Canadian Government Executive - Volume 27 - Issue 03

May/June 2021 // Canadian Government Executive / 11 COVID-19 Policy options and recommendations Following a detailed analysis of the problem, I have identified four different policy op- tions that can be considered to address the issue of immunity certificates in Canada. Since the problem is recognized as an inter- governmental problem, the responses would need alignment and agreement among fed- eral, provincial and territorial governments. Option 1: Non-governmental intervention (Laissez-faire) on immunity certificates The first proposed option is a non-govern- mental intervention, where the issue is left to the market forces. The market forces are assumed to drive the adoption and imple- mentation of immunity certificates on a need-basis, with regulatory oversight taken care of existing industry, healthcare data and privacy legislation. E.g., market par- ticipants, such as small businesses can ask for and gather information on immunity by check-in questionnaires etc. subject to pre- vailing laws and regulations. The approach also incurs the risk of overreach by market participants, such as big-tech and digital platforms providers, to gather the personal health information of consumers on the pretext of safety. This will have asymmetric Problem Statement “How to approach immunity certificates as an enabler for post-pandemic, safe reopening in Canada while addressing concerns of privacy, challenges around data-sharing, nuances of inter-governmental collabo- ration, and unintended socio- economic consequences?”