Ottawa\u2019s wastewater surveillance program will continue after the Ontario government ends funding on July 31, a memo from Board of Health Chair Catherine Kitts says.<\/p>\n
In a memo sent to Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and council members Wednesday, Kitts said the surveillance initiative, operated and managed under Robert Delatolla\u2019s team at the University of Ottawa, will remain as it is while discussions about longer-term solutions continue.<\/p>\n
The province announced earlier this year that it would stop funding for the highly regarded program as of the end of July \u2014 at a savings of around $15 million.<\/p>\n
Provincial officials said then that the federal government was expanding its own wastewater surveillance initiative and they wanted to avoid overlap. The federal government currently has four wastewater surveillance sites in the Toronto area and has said it wants to add four or five more. Ontario\u2019s program, one of the world\u2019s most extensive, gathers information at more than 50 locations.<\/p>\n
In the memo, Kitts said the city \u201chas been assured that, although provincial funding sunsets on July 31, the University of Ottawa has secured funding to continue this program as-is for the coming months.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ottawa\u2019s wastewater surveillance program will continue after the Ontario government ends funding on July 31, a memo from Board of Health Chair Catherine Kitts says.<\/p>\n
In a memo sent to Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and council members Wednesday, Kitts said the surveillance initiative, operated and managed under Robert Delatolla\u2019s team at the University of Ottawa, will remain as it is while discussions about longer-term solutions continue.<\/p>\n
The province announced earlier this year that it would stop funding for the highly regarded program as of the end of July \u2014 at a savings of around $15 million.<\/p>\n