The Office of the Child, Youth and Seniors’ Advocate has completed an inquiry into the decision to lift certain COVID-19 restrictions in New Brunswick schools under the authority of Section 13(1) of the Child, Youth and Senior Advocate Act. In a report filed with the legislative assembly, the advocate made eight recommendations aimed at improving the safety and quality of the school environment for children.

Regarding the removal of all masking requirements in schools, the inquiry found that there was an overreliance on following other provinces without providing evidence, projections and measurements that would justify the Public Health recommendation. There was a mismatch between the public advice that vaccines were more effective than masks and the factual evidence that fewer than half of children attending schools are vaccinated.

The advocate also expressed concern regarding the lack of benchmarks and measurements to monitor the impact of removing restrictions. The report recommends that Public Health revisit the decision with clear evidence of the factors to be weighed and a plan to monitor student safety and staff absenteeism. The report noted that such a review could be done on the same timelines as other Maritime provinces’ reviews of masking rules.