Toronto changes 'clean-shave' masking policy after Sikh advocacy group lodges complaint
A so-called “clean-shave” policy for workers at shelters and congregate settings in Toronto has been modified after some Sikh security guards reportedly lost their jobs for refusing to shave their beards.
An official with the World Sikh Organization (WSO) of Canada confirmed the change to CP24 on Tuesday afternoon.
- Download our app to get local alerts to your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
It comes after approximately 100 Sikh security guards employed by third parties were either terminated, transferred, or had shifts cancelled due to non-compliance with a city policy that required some employees to be clean shaven in order to be properly fitted for N95 respiratory masks.
“We received a call from Mayor Tory and he confirmed that the security guards could return to their jobs and the City would work with the security contractors to make it possible. He also confirmed the N95 would only be required where there is an outbreak,” Balpreet Singh, WSO’s spokesperson and legal counsel, told CP24.
Balpreet Singh, of the World Sikh Organization of Canada, is calling on the City of Toronto to reinstate bearded security guards who were removed from their job due to a "clean-shave" masking policy.
READ MORE: Toronto must review 'clean-shave' N95 mask policy after Sikh workers laid off, demoted
“There is only one such site and there, the latex or cloth undercover could be used to cover the beard. This is indeed what we had initially suggested.”
The city policy previously applied to workers in homeless services settings who came into contact with clients suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19, as well as in settings where there was a suspected or declared outbreak of the virus.
Singh had written a letter to Mayor John Tory and members of city council drawing their attention to the possible discriminatory impacts of the policy on June 7.
However, weeks went by without any action being taken.
Following several media reports on Monday, the city did formally order its contractors to comply with its Human Right and Anti-Harassment/Discrimination Policy and make equitable accommodations for their employees with religious exemptions.
Mayor John Tory also told reporters earlier on Tuesday that he would like to see the involved contractors – ASP Security Services, Garda World, and Star Security – apologize.
“(These workers) deserve better than that. … There’s always an accommodation,” he said.
Among those impacted by the interpretation of the policy was Birkawal Singh Anand, who last spring as hired to work security at a local respite centre.Birkawal Singh Anand, a contracted security guard who works at a Toronto respite centre, said he was recently told to shave after a mandatory N95 mask couldn’t be properly fitted due to his beard. Anand is Sikh and according to his faith must not cut or shave his hair or beard.
During a July 4 interview with CTV Toronto, he said he recently received an email from his employer, ASP Security Services, telling him to shave his beard or he’d be out of a job.
“Everyone’s freedom of speech and human rights have been protected. For me, if I cannot follow my religion, it is something disgusting, right,” said Anand, who equated shaving his facial hair to “peeling his skin off.”
To make matters worst, Anand said the accommodation offered to him by his employer, ASP Security Services, amounted to both a demotion and a pay cut.
He called the situation both “disturbing and humiliating.”
ASP told CTV Toronto that they tried to find accommodations for the affected workers.
Two other security companies that also have contracts with the city, Garda World and Star Security, have not commented on the matter.
Speaking to CTV Toronto late this afternoon, Anand said Tory called him and apologized for what happened. He said the mayor also promised “everything will be back to normal.”
“That means that he will be re-instating all the Sikh guards to their same positions and same pay rate as well," he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Auston Matthews skates ahead of Game 7, status unclear with season on the line
Centre Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs hasn't been ruled out of tonight's Game 7 against the Boston Bruins.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.