(LifeSiteNews) — An Ontario university student who was forced to take an extra year of classes after his religious-based COVID vaccine exemption request was rejected is appealing a ruling that his objection to the shots was not protected as a “creed” under the Ontario Human Rights Code.

In 2021, Ontario mandated that all students in the province show proof of vaccination unless they had an exemption or agreed to attend a COVID jab education session boasting about the shots. The third option was not available at Ontario Tech University, as schools could choose whether or not they would offer such a program to students.

Former Ontario Tech University student Philip Anisimov had requested an exemption from the experimental, abortion-tainted COVID shots on religious grounds but was denied and deregistered from all his courses.

He was then forced to spend an entire extra year to complete his studies. According to his lawyers, Ontario Tech University’s decision to not approve his COVID jab exemption request “not only disrupted his career plans but also violated his right to be free from discrimination on the basis of religion, as protected by the Ontario Human Rights Code.”

A request for reconsideration has been filed with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal on behalf of former Ontario Tech University student Philip Anisimov, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) announced Friday.

The appeal cites the fact that the tribunal “inverted the subjective test for religious belief by requiring objective grounds for” Anisimov’s “sincere belief that his faith required him to abstain from receiving COVID-19 vaccines.”

“The University tried to characterize Mr. Anisimov’s belief as a personal preference by arguing that vaccination is not truly contrary to his faith,” constitutional lawyer Hatim Kheir noted.

“Decision-makers are not permitted to engage in speculation and theological debates about which dogma is correct. So long as a belief is religious in nature and sincerely held, it must be accommodated,” Kheir explained, outlining how the Human Rights Code of the province has to be interpreted according to the law.

COVID vaccine mandates, as well as lockdowns that came from provincial governments with the support of the federal government, split Canadian society. The mRNA shots have been linked to a multitude of adverse and often severe side effects, including heart damage and blood clots, as well as cancer.

Beyond health concerns, many Canadians, especially Catholics, opposed the vaccines on moral grounds because of their link to fetal cell lines derived from the tissue of aborted babies.