Resources
Welcome to the CanCOVID resources page. As an organization committed to open science and dedicated to rapidly mobilizing knowledge to help inform Canada’s COVID‑19 response, we present a list of trusted resources for COVID‑19 evidence and a digital library where you can search across selected collections for relevant evidence.
This is not intended to be an exhaustive list, but an excellent place to start with brief descriptions of what you will find in each collection. You will also see some excellent search tips and suggested search strings from the University of Toronto libraries. Please let us know if you have additional sources to include in this list.
CanCOVID Issue Notes
Access our COVID-related reports
The Canadian COVID‑19 Funded Research Database
Explore our Canadian COVID‑19 Funded Research Database
COVID Trackers
Stay up to date with the most recent COVID‑19 data
Event Summaries
Stay up to date with Presentation Objectives, Key Messages, and a Link to Recording
Quick Links to Trusted Resources
Canadian Organizations
Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) COVID‑19 Reports
CADTH provides evidence for decision makers about the use of technologies (drugs, devices, procedures) in healthcare; here you will find reports specific to COVID-19.
Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) COVID‑19 data and information
CIHI provides data files, reports, and infographics on topics related to COVID‑19 and its impact on Canada’s healthcare system.
Canadian Vaccination Evidence Resource and Exchange Centre (CANVax)
CANVax provides evidence syntheses, short briefs, podcasts, and webinars related to COVID‑19 vaccination decision-making, monitoring and surveillance, vaccine safety and development, program planning and delivery.
CanCOVID Reports
CanCOVID reports are evidence summaries prepared in response to government queries, based on best available evidence with input from the CanCOVID scientific network.
COVID‑19 Evidence Network to Support Decision-Making (COVID-END)
COVID-END is a CIHR-funded network with 50 world leaders in producing syntheses, technology assessments and guidelines. Find access to best available evidence on a full range of COVID‑19 topics.
COVID‑19 Health Data and Evidence Virtual Library
The virtual library is a searchable, living catalogue of national surveillance and research knowledge products about the wider health impacts of COVID‑19 in Canada. It contains products published and/or funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada, Health Canada, Canadian Institute for Health Information, Canadian Institutes of Health Research or Statistics Canada.
COVID‑19 Immunity Task Force (CITF) Research and CITF Research Roundup
A database of funded researchers in various areas of COVID‑19 research, including names, research focus, project title, and study website, if applicable. It also features publications from CITF’s experts, including a brief description of their research findings.
National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) – recommendations and rapid response
NACI presents evidence syntheses grouped by vaccine type, a section indicating current COVID‑19 vaccine statements, prioritization statements, research priorities statement and guidance documents.
Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) – Emerging Science Group (ESG) Evidence Reviews (EN/FR)
PHAC ESG evidence reviews on COVID‑19 prepared through monitoring and review of the emerging evidence on a broad range of public health topics; reports obtained upon request via email request.
Royal Society of Canada (RSC)
The RSC organizes COVID-19-related policy briefings and reports, as well as events, webinars, and activities.
Ryerson Misinformation Dashboard
CanCOVID is collaborating with the Ryerson Social Media Lab at the Ted Rogers School of Management to house and share their COVIDGlobal and COVIDGeo misinformation dashboards, and highlight for researchers how this valuable information might be used in further research and knowledge translation.
Statistics Canada (StatCAN)
Epidemiological data, infographics, and reports related to different aspects of COVID‑19 in Canada. Highlights include COVID‑19 data tables, interactive data visualizations, reports on social and economic impacts, and infographics related to COVID-19.
Provincial Organizations and Groups
Alberta Health Services – COVID‑19 Scientific Advisory Group
Alberta Health Services provides COVID‑19 rapid evidence reviews, guidance, algorithms, policy briefs and infographics for use in various healthcare and public health settings.
(Their page is no longer updated.)
British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC)
COVID‑19 guidance, evidence syntheses and epidemiological data for use by both health professionals, employers and businesses and the public.
Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) (EN/FR)
Evidence syntheses and guidance documents related to a variety of topics including COVID-19.
Newfoundland & Labrador Centre for Applied Health Sciences
Researchers at the Newfoundland & Labrador Centre for Applied Health Research are pleased to provide COVID‑19 Quick Response Reports on priority topics that have been submitted by provincial health system partners
Ontario Evidence Synthesis Network (ESN)
The ESN is a collaboration amongst evidence synthesis producers in Ontario and some national organizations; provides research syntheses and summaries in response to queries from decision makers. Briefing Note categories: clinical management, economic and social responses, health system arrangements and public health measures.
Ontario Ministry of Health, Research And Evaluation Branch (RAEB)
COVID‑19 guidance and evidence syntheses including resources related to the Ontario health sector, long-term care homes and retirement homes, symptoms, screening and testing, case and contact management, mental health, and guidance for other sectors.
Ontario Science Advisory Table
COVID‑19 science briefs on four main topics: epidemiology, public health and implementation, health equity and social determinants of health, infectious diseases and clinical care, and public policy and economic impact. Includes a dashboard to display the current status of COVID‑19 in Ontario.
(Their page is no longer updated.)
Public Health Ontario (PHO) – COVID‑19 Homepage
Public Health Ontario is an agency of the Government of Ontario dedicated to protecting and promoting the health of all Ontarians and reducing inequities in health. Public Health Ontario links public health practitioners, front-line health workers and researchers to the best scientific intelligence and knowledge from around the world.
Public Health Ontario (PHO) – Scans
A daily scan of resources from public health agencies, research institutes, guidelines and technical documents, general guidelines, guidelines for health sectors and guidelines for the Ontario public health community.
Réseau Québécois COVID – Pandémie (FR)
COVID‑19 evidence syntheses in French, as well as future events and webinars on a variety of topics.
Selected International Organizations and Groups
Cochrane Library – Cochrane Reviews
Systematic reviews on more than 30 topics with subtopics including child health, infectious disease, complementary & alternative medicine, heart and circulation, etc.
Emergency Care Research Institute (ECRI) COVID‑19 Resource Center
A United States evidence-based practice center – provides resources and guidance on vaccines, laboratories, devices, clinical guidelines, and clinical evidence assessments.
Evidence Aid: Coronavirus
A global resource of plain language summaries (in multiple languages) of COVID‑19 systematic reviews on a wide range of topics. Oriented to support humanitarian workers.
International Database of GRADE-Based Guidelines (BIGG)
An international database of COVID‑19 guidelines developed using a systematic approach (GRADE) to gathering and synthesizing evidence and to developing recommendations, searchable by main subject, publication type, institution, publication country, language, journal, and year.
Joanna Briggs Institute: COVID‑19 Special Collection
A United States-based collection of evidence-based resources for health professionals and health organizations, COVID‑19 rapid reviews, and supplementary evidence-based healthcare resources.
NICE: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
United Kingdom national guidance, recommendations, and critical assessment of evidence on specific topics to guide decisions in health, public health, and social care related to COVID-19.
Norwegian Institute of Public Health – Live Map
A living map on global COVID‑19 evidence that displays systematic reviews, studies, and modelling by topic type and by population type, COVID‑19 status, health status, age group, occupation, gender, and social and economic status.
Norwegian Institute of Public Health – Evidence Syntheses
A searchable collection of COVID‑19 evidence, including living systematic reviews, from the Institute’s Science Program on COVID-19.
Public Health England
An agency of the UK government providing information on COVID-related rules, guidance, statistics and research.
UK Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE)
Scientific advisory group established January 2020; provides scientific and technical advice to support government decision makers – see collection of reports.
United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention
The United States CDC webpage provides COVID‑19 guidance documents that are searchable by topic and by audience type.
World Health Organization COVID‑19 Global Literature
A database of global COVID‑19 literature searchable by main subject, full-text availability, type of study, language, journal, clinical aspect, and year.
Interactive Research Tools
COVID‑19 Recommendation Map
A CIHR-funded living recommendations map providing best available clinical, public health and health policy recommendations from key international organizations; includes contextualization for local, regional, and national decision-making.
SeroTracker
An interactive map that provides information on seroprevalence systematic reviews, preprints, government reports and media articles. It also provides a tracker for the number of antibody tests administered, number of seroprevalence estimates and countries included.
COVID‑19 Primer
This United States-based interactive resource provides evidence syntheses, original papers, researchers, and daily briefings on COVID‑19 topics. It uses natural language processing algorithms to provide trends, topics, and access to the latest research.
Ryerson Misinformation Dashboard
This tool tracks and visualizes debunked coronavirus claims from trusted fact-checkers around the world; includes User Guide for researchers. CanCOVID offers exemplars of how the data can be used.
Quick Links to the Published Literature
Guides to Help Search the Literature
The University of Toronto Library have developed several guides on how to search the COVID‑19 literature and offer pre-formulated search strings.