DND Violated Rules by Refusing to Grant COVID Vaccine Exemption on Religious Grounds: Labour Board

A federal labour board has ruled that the Department of National Defence (DND) wrongly rejected a request for a religious exemption to its COVID-19 vaccine mandate from an employee, who was suspended in 2021 after refusing to take the vaccine.

Former DND employee and Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) member Marvin Castillo resigned after DND denied his request for a religious exemption to its COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Castillo’s “sincere religious belief” should have been sufficient grounds to be exempted from taking the vaccine, according to the June 12 ruling by adjudicator Christopher Rootham of the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.

Canada’s federal public sector COVID-19 vaccine policy was put in place Oct. 6, 2021, and required all employees in core public administration and departments including military and DND members to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Castillo filed a grievance with management at DND on Oct. 26, saying his traditionalist Roman Catholic beliefs prohibited him from taking vaccines that had been developed using fetal cell lines.

“I have served both in the Canadian Forces and as Public Servant for almost 26 years,” Castillo wrote in an affidavit submitted with his request, saying he never thought he would see the day when he had to justify his beliefs “in order to be able to do what I love doing.”

On Nov. 3, 2021, Castillo was ordered to work from home while his exemption request was considered, the document says. When the DND denied it, Castillo went on paid sick leave, followed by unpaid leave, before deciding to retire as a result of his request not being accommodated.

“All injections used by Canada to deal with the SARS COVID-2 have been, developed, produced or tested using, at any point, cells, tissue or DNA from aborted fetuses,” Castillo added in his affidavit. Although “the abortions might have taken place in the 60’s and 70’s, sin does not have an expiry date. God says all lives are precious.”

Some COVID-19 vaccines, such as Johnson & Johnson, use a historic fetal cell line in production and manufacturing. Others, such as Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, do not use a fetal cell line to produce or manufacture their vaccine, but a fetal cell line is used in a very early phase to confirm efficacy prior to production.

DND had said their COVID-19 vaccine mandates were necessary to maintain operational readiness, follow federal public health policies, protect public safety, and comply with legal considerations regarding liability and employee safety.

“As the country’s largest employer, the Government of Canada (GC) is leading by example with COVID-19 vaccination to protect the health and safety of public servants and the communities where they live and work,” wrote Acting Chief of the Defence Staff Wayne Eyre in a November 2021 directive.

“To continue to show leadership, protect the health of the Forces, the Defence Team, and that of Canadians, I am hereby directing that all CAF members be fully vaccinated unless they are unable due to a certified medical contraindication, religious ground, or any other prohibited ground of discrimination,” wrote Eyre.

The mandate would “continue to bolster our business continuity by protecting the readiness of the Forces as the COVID-19 pandemic still poses a serious threat to our operations,” said the directive.

In his decision, Rootham found that DND’s refusal to grant Castillo an exemption on religious grounds interfered with his sincere practice of faith in a “non-trivial fashion.” Rootham recognized the grievance and referred it for resolution between Castillo and DND, and to be returned to the labour board if necessary.

Rootham’s ruling comes on the heels of other labour board decisions saying that vaccine mandates infringed on the Charter rights of Canadians. This includes a May 2025 ruling that overturned suspensions against a Catholic meteorologist and a Pentecostal IT analyst at the National Research Council. The suspensions resulted from their refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccines, as required by their employer, on religious grounds.