Question Period Note: COVID ALERT APP

• COVID Alert App currently continues to be maintained by Health Canada and uses strong measures to protect the privacy and confidentiality of data. A process to decommission the app as of June 10, 2022 is currently underway, although not yet public.

• The COVID Alert app is part of a suite of tools and guidance developed by the Government of Canada to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
• Since its launch, more than 6.9 million Canadians have downloaded the app and more than 63K users who tested positive for COVID-19 have notified others of a possible exposure.
• The COVID Alert app has undergone a privacy assessment in line with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner’s (OPC) Framework for the Government of Canada to Assess Privacy-Impactful Initiatives in Response to COVID-19. The OPC was consulted on the app and published their review of the app on their website.
• The Privacy Commissioner of Canada indicated that he supports the use of COVID Alert.
• The COVID Alert app does not disclose the identity of users, nor is location data or personally identifiable information collected.

IF PRESSED
• The approach chosen was an exposure notification app as opposed to contact tracing as it allows users to be notified of a possible exposure without using personally identifiable data or location tracking.
• The app uses Bluetooth technology, does not record users’ locations and does not collect identifiable information.
• The app has undergone a thorough privacy assessment, and all data provided to the app is securely stored and protected.
• The Government of Canada committed to decommissioning the application once the pandemic is over or when the application is deemed no longer useful.

On June 18, 2020, the Prime Minister of Canada announced a national exposure notification app. On July 31, 2020, the Prime Minister of Canada announced that the app, called COVID Alert, is available for download by all Canadians.

The app, originally developed by the Government of Ontario, helps Canadians and public health officials identify and isolate the spread of the virus more quickly. Use of the app is voluntary. If someone tests positive (using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test) for COVID-19, a health care provider will give that person a one-time key that that person can enter into the app. One-time keys are not distributed for positive rapid tests results. Other users who have downloaded the app and come in close contact with that person are then notified, through the app, that they may have been exposed to the virus. The app provides users with information on steps they can take to keep themselves and others safe. Health Canada worked with the provinces and territories to customize public health information based on their jurisdictions context.

COVID Alert is a collaboration between Health Canada, the Canadian Digital Service, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, and the Ontario Digital Service. It builds upon an exposure notification solution developed by Shopify volunteers in coordination with the non-profit Linux Foundation Public Health. It is also the work of a team of developers from across the country. The app underwent a security review by BlackBerry and the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security. It incorporates Bluetooth technology provided by Apple and Google to log instances where users have come into close contact without collecting personally identifiable information or tracking a user location. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner has been engaged on the app and the Commissioner has indicated they support the use of the app by Canadians.

While the app is national in scope, provincial and territorial health authorities are responsible for providing the one-time keys to users who test positive for COVID-19. The one-time keys can then be entered into the app to notify users of a possible exposure. Eight provinces and one territory have onboarded and are able to issue one-time keys:
• Ontario on July 31, 2020;
• Newfoundland and Labrador on September 3, 2020;
• Saskatchewan between September 18, 2020 and May 29, 2022
• New Brunswick on September 18, 2020;
• Manitoba between October 1, 2020 and March 15, 2022;
• Quebec on October 5, 2020;
• Prince Edward Island on October 8, 2020;
• Nova Scotia on October 15, 2020; and,
• Northwest Territories on November 26, 2020.
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KEY FACTS
• On July 31, 2020, the Prime Minister announced that COVID Alert, a voluntary national exposure notification app, was available for download. The app uses Bluetooth and mobile technology to notify users that they have been in close contact with someone who later tested positive for COVID-19.
• Health Canada continues to maintain the COVID Alert App and update provincial dashboards on a monthly basis and on an ad-hoc basis as requested.
• Since spring 2021, there have been no further investments in promotion or software development.
• The government is committed to protecting the privacy of Canadians, while taking appropriate steps to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
• Recent evaluations found the app’s impact on the pandemic was affected by low uptake. Provinces and Territories (PTs) signaled they would not invest further in one-time keys (OTK) delivery as their resources shifted to vaccinations, rapid testing, and vaccine passports.
• As of May 24, 2022, more than 6.9 million (6,948,717) users downloaded the app, and more than 63K (63,696) one-time keys were claimed in order to inform others of a possible exposure.
• Reduced access to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnostic tests however has an impact on the volume of one-time keys distributed by provinces and territories.
• Manitoba and Saskatchewan discontinued the use of COVID Alert on March 15 and May 29 respectively.
• New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia no longer distribute one-time keys.
• A process is underway to decommission the app on June 10th 2022 (not yet public, responsive line only).