Researchers in Canada are monitoring SARS-CoV-2 (and variants of the virus) in community wastewater samples to increase our understanding of community spread during the third wave and as vaccinations increase. We need to understand where wastewater-based epidemiology is already underway and/or being applied in Canada. The COVID-19 Wastewater Coalition has developed two maps that can serve as a stepping stone in building a more detailed national picture. [read more...]

Join us on Tuesday, December 1, 2020 for two complimentary webinars about the Canadian COVID-19 Wastewater Coalition. [read more...]

Dr. Steve E. Hrudey, Chair of the COVID-19 Wastewater Coalition’s national research advisory group, provided an update on wastewater surveillance in Canada for the CanCOVID Speaker Series on October 20, 2020. A recording of his presentation and slides are now available. [read more...]

During a global pandemic, health surveillance activities have the potential to impact individual rights and create stigma when individuals or communities are identified. It is therefore critical that the highest ethical standards are observed. Download the COVID-19 Wastewater Coalition's ethics and communications guidance for measuring and reporting signals of SARS-CoV-2 in community wastewater. [read more...]

Canadian Water Network is pleased to announce the first regional hub (Ontario) of the COVID-19 Wastewater Coalition and thanks the Ontario Clean Water Agency for their financial support. If your municipality, utility, research team or laboratory is interested in attending the Ontario Hub’s working group meetings, contact Sandra Cooke at Canadian Water Network. [read more...]

The COVID-19 Wastewater Coalition’s Inter-Laboratory Study is the first phase of the national pilot and will characterize the inter- and intra-laboratory variability associated with results from testing of SARS-CoV-2 using RT-qPCR after extraction from a common wastewater matrix. Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory is the coordinating reference lab for the study; research labs in Vancouver, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Windsor, Montréal and Halifax are participating. [read more...]

The COVID-19 Wastewater Coalition’s Public Health Advisory Group includes eight leading Canadian leading experts. These advisors will address how data generated by wastewater surveillance is shared with public health authorities and provide guidance on ethics and communications. Collectively, the members bring a wide range of of expertise, experience and leadership in medical practice, public health, health sciences, research and ethics to this role. [read more...]

The COVID-19 Wastewater Coalition’s National Research Advisory Group includes twelve leading Canadian researchers whose expertise spans wastewater, public health protection, microbiology, toxicology, engineering and water quality protection. This group will provide technical and scientific guidance on the surveillance of SARS-CoV2 in wastewater and the Coalition’s national proof-of-concept pilot. [read more...]

Dr. Steve E. Hrudey, Professor Emeritus from the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta, will chair the COVID-19 Wastewater Coalition’s national research advisory group. Dr. Hrudey has been engaged in environmental and public health risk research for 49 years. He's published more than 180 refereed journal articles and has served on numerous national and international expert panels. [read more...]

As countries carefully restart their economies and ease community restrictions, a global research effort is underway to monitor the spread of the COVID-19 through wastewater surveillance. Canadian Water Network is initiating a national response to accelerate results and enable public health decision-makers to access the most complete information available regarding community transmission. [read more...]