Canadian Water Network (CWN) is excited to launch a new wastewater-based surveillance (WBS) program in partnership with the National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCCID). This program supports public health practitioners serving both cities and Indigenous regions in interpreting the meaning of WBS data for their communities. It also supports public health practitioners in effectively communicating with decision-makers and the public about the meaning of WBS data. CWN is grateful for financial support for this important program from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) and NCCID.

Through a series of peer-learning sessions and knowledge-sharing triads, participants are learning from one another about how WBS can be applied as an effective public health tool and interact directly with national and international experts. The program also provides a space for public health providers serving Indigenous regions to examine the unique opportunities and challenges related to the ethical conduct of WBS programs and the appropriate interpretation and communication of findings within remote and isolated Indigenous communities. The program and its participants are being advised by an Expert Advisory Group.

The program will develop and pilot test new materials to support public health authorities in interpreting and communicating about wastewater data. These materials will be shared publicly and will form the basis for a national-scale program planned for 2024, subject to funding.

To kick off the program, CWN and NCCID hosted a Wastewater Surveillance Summit from May 30-31, 2023 in Winnipeg. The summit brought together the local and regional public health practitioners participating in the program, as well as government decision-makers and experts. Participants benefited from presentations by national and international WBS experts, including:

• Natalie Knox, director of the One Health division at PHAC’s National Microbiology Lab.
• Yoav Keynan, scientific lead at NCCID.
• Gertjan Medema, professor of water and health at the Delft University of Technology.
• Doug Manuel- School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa.
• Wendy Pons- Environmental Public Health Program at Conestoga College.
• Michael Becker, research scientist at PHAC.
• Katrina Hitchman, director of program development at CWN.

To support the implementation of the program, CWN recently welcomed Deborah Van Dyk and Talia Glickman to the WBS team. As a WBS program manager, Deborah leads the program’s implementation. She brings 18 years of experience in public health to CWN, having worked as a frontline public health nurse, research coordinator and then as a senior public health policy advisor for a national Indigenous organization. Talia has come on board as an engagement and knowledge mobilization specialist to support the program’s engagement of public health practitioners working in this growing field. Previously, Talia worked as a gender equality consultant and as a research officer at the University of Toronto’s Department of Anthropology. She has held a variety of non-profit and research roles, focusing on global health, gender equality, water and the environment.

WBS has existed for decades as a tool to monitor viruses and other public health indicators that can be tracked through wastewater. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers around the world began applying WBS to detect SARS-CoV-2 in community wastewater. To support collaboration and coordination within the Canadian research community, CWN convened the COVID-19 Wastewater Coalition from April 2020 until December 2022 to understand if, how and where WBS for SARS-CoV-2 might provide value for public health decisions in Canada.

As a result of SARS-CoV-2 surveillance, WBS has proven to be a promising, non-invasive and cost-effective tool to help public health practitioners monitor changes in viral concentrations. These viral concentrations can signal changes in community levels of infection and track the spread of variants of concern, which can be used to make timely decisions to protect the health of Canadians. Ethics and privacy are important concerns that become amplified when working with vulnerable populations in urban areas as well as remote and isolated communities.

CWN and NCCID are excited to work with public health practitioners, as well as national and international experts, to support the beneficial use of wastewater data in a way that directly benefits communities.

For more information about CWN and NCCID’s WBS Program, contact Deborah Van Dyk at [email protected].