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
    •  
  • 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
    •  
  • Public health units
    •  
  • Date range (starting March 1, 2020)
    •  
  • Desired degree of smoothness in the resulting graph
    •  
  • Display of policy changes in each health unit (i.e., entering red zone, lockdown (grey zone), stay at home order)
    •  
  • Use data from all days of the week, or weekdays only
    •  
  • Display of data points overlaid over smoothed lines
    •  
 
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/
 
 
Coming Soon:
Concentration of COVID-19 cases by Social and Structural Factors and Geography in the Greater
 
Toronto Area Tool
 
 
 
An additional data tool is in development. The tool will help to visualize inequities in the distribution of COVID-19 cases in neighbourhoods by social and structural factors, by individual Public Health Units. The tool will present epidemic curves by neighbourhood-level social and structural factors.
 
 
 
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: March 27, 2023
 
 
 
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, 2023.