Influenza is one of the leading causes of acute respiratory infection and results in significant increases in average life-years lost, hospital lengths of stay and outpatient clinic visits, representing an enormous economic burden for many countries. Healthcare personnel are at particularly high risk of exposure to influenza as they are exposed in both the community and in the workplace. Influenza vaccination for healthcare personnel has been shown to reduce patient mortality in long-term care facilities as well as employee absenteeism and financial costs in acute care settings. The Canadian National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommends that influenza immunization programs strive to immunize at least 90% of eligible recipients. In fact, NACI regards influenza immunization of healthcare personnel with direct patient care responsibilities as an essential component of the standard of care for the protection of patients. They consider the refusal of healthcare personnel without contraindications to receive influenza vaccine as a failure in their duty of care to patients. Despite national recommendations and proven effectiveness, influenza immunization coverage rates among healthcare personnel remain disappointingly low. In Canada, coverage rates among healthcare personnel range from 26-61% while in the US only 38% of healthcare personnel were immunized in 2002.