Ontario to stop wastewater surveillance

Key COVID-19 program will end on July 31, as federal officials take over testing in province

- MEGAN OGILVIE

Wastewater surveillance became the most accurate way to determine daily COVID cases in Ontario after widespread PCR testing was suspended in the province at the end of 2021.

Ontario is ending the wastewater surveillance program that became a crucial tool during the COVID-19 pandemic, the move catching researchers and public health officials off guard.

The surveillance system — the largest of its kind in Canada — provides advanced warnings of new COVID waves and has grown in recent years to track other infectious disease threats, including mpox, influenza and RSV.

Last week, researchers involved in the surveillance system were told the program would end on July 31 and that federal wastewater testing would expand into the province in its place.

Mark Servos, a professor of biology at the University of Waterloo who played a pivotal role in launching Ontario’s wastewater testing program, called the provincial program “a huge success” in supporting public health units during the pandemic.

He said shutting it down could limit how public health responds to future threats.

“We're certainly going to lose the capacity to respond to future pandemics,” said Servos, a Canada Research Chair in water quality protection.