“At this time, we don’t have a lot of specifics to go on, and so I think we need to have more information to confirm,” Rose said. “But there might be limitations, for sure.”
College Coun. Laine Johnson said the city should be “thoughtful” when aggregating and disaggregating data related to public health outcomes.
“I wouldn’t want this type of result to further stigmatize or create inequities amongst different populations within the City of Ottawa,” Johnson said. “So I’ll support this today, but I’ll look forward to that discussion at Ottawa Public Health because I do think there are some concerns there in terms of how we use the data.”
Ottawa Public Health tracks overdose trends, community impacts, and discarded drug equipment through several existing publicly available reporting tools, Kitts said. The Overdose Prevention and Response Task Force enables real-time information sharing from front-line partners. Alerts are issued when the task force becomes aware of issues related to toxic drugs circulating in the community.
However, Ottawa is losing another tool for drug testing as consumption and treatment service sites prepare to close in June, she said.
“These drug-checking services currently provide some of the clearest information we have about the local toxic drug supply, and have historically served as an important early-warning system for individuals in the broader community. They have provided some of the earliest intelligence we have about changes in the local drug supply,” she said.
“As these services close, Ottawa is losing that key source of information about emerging overdose risks and changes in the drug supply.”
Ottawa Public Health has been exploring using wastewater surveillance as a potential complementary tool since 2025, Kitts said.
Discussions are ongoing with researchers, Health Canada, community partners and the infrastructure and water services department, but wastewater surveillance can’t replace direct drug-checking or the expertise of front-line organizations, she said.
“It does remain an emerging area of research, particularly as it related to toxic drugs.”
The wastewater surveillance matter will be before the Board of Health on June 15.
