The Province of Ontario has announced the cancellation of the wastewater surveillance initiative, effective July 31, 2024. 

 

Despite this disruption, OCWA remains committed to innovation and public health.

Since July 2022, Public Health Agency of Canada has supported the transition of the previous inter-lab services into that of an accredited Proficiency Testing (PT) program - amongst the first of its kind globally. We remain committed to serve labs undertaking wastewater surveillance activities and continue to serve labs in Ontario no longer supported by the provincial program.

 

The next round of our PT program (Round Vader, samples distributed October 21, 2024) remains supported by PHAC and will run free of charge for all participating labs. Labs outside Canada can also participate; we kindly request that you cover the cost of sample shipping by providing FedEx account shipping information upon registration. 
Registration for Round Vader is now open until October 7.

 

Over the coming weeks, our team will re-evaluate the feasibility of sustaining this critical QA/QC infrastructure we have developed, which enables further maturation of wastewater surveillance as a public health tool. Options such as PT participant fees will be investigated for implementation in 2025, in consultation with key stakeholders - please stay tuned! 

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​-OCWA Wastewater Surveillance Team