The Prime Minister has confirmed there will be a mobile contact tracing app for COVID-19. The use of the app will be completely voluntary and will notify users if they have been in close contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19.
Trudeau said the app will be completely voluntary but will work best when more people have it, “It will be up to individual Canadians to decide whether to download the app or not. The app will be most effective when as many people as possible have it.”
The app will be tested in Ontario but other provinces including British Columbia are working with the federal government. Justin Trudeau says it will be available to the rest of the country in the coming weeks. Ontario Premier Doug Ford will give more details on the province’s tracking app this afternoon during his daily briefing. Trudeau thanked Ford and the Ontario government for their leadership.
Trudeau says the app is a “crucial” public health measure as Canada begins to reopen and people move around more freely.
Trudeau says the app is something that can be downloaded, works in your phone’s background, and requires the user to do nothing else, “This is an app that you can download and forget about.”
