COVID-19 wastewater surveillance dashboard
About the dashboard
We’re working with our partners across Canada as part of a pan-Canadian wastewater surveillance network to monitor the spread of COVID-19. Our partners include municipal, provincial and territorial governments, as well as other federal departments and academia.
The wastewater dashboard allows you to track and compare the COVID-19 levels in some major communities in Canada over time. Data are presented as a 7-day rolling average.
The data presented here come from sewage samples submitted to the National Microbiology Laboratory for testing.
Some communities are monitoring their wastewater for COVID-19. A list of other Canadian wastewater COVID-19 surveillance dashboards and websites is available.
Why we monitor wastewater
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is in the stool (feces) of people while they are infected. Fragments of the virus can be detected in the community wastewater (sewage). By monitoring wastewater we can:
- detect COVID-19 in communities
- detect COVID-19 in institutional settings such as long-term care facilities
- monitor which variants are circulating
- monitor other public health threats, including other infectious diseases and trends in antimicrobial resistance
Because people can have COVID-19 without any symptoms, they can sometimes spread it without even knowing they have it. Wastewater monitoring can provide an early warning of COVID-19 in a community or setting. Even a few days of early warning can be critical to the success of public health interventions. It can also be an important source of information for people making their own personal health decisions.
Acknowledgements
We thank participating municipalities for submitting wastewater samples and associated data. We also thank federal, provincial and territorial public health professionals for valued input on the development of this program, as well as the many scientists supporting wastewater surveillance networks nationally.
Canadian Wastewater Survey (CWS)
We’ve been working with Statistics Canada on the Canadian Wastewater Survey (CWS) since March 2020 to conduct wastewater surveillance in Halifax, Montréal, Toronto, Edmonton, and Vancouver.
For more information on the CWS please refer to:
Manitoba
We work with the cities of Brandon and Winnipeg and the province of Manitoba to conduct wastewater surveillance in 4 wastewater treatment plants.
New Brunswick
We work with the cities of Fredericton and Moncton and the province of New Brunswick to conduct wastewater surveillance in 2 wastewater treatment plants.
Newfoundland and Labrador
We work with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to conduct COVID-19 wastewater surveillance in St. John’s wastewater treatment plant.
Prince Edward Island
We work with the cities of Charlottetown and Summerside, the towns of Alberton, Souris, and Stratford, the community of Montague, and the province of Prince Edward Island to conduct wastewater surveillance at 4 wastewater treatment plants and a wastewater treatment lagoon.
Saskatchewan
We work with the City of Regina, Saskatchewan Health Authority, University of Regina, and EPCOR Water Prairies to conduct COVID-19 wastewater surveillance at Regina’s wastewater treatment plant.
We also work with the University of Saskatchewan to conduct wastewater surveillance at 3 wastewater treatment plants.
Yukon
We work with the Government of Champagne and Aishihik First Nations and the village of Haines Junction to conduct wastewater surveillance at a lift station in Haines Junction.
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