Back-to-School Vaccine Checklist: What Kids Need by Sept

Last Reviewed: August 22, 2026

Clinical Mama Quick Answer

Most Canadian kids need vaccines at three key school checkpoints: before kindergarten (around ages 4 to 6), in grade 6, and in grade 9. However, the exact grades and vaccines vary by province.

Your two jobs before September are simple. Find your child’s immunization record, and compare it against your province’s schedule.

If your child has fallen behind, catch-up is almost always possible without starting over.

A Note From the Pharmacist This content is written and reviewed by Oyinda Jaja, B.Pharm, MSc Health Sciences, a licensed pharmacist practising in Canada and the founder of Clinical Mama.

All articles are developed using current clinical guidelines, peer-reviewed evidence, and professional pharmacy expertise. Some content may be structured with the assistance of AI tools and is reviewed and approved by Oyinda before publication to ensure clinical accuracy and integrity.

This content is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for personalized medical advice. Please consult your own healthcare provider for guidance specific to your situation.

About Oyinda & Clinical Mama’s Editorial Standards →

Every August, the same thing happens in my house. The backpacks come out, the shoe sizes have all changed, and somewhere in a drawer there is a folded immunization record I have not looked at since the last time someone needed it.

Then September arrives, a form comes home in a school bag, and I am counting grades in my head. My oldest is starting grade 4, which means the grade 6 round is close enough that I should already know what is on his record and what is not. My twins are still in the toddler stretch of the schedule, where the next checkpoint is the preschool booster nobody remembers is coming.

I see the same scramble at the pharmacy counter. Parents come in during the first two weeks of school holding a consent form they do not fully understand, asking a reasonable question: does my child actually need this, and did they already get it?

This guide is the answer I give them. It walks through what your child needs at each school checkpoint, how to find their record in your province, what to do if they are behind, and how to make the appointment itself easier on a kid who hates needles. One more envelope often lands in the same week. If your child needs any medication during the school day, that form runs on a different timeline, and I walk through it in my guide to the school medication form.

A quick note on scope: I am a licensed pharmacist practicing in Canada, so this guide follows Canadian provincial and territorial immunization schedules. If you are reading from the United States, school vaccine requirements are set state by state, and your state health department is the right place to confirm what your child needs. The sections below on needle fear, what to expect after a vaccine, and how to keep a record organized apply to any family, anywhere.

Why This Year Deserves a Closer Look

Canadian immunization coverage slipped during and after the pandemic, and the consequences have shown up clearly.

Canada lost its measles elimination status on November 10, 2025, following a national outbreak that began in October 2024 and continued for more than one year. Transmission was largely among unvaccinated communities. Canada recorded 5,436 measles cases in 2025, two of which were fatal. That is not a reason to panic. It is a reason to check the drawer.

Fortunately, this is a fixable gap. The measles vaccine is already part of every provincial schedule; it is free, and most children who are behind need only one or two doses to be considered protected.

Step 1: Find Your Child’s Immunization Record

You cannot check what you cannot see, and this is where most families get stuck. Here is where to look, depending on where you live.

Alberta: Immunization records are in your MyHealth Alberta Account (formerly MyHealth Records), and it can take 2 to 3 weeks after a vaccine for a new dose to appear there.

Your child does not need their own account for you to see their record. While your child is younger than 16, you can submit the access request online from your own account, and once it is granted their immunizations show up alongside yours. For a child 16 or older, the request goes through their healthcare provider instead. Children can register for their own account starting at 14, teens aged 16 and 17 can remove parent access if they choose, and access ends automatically when they turn 18.

If you have not set that up, or the record looks incomplete, contact your local public health or community health centre, your pharmacist, or your family doctor to request a copy, or simply ask at the next immunization appointment.

British Columbia: Anyone 12 and older can create a Health Gateway account, and children 11 and younger can be added to a parent or caregiver’s account. Records can also be requested from your care provider or your local public health unit. Two things to know before you panic about a blank record. Health Gateway shows immunizations from 2009 onward that sit in the Provincial Immunization Registry, which covers public health clinics and pharmacies in B.C., but not family practices, travel clinics, or providers outside the province. And a vaccine given at a pharmacy sometimes displays under medications rather than immunizations, so check that list before you conclude a dose is missing. A paper record still matters here.

Ontario: Records are held by your local public health unit, and you can view them through Immunization Connect Ontario (ICON).

Here is the part that surprises families every single year. Health care providers in Ontario do not automatically report immunizations to public health. Parents and guardians are responsible for reporting their child’s immunizations, every time, to keep the record current.

The trap is subtle. Doses given by a public health unit, including school clinic doses, attach to your child’s record on their own. Doses given by your family doctor, a walk-in clinic, or a pharmacy do not, because ICON is not connected to provider offices. So you can open ICON, see the grade 7 school clinic vaccines sitting there, and reasonably conclude the record is complete while everything from your doctor’s office is missing. That is how a fully vaccinated child ends up holding a suspension letter.

After every vaccine appointment, take a photo of the updated record and upload it through ICON. It takes about two minutes and it prevents the March phone call.

Other provinces and territories: Contact your local public health unit or community health centre. Most now offer an online portal, a request form, or both.

Clinical Mama Tip: Once you have the record, take a clear photo of it and save it in a folder on your phone. Then take a second photo every time your child gets a new vaccine. Camp registrations, daycare forms, travel, and school transfers all ask for this, usually with about two days’ notice.

Step 2: Know Your Three School Checkpoints

Across Canada, school-age vaccines cluster around three points. The specific grades and products differ by province, but the pattern is consistent.

Checkpoint 1: Before kindergarten, around ages 4 to 6

This is the preschool booster visit, and it is the one families miss most often because it falls between well-child visits.

Most provinces give a combined tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, and polio booster (Tdap-IPV) at ages 4 to 6, with Alberta, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island giving it slightly earlier, at age 4 or 4 to 5. Depending on your province, a second dose of measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella protection may also land here. British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Yukon give the second MMR-V dose at ages 4 to 6, while Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec, and several others give both doses earlier, at 12 and 18 months.

If your child is starting kindergarten this fall and has not had a vaccine appointment since their toddler years, this is your checkpoint.

Checkpoint 2: Grade 6 or grade 7

This is the adolescent round, delivered at school in most provinces.

In Alberta, public health nurses give the vaccines at school with signed parental consent. Grade 6 students are offered hepatitis B vaccine (for children who have not already completed a series) and HPV vaccine. Alberta reviews immunization records for students in grades 1, 6, and 9, and sends home a consent form with an information sheet for each recommended vaccine. No immunizations are given at school without consent from a parent or legal guardian.

Ontario and Nova Scotia run the equivalent program in grade 7, covering HPV, hepatitis B, and meningococcal ACYW-135. New Brunswick also uses grade 7, but for a different combination: HPV and the Tdap booster, with hepatitis B given in infancy and meningococcal ACYW-135 held until grade 9. This is exactly why the consent envelope matters more than any general rule. Read what your province is actually offering your child’s grade.

Checkpoint 3: Grade 9 (or grade 8, depending on your province)

In Alberta, grade 9 students are offered Tdap and the meningococcal ACYW-135 conjugate vaccine. British Columbia, Yukon, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nunavut also deliver the quadrivalent meningococcal vaccine in grade 9, while Saskatchewan uses grade 8, Ontario and Nova Scotia use grade 7, and Newfoundland and Labrador uses grade 4.

Your Province’s School-Based Vaccines at a Glance

This table reflects publicly funded provincial and territorial schedules as summarized by the Public Health Agency of Canada, last updated July 2026. The meningococcal column shows the school-age dose only, since most provinces also give an earlier dose at 12 to 18 months. Programs change, so confirm details with your local public health unit.

Scroll sideways to view the full table if needed.

Province or territory	HPV	Hepatitis B	Meningococcal ACYW-135 (school dose)	Tdap booster
British Columbia	Grade 6, 1 dose	Given in infant series	Grade 9	Grade 9
Alberta	Grade 6, 2 doses	Grade 6 catch-up, 2 doses	Grade 9	Grade 9
Saskatchewan	Grade 6, 2 doses	Grade 6, 2 doses	Grade 8	Grade 8
Manitoba	Grade 6, 2 doses	Grade 6, 2 doses	Grade 6	Grade 8 or 9
Ontario	Grade 7, 2 doses	Grade 7, 2 doses	Grade 7	Age 14 to 16 years
Quebec	4th year of primary, 1 dose	3rd year of secondary	3rd year of secondary	Td, 3rd year of secondary
New Brunswick	Grade 7, 1 dose	Birth, 2, 6 months	Grade 9	Grade 7
Nova Scotia	Grade 7, 2 doses	Grade 7, 2 doses	Grade 7	Grade 7
Prince Edward Island	Grade 6, 2 doses, plus grade 12 catch-up	Given in infant series	Grade 9	Grade 9
Newfoundland and Labrador	Grade 6, 2 doses	Grade 6, 2 doses	Grade 4	Grades 7 and 8
Yukon	Grade 6, 1 dose	Given in infant series	Grade 9	Grade 9
Northwest Territories	Grades 4 to 6, from age 9, 2 doses	Birth, 1, 6 months	Infant doses only, plus grade 12 for students leaving the territory	Grade 7
Nunavut	Grade 6, 1 dose	Birth, 1, 9 months	Grade 9	Grade 6

Source: Public Health Agency of Canada, provincial and territorial routine and catch-up vaccination schedule for infants and children in Canada.

Step 3: Check Whether Your Province Requires Proof for School

This is where families moving between provinces get caught, because the rules are genuinely different.

Ontario has the strictest requirement: The Immunization of School Pupils Act is an Ontario law requiring that all students attending school in Ontario have protection against diphtheria, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, meningitis, pertussis, and chickenpox (required for children born in 2010 or later). Students 17 and younger must have a record of vaccination against these nine diseases, based on their age, or a valid exemption, in order to attend school.

The enforcement is real. Public health units assess records in July, send notices to families with incomplete records, reassess in January, and issue suspension orders for students who remain non-compliant. Almost always, the problem is a reporting gap rather than a missing vaccine. Your child got the shot, and nobody told public health.

Alberta and British Columbia do not require vaccination to attend school: The Calgary Board of Education, for example, does not require vaccinations or proof of immunization to attend school. Public health still reviews records and offers school clinics, and children who are not fully immunized may be excluded from school temporarily during an outbreak.

If you have moved provinces in the past year, treat this as your first call. Records do not transfer automatically.

Step 4: The Two Vaccines That Are Not on the School Form

School programs cover the routine schedule. They do not cover the seasonal vaccines, and those are on you.

Influenza

Every province and territory offers influenza vaccine annually to everyone aged 6 months and older.

The detail parents most often miss involves younger children. Children aged 6 months to less than 9 years who are receiving influenza vaccine for the first time should receive two doses in the current season, spaced at least four weeks apart. If they have previously received one or more doses in any past season, they need one dose per season going forward.

That four-week gap is exactly why September planning matters, because the timing has to work backward from flu season. If this is your child’s first flu season and you book the first dose in mid-December, the second dose lands in January, which is often after influenza activity has already climbed.

NACI recommends that any age-appropriate influenza vaccine can be used for anyone 6 months and older without contraindications.

COVID-19

Eligibility, funding, and timing shift from season to season, so this is the one item on the list I recommend confirming with your local public health authority each fall rather than assuming last year’s rules still apply.

Clinical Mama Tip: Put a calendar reminder for the first week of October titled “book flu shots.” Once October gets moving, the appointment slots at pharmacies and public health clinics fill quickly, and families with several kids need consecutive appointments.

Step 5: If Your Child Is Behind, You Do Not Start Over

This is the single most reassuring thing I tell parents, and it is worth repeating.

A delayed immunization schedule does not usually mean restarting a series. Every province maintains catch-up schedules that pick up where your child left off, and public health nurses do this work constantly. A child who had two doses of a three-dose series at age two typically needs the remaining dose, not all three.

Catch-up matters in a few specific situations:

Your child was born outside Canada, or received some vaccines abroad
Your family moved provinces and records did not follow
Appointments were missed during the pandemic years
Your child has a medical condition that delayed part of the schedule
You previously declined a vaccine and have since changed your mind, which happens more often than people admit and is always welcome

Alberta’s school program specifically offers students in grades 1, 6, and 9 any routine childhood or school vaccines they may have missed, based on the record on file. Most provinces run something similar.

Where to Actually Get the Vaccines

You have more options than you might think, and the right one depends on your child’s age and your province.

Public health clinics handle the full childhood schedule at every age, including infants and toddlers. This is the default option for anything outside the school program.

Your family doctor or pediatrician can administer routine vaccines and is often the easiest option when you are already booked for a physical.

Pharmacies have expanded significantly, though age limits still vary. In British Columbia, pharmacists are authorized to administer immunizations by injection to individuals 4 years and older, and by the intranasal route to individuals 2 years and older. In Ontario, pharmacists can administer scheduled vaccines to patients 5 years and older, influenza vaccines to patients 2 years and older, and COVID-19 vaccines to patients 6 months and older. Alberta lowered its age limit as well, allowing specially trained pharmacists to immunize children between the ages of two and five.

If you are not sure whether your pharmacy can vaccinate your specific child, call ahead and ask two questions: what is your minimum age, and do you carry the publicly funded product. Both answers take thirty seconds and save you a wasted trip.

Making the Appointment Easier on a Needle-Averse Kid

Although it is easy to skip, this section matters more than parents expect. Needle fear is common; it starts young, and it follows kids into adulthood if nobody addresses it.

Katie Birnie, a clinical psychologist in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at the University of Calgary, has described needle fear as far more common than people assume: roughly 20 to 30 per cent of adults carry a high level of it, and among children the figure reaches up to 60 per cent. About 10 per cent of people avoid vaccines outright because their fear is that significant. These fears usually begin in childhood, sometimes from a bad experience and sometimes just from hearing about someone else’s.

That last part is the one I want parents to sit with. Your child can absorb this from overheard conversation alone, which means how the adults in the room talk about needles is part of the intervention.

What the evidence supports:

Use numbing cream early: Topical anesthetics are effective at reducing vaccine injection pain and should be applied before vaccine administration. There is no evidence that a topical anesthetic reduces the immune response to a vaccine when used as directed for the recommended ages. These are available at pharmacies without a prescription, and they need to be applied 30 to 60 minutes ahead of time to work. Children should be observed during and after use, because serious adverse events have been reported following excessive application.

Do not give acetaminophen or ibuprofen beforehand: Giving oral analgesics such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen to children to reduce pain before or at the time of vaccine injection is not recommended, because there is no evidence of benefit. Oral pain relievers are recommended for managing side effects afterward, such as fever, rather than as a pre-treatment. The short version I give at the counter: numbing cream before, pain relief only if needed after.

Distraction works, and the evidence behind it is solid: A Cochrane review led by Birnie pooled 59 trials involving nearly 6,000 children and adolescents undergoing needle procedures and found that distraction significantly reduced both self-reported pain and distress compared with usual care. This is not a soft suggestion to bring a toy. It is one of the better-supported non-drug interventions in pediatric care.

In practice, what distraction looks like depends on age. A younger child might need a video, a song, or blowing on a pinwheel. A teenager might just want headphones and to be left alone. Both count.

Your own tone matters alongside it. Parents influence how well children cope, so staying calm, interacting normally, using neutral language throughout, and focusing afterward on what went well all help. If your child is old enough to have an opinion, let them choose something small: which arm, whether they watch or look away, what they do with their phone during. Control over any part of the experience reduces the dread of all of it.

What to Expect Afterward

Generally, reactions are mild, predictable, and short.

Common and expected: a sore arm for a day or two, mild redness or swelling at the injection site, tiredness, and a low-grade fever within the first 24 to 48 hours.

For a post-vaccine fever, treat the child rather than the number. If they are comfortable, playing, and drinking normally, they may not need medication at all. If they are miserable, acetaminophen or ibuprofen at the correct weight-based dose is appropriate. My guides on acetaminophen vs ibuprofen for kids and how to dose children’s medicine safely by weight walk through both.

Call your healthcare provider for a fever that persists beyond about 48 hours, for symptoms that seem out of proportion to a typical vaccine reaction, or for any reaction that worries you. Seek care immediately for signs of a severe allergic reaction, including difficulty breathing, swelling of the face or throat, or hives spreading across the body. These reactions are rare, and this is why clinics ask you to wait 15 minutes afterward.

Your Back-to-School Vaccine Checklist

Work through this on a Sunday afternoon in late August. Everything here is yours to use right now, no sign-up required.

Start here

Find your child’s immunization record, on paper or through your provincial portal
Take a photo of the record and save it to your phone
Compare the record against your province’s schedule for your child’s grade

Check your child’s checkpoints

Ages 4 to 6: preschool booster before kindergarten
Grade 6 or 7: HPV, hepatitis B, meningococcal, depending on province
Grade 8 or 9: Tdap booster and meningococcal, depending on province
Confirm what your province offers, because the grade alone does not tell you
Book catch-up doses through public health if anything is missing

Forms and reporting

Sign and return the school consent form by the date on the envelope
Remember that no vaccine is given at school without a signed consent form
In Ontario, report every dose to public health through ICON yourself

Flu season

Book flu shots for early to mid October
First flu season and under age 9? Plan two doses, four weeks apart
Ask your local public health about current COVID-19 eligibility

Before the appointment

Buy numbing cream ahead of time if your child fears needles
Apply it 30 to 60 minutes before the appointment
Do not give acetaminophen or ibuprofen beforehand
Plan the distraction: video, music, headphones, or a pinwheel

After the appointment

Stay about 15 minutes before leaving the clinic
Expect a sore arm, tiredness, or low-grade fever for a day or two
Update your photo of the record, and report it if you are in Ontario
Ask your pharmacist anything you are unsure about

Want The Printable Version?

I made this same checklist as a one-page printable, sized for A4, with tick boxes that work on paper and a blank space for the questions you want to ask your pharmacist. It is built for the fridge door or the front pocket of the school folder, where you will actually see it in September.

Clinical Mama Takeaway

Back-to-school immunization feels complicated because the rules genuinely vary by province, the record lives in three different places, and the forms arrive when you are already overwhelmed.

Even so, the work itself is small. Find the record, compare it to the schedule, and make one phone call for anything missing. An afternoon in August prevents a suspension letter in March.

If you are behind, you have not failed anyone. Catch-up schedules exist precisely because life interrupts, and every public health nurse and pharmacist I know would rather help you fix a gap than see you avoid the conversation.

Your pharmacist is a good first stop for the small questions: what does this consent form mean, can my child get this here, did the numbing cream need to go on earlier? No appointment, no referral, usually under five minutes. For a broader family health reset alongside the vaccine checklist, my pharmacist’s guide to a simple seasonal family health reset covers medicine cabinet cleanouts and the other pieces worth handling twice a year. If your child also takes anything during the school day, What to Sort Out Before the First Day covers the form, storage, and self-carry rules.

❓Frequently Asked Questions

Are vaccines required for school in Canada?

It depends on your province. Ontario requires proof of immunization against nine designated diseases, or a valid exemption, for students to attend school under the Immunization of School Pupils Act. Most other provinces, including Alberta and British Columbia, do not require proof for enrolment, though public health still reviews records and may exclude unimmunized children from school temporarily during an outbreak. Check with your local public health unit, since requirements can change.

My child missed their grade 6 vaccines. Is it too late?

No. Provincial school programs typically offer missed routine and school vaccines to students at each review point, and public health clinics provide catch-up outside of school entirely. Call your local public health or community health centre and ask for a catch-up assessment. Missing a dose does not usually mean restarting a series.

How do I get a copy of my child’s immunization record?

Alberta families can request access to a child’s record through their own MyHealth Alberta Account while the child is younger than 16, or ask a local public health centre, pharmacist, or family doctor for a copy. Health Gateway covers British Columbia, and children 11 and under can be added to a parent’s account there. Everywhere else, your local public health unit holds the record and is the place to call. Give it a couple of weeks after a recent vaccine before assuming a dose is missing.

Do I need to report my child’s vaccines to anyone?

In Ontario, yes. Health care providers there do not automatically report immunizations to public health, so parents and guardians are responsible for reporting them. This is the most common reason Ontario families receive suspension notices even when their child is fully vaccinated. Other provinces generally handle reporting through the provider or public health directly, but confirming your child’s record is accurate is worth doing anywhere.

Can my child get multiple vaccines at the same visit?

Yes. Giving more than one vaccine at the same appointment is routine practice and is built into every provincial schedule. It does not overwhelm a child’s immune system, and it means fewer separate appointments. If your child is anxious about multiple needles, numbing cream applied to both sites ahead of time can help, and your provider can space the injections between arms.

Should I give my child Tylenol before their shot?

No. Canadian immunization guidance advises against giving acetaminophen or ibuprofen before or at the time of vaccination to reduce injection pain, because there is no evidence it helps. Pain relievers are appropriate afterward if your child develops a fever or is uncomfortable. Numbing cream applied 30 to 60 minutes beforehand is the evidence-based option for the needle itself.

How long should I wait at the clinic after my child’s vaccine?

Clinics generally ask you to stay about 15 minutes after vaccination. Serious allergic reactions are rare, but when they occur, they typically happen within that window, and staff are equipped to manage them immediately. Use the time to sit with your child, offer a drink, and let them settle before heading out.

Does my child need two flu shots?

Possibly. Children aged 6 months to under 9 years who are getting influenza vaccine for the first time should receive two doses in that season, at least four weeks apart. If your child has had at least one dose in any previous season, they need only one dose per year going forward. If you are unsure of your child’s flu vaccine history, your pharmacist or public health nurse can check.

Can my pharmacist vaccinate my child?

In many cases, yes, though the minimum age varies by province. British Columbia allows pharmacist-administered injections from age 4, Ontario allows scheduled vaccines from age 5 and influenza vaccine from age 2, and Alberta has extended pharmacist immunization down to age 2 for specially trained pharmacists. Call your pharmacy first and ask about both the age limit and whether they stock the publicly funded product your child needs.

We just moved to Canada. What do we do about vaccines from another country?

Bring whatever records you have, in any language, to your local public health unit or community health centre. A nurse will review them against the provincial schedule and identify what is still needed. Doses given abroad usually count, so keep every document you can find. If records are unavailable, catch-up is still possible, and public health will build a schedule from an appropriate starting point.

What if I have questions or concerns about a specific vaccine?

Ask them out loud, to a person, before the deadline on the consent form. Your pharmacist, family doctor, and public health nurse can all walk through what a vaccine protects against, which side effects to expect, and what the evidence shows. A specific question deserves a specific answer, and none of us would rather you guess.

📚References

Public Health Agency of Canada. (2026, July). Provincial and territorial routine and catch-up vaccination schedule for infants and children in Canada. Accessed from https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/immunization-vaccines/provincial-territorial-routine-vaccination-programs-infants-children.html
Public Health Agency of Canada. Measles: Canada’s response. Accessed from https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/measles/canada-response.html
Public Health Agency of Canada. (2026, May). Summary: Statement on seasonal influenza vaccines for 2026-2027. National Advisory Committee on Immunization. Accessed from https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/vaccines-immunization/national-advisory-committee-immunization-summary-statement-seasonal-influenza-vaccines-2026-2027.html
Public Health Agency of Canada. Vaccine administration practices: Canadian Immunization Guide. Accessed from https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/healthy-living/canadian-immunization-guide-part-1-key-immunization-information/page-8-vaccine-administration-practices.html
Taddio, A., et al. (2010). Reducing the pain of childhood vaccination: an evidence-based clinical practice guideline. CMAJ, 182(18), E843-E855.
Alberta Health Services / MyHealth Alberta. School immunization. Accessed from https://myhealth.alberta.ca/Topic/Immunization/Pages/school.aspx
Alberta Health Services / MyHealth Alberta. Get immunization records. Accessed from https://myhealth.alberta.ca/Topic/Immunization/pages/immunization-records.aspx
Alberta Health Services. Immunization: records request. Accessed from https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/findhealth/service.aspx?Id=1085645&facilityid=1025102
MyHealth Alberta. Parent/guardian access. Accessed from https://myhealth.alberta.ca/help/KnowledgeBase/Pages/Parent-Guardian-Access.aspx
Thunder Bay District Health Unit. Suspensions under the Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA) and exemptions. Accessed from https://www.tbdhu.com/ISPA
City of Toronto. Report student vaccination (ISPA). Accessed from https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/health-wellness-care/health-programs-advice/immunization/report-student-vaccination/
Ottawa Public Health. Immunization requirements for school. Accessed from https://www.parentinginottawa.ca/en/immunization-requirements-for-schoolnew.aspx
Middlesex-London Health Unit. Immunization records and reporting. Accessed from https://www.healthunit.com/immunization/immunization-records-and-reporting/
HealthLink BC. Immunization records. Accessed from https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/health-library/immunizations/information-and-safety/records
Province of British Columbia. Health Gateway support guide: health records. Accessed from https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/managing-your-health/health-gateway/guide/healthrecords
Vancouver Coastal Health. Immunization records. Accessed from https://www.vch.ca/en/immunization-records
Province of British Columbia. Pharmacists and publicly funded vaccines in B.C. guide. Accessed from https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/practitioner-professional-resources/pharmacare/pharmacies/vaccine-resources-for-pharmacists/pharmacists-and-publicly-funded-vaccines-in-bc-guide
Ontario College of Pharmacists. Administering a substance by injection guideline. Accessed from https://ocpinfo.com/pharmacy-professionals/rules-and-standards-of-the-profession/practice-policies-guidelines/administering-a-substance-by-injection/
CBC News. Pain expert shares advice for dealing with needle fear (interview with Dr. Katie Birnie, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, University of Calgary). Accessed from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-vaccine-needle-fear-1.5849888
Birnie, K. A., Noel, M., Chambers, C. T., Uman, L. S., & Parker, J. A. (2018). Psychological interventions for needle‐related procedural pain and distress in children and adolescents. Cochrane database of systematic reviews, (10).
BC Centre for Disease Control. Appendix D: Reducing immunization injection pain. Communicable Disease Control Manual. Accessed from https://www.bccdc.ca/resource-gallery/Documents/Guidelines%20and%20Forms/Guidelines%20and%20Manuals/Epid/CD%20Manual/Chapter%202%20-%20Imms/Appendix_D_RIIP.pdf
Canadian Paediatric Society. Vaccine recommendations for children and youth for the influenza season. Accessed from https://cps.ca/en/documents/position/vaccine-recommendations-for-children-and-youth-for-the-2025-2026-influenza-season

Back-to-School Vaccine Checklist: What Your Child Needs Before September

Why This Year Deserves a Closer Look

Step 1: Find Your Child’s Immunization Record

Step 2: Know Your Three School Checkpoints