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Tag: Ontario

Topic: wastewater monitoringView all posts for the topic: wastewater monitoring

The Secret Weapon in Canada’s Sewers

As America takes an axe to its health data, expanding wastewater surveillance could save lives

Published February 2, 2026

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: Maclean’s
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By Eric Arts

As a virologist, I spend my days thinking about how to detect outbreaks of coronaviruses, mpox, West Nile and other pathogens early enough to stop them. Right now, I’m concerned about Canada’s awful flu season and the fact that we recently lost our measles-elimination status. But mostly, I’m terrified of what’s unfolding south of the border.

The consequences of the Trump administration’s cuts to the CDC and NIH will extend far beyond America. Those agencies form the backbone of North America’s infectious-disease surveillance. They track variants, monitor cross-border spread and feed data into global systems coordinated by the World Health Organization, helping everyone on Earth prepare. When those programs are dismantled, Canada loses key warning signs of influenza, RSV, measles and whatever diseases are coming next.

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Topic: vaccinesView all posts for the topic: vaccines

Could the shingles vaccine prevent or delay new-onset dementia? Ontario-based study suggests so

Published January 27, 2026

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Published by: CTV News
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By Miriam Katawazi

A new Ontario-based study is suggesting the shingles vaccine may help prevent and/or delay the onset of dementia more effectively than any existing treatment.

The study was published in Lancet Neurology and led by researchers at McMaster University and Stanford University. It analyzed health data from more than 250,000 seniors in Ontario and found the herpes zoster vaccination, also known as the shingles vaccine, helped significantly prevent dementia.

“There’s no pharmacological tool that has been shown to have such a large preventative effect,” Pascal Geldsetzer, lead researcher and Stanford University professor, told CTV News Toronto.

Continue readingCould the shingles vaccine prevent or delay new-onset dementia? Ontario-based study suggests so
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Topic: budget cutsView all posts for the topic: budget cuts

Health Canada the latest federal department to issue layoff notices

Published January 23, 2026

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Published by: CTV News
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By Josh Pringle

More than 3,000 employees at Health Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada have been notified their jobs may be affected as federal departments continue to issue notices about possible layoffs in the public service.

Health Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada are the latest departments to notify employees of possible job cuts in January, as the federal government looks to cut 28,000 jobs over the next four years.

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Topic: educationView all posts for the topic: education

How Universities Are Shutting Out Disabled Students and Staff

Some administrators treat accommodations as a favour—and those requesting them as problems

Published January 16, 2026

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: The Walrus
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By Lygia Navarro

This article contains discussions of suicide. If you or someone you know is having a suicide crisis, please call Talk Suicide Canada (1-833-456-4566). There is also the Hope for Wellness Helpline for Indigenous people across Canada (1-855-242-3310).

NAOMI HAD ALWAYS hated school, so much so that she cried for hours when school breaks ended. She hadn’t always considered herself disabled, though. Sure, she’d felt lucky to have discovered her autism and learning disabilities relatively early—and to have started getting accommodations in junior high— given that most autistic women aren’t diagnosed until adulthood, if at all. But until her second semester of university, Naomi hadn’t realized how much autism impacted her life. Then, just before semester’s end, COVID-19 crashed in.

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Topic: indoor air qualityView all posts for the topic: indoor air quality

Schools must improve air quality to slow spread of respiratory illness, advocates say

Published December 23, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: The Globe and Mail
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By Dave McGinn

Heather Hanwell’s 12-year-old daughter recently missed almost two weeks of school after being hit hard by a viral infection. She’s among many parents who are caring for sick kids this flu season, which so far has seen a surge of cases among school-age children.

But the experience was particularly frustrating for Dr. Hanwell, an epidemiologist who says that improving the air quality in schools would help reduce the spread of contagious respiratory illnesses.

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Topic: indoor air qualityView all posts for the topic: indoor air quality

Schools have become cesspools for cold and flu, but they don’t have to be: Ontario School Safety

Published December 21, 2025

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Published by: CityNews
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By Rachel Morgan

The volunteer-led organization Ontario School Safety is renewing calls to the Ontario government to improve indoor air quality in schools.

The call comes as Ontario sees a rapid increase in cases of the flu, particularly impacting young children.

In April, 2021, the Government of Ontario announced it was investing over $130 million, in addition to funds from the Canadian government, to upgrade school infrastructure to protect children from COVID-19. The majority of this funding was earmarked for ventilation projects to improve indoor air quality.

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Topic: influenzaView all posts for the topic: influenza

Flu season has hit Canadians hard and early, as cases continues to rise

Published December 19, 2025

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Published by: The Globe and Mail
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By Alanna Smith

At a neighbourhood Christmas party in Ottawa earlier this month, there were all the usual holiday delights: festive decor, treats and even a visit from the big man up North. It was an evening to remember for Christine Guptill, but not in the way she had imagined.

Tucked into a party room at Royale Ranch, a horse farm in the city’s south, there were nearly 40 people at the party – half children, half adults. Ms. Guptill said some children were coughing and she overheard one family say they had left their sick kid at home.

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Topic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario

3 children die from influenza A-related complications in Ottawa and eastern Ontario region

Published December 15, 2025

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Published by: CTV News
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By Josh Pringle

Three children have died from flu-related complications in the Ottawa area this month, as officials warn of a “rapid and significant rise” in influenza A cases.

In a statement released Monday morning, Ottawa Public Health said three children between the ages of five and nine have died from influenza A-related complications in the Ottawa and Eastern Ontario Health Unit regions during the first two weeks of December.

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Topic: hepatitis BView all posts for the topic: hepatitis B

Expert calls for Hep B vaccines at birth in Ontario, saying kids are falling through the cracks

Dr. Jordan Feld wants this province to follow international guidance and vaccinate children at birth.

Published December 12, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: Ottawa Citizen
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By Elizabeth Payne

A leading liver expert is calling on the Ontario government to re-evaluate its hepatitis B vaccination strategy, saying some children are falling through the cracks and getting diagnosed with hepatitis B virus (HBV) before vaccines are offered at age 12.

That puts them at high risk for a life of chronic illness and even liver cancer that could have been prevented, says Dr. Jordan Feld, director of the Toronto Centre for Liver Disease at the University Health Network and a senior scientist at Toronto General Hospital Research Institute. He wants Ontario to follow international guidance and vaccinate children at birth.

His comments come amid an outcry in the United States after a Centres for Disease Control panel, appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., voted to scrap birth doses of the vaccine. That decision has been heavily criticized by experts, who say the change is not based on science and will put children at risk.

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Topic: Ottawa-GatineauView all posts for the topic: Ottawa-Gatineau

Return of mandatory masking in Outaouais hospitals

Published December 9, 2025

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Published by: Radio-Canada
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By Benjamin Vachet

The Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux (CISSS) de l’Outaouais has decided to reinstate mandatory mask wearing upon entry into its care facilities.

Starting on Tuesday, wearing a mask is mandatory in hospital centres, including the outpatient ward, the Pierre-Janet mental health hospital (including units 5 and 6 of the juvenile wing), the Physical rehabilitation centre, La RessourSe, residential and long-term care centres and seniors’ homes and alternative housing.

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Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles

Alberta government rejected expert advice to report probable measles cases, documents show

Published December 6, 2025

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Published by: The Globe and Mail
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By Alanna Smith

The Alberta government rejected expert advice to expand public reporting of measles to include probable cases, despite the measure being supported by local and provincial public health officials, documents obtained by The Globe and Mail show.

Since the outbreak began in Alberta last spring, only confirmed cases of measles have been publicly reported. New data provided through a Freedom of Information request show at least 450 probable cases of measles have also been identified in the province, bringing the total to nearly 2,500.

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Topic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario

Ontario wrote off $1.4B of PPE, province burning expired equipment: auditor

Province still buying masks, other protective gear at same levels as height of the pandemic

Published December 2, 2025

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Published by: CBC News / The Canadian Press
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By Liam Casey

Ontario wrote off more than one billion items of personal protective equipment at a cost of $1.4 billion since 2021, the province’s auditor general found.

Shelley Spence found the province continues to purchase masks, gowns and other protective gear at the same levels as the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, despite significantly declining demand.

“We found that expired products began to accumulate in the provincial stockpile as some of the products purchased during the pandemic fell short of desired quality standards and were not used,” Spence wrote in her annual report.

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Topic: Ottawa-GatineauView all posts for the topic: Ottawa-Gatineau

Here are CHEO’s new visitor guidelines as flu season begins

Published November 14, 2025

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Published by: Ottawa Citizen
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By Elizabeth Payne

CHEO is reinstating public health measures for visitors to the hospital as viral season begins.

Beginning Monday (Nov. 17), visitors will be asked to wear masks while in all waiting areas and during clinical interactions. CHEO will also begin limiting visitors. There will be a limit of one caregiver for patients attending appointments, and no visitors under the age of 12 — including siblings — will be allowed.

The precautions are being taken to help reduce the spread of viruses and protect those who visit the hospital and its community locations, spokesperson Karl Oczkowski said.

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Topic: TorontoView all posts for the topic: Toronto

Mask mandate returns to UHN facilities ahead of respiratory virus season

Published November 14, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: TorontoToday
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University Health Network (UHN) has announced a new requirement for staff, patients and visitors to wear a mask when inside its facilities.

Masks must be worn in all UHN facilities, including Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital and the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre as of Tuesday, Nov. 18.

All staff, patients and visitors will be expected to wear a mask in physician offices, waiting rooms for clinics, the emergency department and other outpatient clinical areas. Patients and staff must also wear a mask when delivering or receiving direct care, or when staff are closely interacting with patients in inpatient, outpatient and emergency clinical areas.

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Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles

Canada officially loses its measles elimination status

Published November 10, 2025

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Published by: The Globe and Mail
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By Alanna Smith, Kristy Kirkup

Canada has been stripped of its measles elimination status after failing to interrupt transmission within one year of an outbreak that continues to spread in parts of the country.

The Public Health Agency of Canada said Monday it was notified by The Pan American Health Organization, a regional arm of the World Health Organization, that Canada lost its designation – an accomplishment it held for 27 years.

“While transmission has slowed recently, the outbreak has persisted for over 12 months, primarily within under-vaccinated communities,” the statement said.

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Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles

Canada loses its measles elimination status

Published November 10, 2025

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Published by: Radio-Canada
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By Mélanie Meloche-Holubowski

The Pan American Health Organization has informed the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) that Canada no longer has the status of a country that has eliminated measles, due to an outbreak that has been ongoing for more than one year.

This status indicates that there is no continuous transmission of the disease for 12 months or more in a given geographical area.

“Despite considerable efforts by Canada, the country has lost its status. Measles is now considered to be endemic in this country,” PAHO director Dr. Jason Barbosa told a news conference.

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Topic: Ottawa-GatineauView all posts for the topic: Ottawa-Gatineau

Lack of funding is hobbling Ottawa Public Health: officials

Published November 5, 2025

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Published by: Ottawa Citizen
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By Elizabeth Payne

Funding gaps are already making it difficult for Ottawa Public Health to meet growing community needs and invest in health-care prevention, but a public health emergency would make the situation worse, OPH is warning.

Among other things, OPH is unable to comply with Ontario Public Health standards when it comes to inspections and some infectious disease cases and contact management for “lower impact diseases of public health significance.”

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Topic: TorontoView all posts for the topic: Toronto

Toronto to develop wastewater surveillance program for FIFA World Cup

Published October 17, 2025

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Published by: The Canadian Press
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By Hannah Alberga

TORONTO – Toronto Public Health is developing a wastewater surveillance program to detect any potential spread of diseases during the FIFA World Cup.

Toronto’s new Medical Officer of Health Dr. Michelle Murti said the pilot will collect sewage samples in areas where fans congregate and test them for infections such as COVID-19, influenza and RSV.

Murti said the public health unit is looking into whether other illnesses, such as measles, could also be monitored in wastewater given the large international audience expected next summer.

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