It came after over 100 Sikh security guards were fired, demoted, reassigned due to a 'clean shaven' policy
The City of Toronto has permitted the "under-mask beard covers" as accommodation for mask-required individuals who still need to maintain their facial hair due to religious reasons. This "under-mask beard cover" is a method wherein an individual applies a tight-fitting mask over a beard that covers the chin and cheeks, and ties in a knot at the top of the head. An N95 mask is then worn over this cover.
The enabling of the method by the Toronto government came after it was called out by the World Sikh Organisation (WSO) following the termination, reassignment, and demotion of over 100 security guards due to the city's recent "clean shave" requirement for the workers.
Tejinder Singh Sidhu, WSO president, said they have been calling for an urgent resolution to the situation since June 7, adding that the Sikh security guards' situation is "completely unreasonable."
"It is unacceptable that the City of Toronto is unwilling to accommodate over 100 dedicated Sikh security guards who are committed to doing their jobs," said Sidhu in a statement.
"Sikh police officers and other frontline care workers have served throughout the pandemic without being required to compromise their faith. There is no reason why Sikh security guards at the City of Toronto cannot be accommodated in accordance with the law."
Government response
In a statement, the Toronto government expressed its apology for its delayed response over the matter, adding that it has contacted its contracted security service providers to ensure that they appropriately accommodate any Sikh security guard requesting for religious exemptions.
"The City of Toronto apologises to the World Sikh Organisation of Canada for any delay in addressing this issue and ensuring security contractors were offering religious accommodations," it said in its statement.
"The city has also communicated its expectations with its security services contractors, including that they provide appropriate accommodation to their employees," it added. "The City has confirmed to its contractors that with the option of under-mask beard covers now available, any impacted contracted security guard staff should be reinstated to these City shelter locations immediately and they should be appropriately compensated for any financial impact."
Read more: Alberta axes clean-shaven requirement for officer jobs
Toronto Mayor John Tory, in a separate statement, stressed that all the city's contractors must "uphold human rights and fully comply with all relevant legislation and city policy."
"I firmly believe that no person should be discriminated against for their religious beliefs," he said.
According to Tory, the city staff will make it clear with the contractors to immediately resolve the issue and to be absolutely clear that they are also expected to respect freedom of religion and properly accommodate employees.
"No city policy allows contractors to ignore or dismiss their employees' religious beliefs or to fail to accommodate them," said Tory.
As for the affected employees, the Toronto mayor said they should be accommodated by their contractors, including those who lost their jobs.
"Any contract employees who were not accommodated for their religious beliefs should be immediately accommodated by the contractor. If anyone was fired, the contractor should immediately rehire those individuals."
