Additional Announcements

Premier Doug Ford, joined by Minister of Labour Training, and Skills Development, Monte McNaughton, visited EllisDon’s Waterfront Innovation Centre project in Toronto today, where EllisDon has implemented the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test Pilot Project. EllisDon has been working jointly with the Ministries of Health and Labour, Training and Skills Development to voluntarily test workers on-site, beginning in December 2020.

Further Details

Ontario Announces Investment in Wearable Contact Tracing Technology

Today, the Ontario government announced an investment of $2.5 million from the Ontario Together Fund to accelerate the development of Facedrive Inc.’s TraceSCAN technology. This wearable contact tracing technology alerts wearers within a workplace who have been in close contact with an individual who has tested positive for COVID-19.

TraceSCAN can track staff exposure to COVID-19 without GPS information, as the technology communicates with other TraceSCAN devices worn by employees in a workplace setting. Devices beep to alert users who are less than six feet apart.

If an employee in a workplace using TraceSCAN reports a positive COVID-19 result, human resources or health and safety officials can access an online dashboard to determine who the employee has come into contact with, and send exposure notifications. Contact tracing is simplified as contacts within a six foot range have already been recorded.

TraceSCAN technology is intended to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in workplace settings where smartphone use is limited, including airlines, schools, construction sites, and long-term care homes. The technology has already been deployed in pilot projects with Air Canada, LiUNA, and Waywayseecappo First Nation.

As a result of this investment, Facedrive anticipates that approximately 150,000 TraceSCAN devices will be manufactured, creating 68 new jobs.