Overview

The Occupational Disease Surveillance System (ODSS) is a unique system that can identify and monitor trends in work-related disease in Ontario. This system was created in 2016 by linking existing provincial health databases with job information in order to study occupational disease and inform prevention activities. The ODSS identifies at-risk groups of workers, and potential hazardous exposures, within the workplace. Findings from the ODSS contribute to our understanding of occupational disease in Ontario, and can support changes to public health practice. Details on the creation of the system and the data sources used are available on the ODSS Data Overview page.

The ODSS can be used to investigate numerous cancers and non-malignant diseases across hundreds of occupation and industry groups. Analyses can be conducted across the overall workforce, or separately for men and women. The system provides a means to examine disease trends and patterns and to detect changes in disease risk over time. Results for a subset of diseases examined using the ODSS are available on this page with many more to be added in the future.

Ongoing activities are funded by the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development and the Ministry of Health. The ODSS project was initially funded by the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development (#14-R-029) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (#1516-HQ-000066). The Public Health Agency of Canada (#1516-HQ-000066) is supporting an additional year of project activities.

Ongoing projects

Surveillance Bulletins and Alerts – The bulletins and alerts provide brief summaries of occupational exposures and disease risks across different industries and occupational groups.

Data to Dissemination – The Occupational Disease Statistics website is a partnership between the Occupational Cancer Research Centre (OCRC) and the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS). This site was created to provide information on risk of disease by industry and occupation groups in Ontario based on data generated by the ODSS.

Opioid-related harms among Ontario Workers – Opioid-related harms among injured workers in Ontario is being monitored through the surveillance system to examine trends of hospitalizations and emergency department visits for opioid poisonings, opioid use disorders, and adverse drug reactions.

COVID-19 surveillance of Ontario Workers – The surveillance system will be used to examine occupational differences in COVID-19 testing, diagnosis, hospitalization rates, and adverse health outcomes among Ontario workers.