“Right now, these people, they put a very important burden on our health care network, and I think it’s normal that the majority of the population is asking that there be a consequence,” Quebec Premier François Legault said at a news conference Tuesday. “It’s a question also of fairness for the 90% of the population who made some sacrifices, and I think we owe them this kind of measure.”

The fine would not apply to those with a medical exemption, and no details have been announced, although the premier said the amount to be levied would be “significant.”

The Quebec government says that while nearly 90% of eligible Quebecers have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, the unvaccinated remain a burden on the province’s public health system.

Nearly a quarter of all Canadians live in Quebec, and while the province was one of the first in the country to introduce a vaccine passport, public health officials say the vast majority of patients in Quebec hospitals remain unvaccinated. Officials did not give a specific percentage of how many hospitalized Covid patients were unvaccinated.

Last week, Quebec announced that residents would now have to be vaccinated to buy alcohol or cannabis, and the health minister claimed on social media that vaccine appointments spiked as a result. 

“In just a few days, appointments for the 1st dose went from 1.5K per day to over 6K yesterday. Thank you to everyone who decided to get vaccinated. It is not too late to get your 1st dose. Protect yourself,” Christian Dubé, Quebec’s health minister, posted on Twitter after retweeting a newspaper story about the uptick in vaccination appointments. 

Quebec already requires proof of vaccination to eat in restaurants, go to the gym or attend sporting events and has had some of the most restrictive public health measures in North America, including a nighttime curfew that was reimposed for a second time during the pandemic last month.