions)
• facilities used for sports and recreational fitness activities and personal physical fitness training (with limited exemptions), including:
  • gyms
  • fitness, sporting and recreational facilities
  • pools
  • leagues
  • sporting events
  • waterparks
  • indoor areas of facilities where spectators watch events
• casinos, bingo halls and other gaming establishments
• concert venues, theatres and cinemas
• bathhouses, sex clubs and strip clubs
• horse racing tracks, car racing tracks and other similar venues
• commercial film and TV productions where there is a studio audiences

Outdoor areas of:

• any of the following outdoor areas that have a normal capacity of 20,000 or more people:
• outdoor meeting and event spaces (with limited exemptions)
• outdoor facilities used for sports and recreational fitness activities, including waterparks and personal physical fitness training (with limited exemptions)
• Includes gyms, fitness/sporting/recreational facilities, pools, leagues, sporting events, waterparks, and indoor areas of facilities where spectators watch events
• outdoor concert venues, theatres and cinemas
• outdoor horse racing tracks, car racing tracks and other similar venues
• outdoor areas of food or drink establishments with dance facilities, including nightclubs, restoclubs and other similar establishments, and indoor areas of these establishments

As of Dec. 23, 2021, the Ontario government defines full vaccination as having two doses and there isn’t a formal requirement yet to show proof of having three doses.