B.C. woman turned away from popular Toronto tourist spot because vaccine certificate doesn't include key detail

TORONTO -

A woman from British Columbia travelling to Toronto was turned away from one of the most popular tourist destinations because her province's vaccine certificate doesn't include a key piece of information.

B.C. resident Sarah Sangha was visiting Toronto this week, and thought she had come prepared.

"I've had no problem going to different places around the city," Sangha told CTV News Toronto. "Knowing that the vaccine passport would be launching in Ontario the week that I was arriving, I came with both a paper copy and the app."

The app, is the digital proof of vaccination that residents of British Colombia can install on their phones, that comes with a QR code.

Sangha said she visited a number of restaurants and tourist attractions during her time here, all accepting her B.C. digital proof of vaccination.

But Thursday night, while trying to enter the CN Tower, where she had reservations to dine at the restaurant inside, staff told her that her provincial proof of vaccination wasn't enough.

"It was not admissible for them," Sangha said. "They weren't able to scan the QR code and they asked me if I had a paper copy. But in B.C. once you get the app and you get the QR code you no longer need that paper copy."

Along with the code, which isn't readable here, the proof of vaccination issued by the B.C. government only shows the date the certificate was issued and not the date of vaccination.

According to the Ontario Ministry of Health's website, to enter a business or organization, visitors must provide both proof of identity and proof of vaccination- showing that their final dose was at least 14 days ago.

In a statement to CTV News Toronto, Jennifer Paige, the CN Tower's Director of Marketing and Communication said "Guests are advised to review the information they intend to provide as proof of vaccination (or proof of qualifying for an exemption) and proof of identification to ensure it is complete and accurate and that it meets the criteria established within the province of Ontario."

Sangha says she ended up eating elsewhere after being turned away at the CN Tower, and says she hopes issues like this can be ironed out for future tourists visiting the province.

"I think if interprovincial travel is allowed, which it is, then the provincial governments need to be speaking to each other and they need to ironing this out so it's not impacting tourism.”