Welcome to the Ontario COVID-19 Heterogeneity Project:
How COVID-19 Affects Communities Differently — Tools to Track Changes over Time


Inequities in the burden of COVID-19 observed across Canada suggest individuals in a community may experience different rates of infection (i.e., heterogeneity within community transmission).

The Ontario COVID-19 Heterogeneity Project examines the trajectory and development of the COVID-19 epidemic through measures of mobility (i.e. movement of people at certain times); through socioeconomic determinants of health (e.g. household income) and transmission-related structural factors (e.g. household size, working onsite in essential services); and by geography (i.e., locations in Ontario such as neighbourhoods). When examined, these measures show us that COVID-19 has affected Ontario communities, urban and rural, in different and in many cases, unequal ways.

To understand the unequal burden that COVID-19 has had on communities in Ontario, the COVID-19 Heterogeneity Project Team created a number of interactive tools that provide real-time data on the impact of COVID-19 on communities and those that live in them:
  • Mobility Changes in Ontario - Mobility Tool
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  • Concentration of COVID-19 cases by Socioeconomic and Structural Factors and Geography in the Greater Toronto Area Tool
 
Mobility Changes in Ontario - Mobility Tool
 
 
 
This interactive data tool uses publicly available Google Mobility data to generate graphs displaying overall mobility changes in Ontario. Google typically updates their datasets every 3-5 days, and the new data will contain data points with a 2-3 day lag. The Tool will periodically update the data from Google, but the "Force Refresh" button may also be used if necessary. The graphs can be customized by:
  • Mobility metric as defined by Google (overall, workplaces, retail and recreation, grocery and pharmacy, mass transit location, parks
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  • Public health units
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  • Date range (starting March 1, 2020)
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  • Desired degree of smoothness in the resulting graph
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  • Display of policy changes in each health unit (i.e., entering red zone, lockdown (grey zone), stay at home order)
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  • Use data from all days of the week, or weekdays only
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  • Display of data points overlaid over smoothed lines
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User Guide:     Adobe PDF File  Mobility Changes in Ontario Tool: Quick Reference Guide
 
 
Technical Document:     Adobe PDF File  Mobility Changes in Ontario - Mobility Tool: Technical Document
 
How to cite the Mobility Tool:
Kustra Lab. Mobility Changes in Ontario - Mobility Tool [R Shiny application software]. (Version 1). Toronto: Kustra Lab, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. (2021). [Date accessed]. Retrieved from https://mishra-lab.shinyapps.io/gmapp/
 
 
Heterogeneity in COVID-19 Tool: Exploring Area-level Social and Structural Determinants of Health
 
and Regional Heterogeneity in Ontario
 
 
 
This interactive data tool generates visualizations of the relationships between various social and structural determinants and COVID-19 cases. Our intention is to help users better understand the heterogeneity in the transmission of COVID-19 cases in Ontario. This is a retrospective tool which examines the time period of January 23, 2020 to October 31, 2021. We used individual-level data from the Ontario's Case and Contact Management (CCM+) surveillance system as part of Ontario Modelling Table (REB: University of Toronto Health Sciences Research Ethics Board (39253)) as well as data on social and structural determinant measures from the Statistics Canada 2016 Census. The graphs can be customized by:
  • Geographic region/Public health units
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  • Date range (January 23, 2020, to October 31, 2021)
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  • Area-level Social and Structural Determinants of Health (socio-demographic variables, dwelling-related variables, and occupation-related variables)
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  • Statistical Grouping (Tertile, Quintile)
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  • Daily Diagnosed or Cumulative
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User Guide:     Adobe PDF File  Heterogeneity in COVID-19 Tool - Quick Reference Guide
 
 
Technical Document:     Adobe PDF File  Heterogeneity in COVID-19 Tool - Technical Document
 
How to cite this tool:
Developed by Joshi P*, Darvin D*, Ma H, Yiu K, Mishra S. (*Co-first authors). Mishra Lab. Heterogeneity in COVID-19 Cases by Social and Structural Factors and Geography in Ontario [online application]. 2022. Available from: https://mishra-lab.shinyapps.io/COVID_ON_SDOH/
 
 
 
Contact Us:
Contact for more information or Sign up for New Content alerts: HealthProfiles@smh.ca
 
How to cite this website:
Ontario Community Health Profiles Partnership; www.ontariohealthprofiles.ca; Accessed on: May 24, 2025
 
 
 
Funding Acknowledgement:
 
 
             

We acknowledge the support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
Nous remercions le Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et en génie du Canada (CRSNG) de son soutien.
               

We acknowledge the support of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
Nous reconnaissons le soutien des Instituts de recherche en santé du Canada (IRSC).
               

We acknowledge the support of the St. Michael's Hospital Foundation.
Nous reconnaissons le soutien de la St. Michael's Hospital Foundation.
 

 We acknowledge the support of the St. Dalla Lana School of Public Health.
               

This research was undertaken, in part, thanks to funding from the Canada Research Chairs Program.
 
 
 
 
This website is hosted by Ontario Community Health Profiles Partnership (OCHPP) www.OntarioHealthProfiles.ca, 2025.