Download COVID Alert today
COVID Alert is Canada's free exposure notification app. Make sure to open the app once a day. Keep background updates switched on and check them regularly.
Available for iOS and Android
Together, let's limit the spread of COVID-19. COVID Alert is an additional tool to protect yourself and your loved ones.
COVID Alert helps us break the cycle of infection. The app can let other app users know of possible exposures before any symptoms appear.
That way, we can take care of ourselves and protect our communities.
On this page
- Your privacy is protected
- How it works
- Provinces and territories where you can report a diagnosis
- Other provinces and territories
- One part of public health
- How many people are using the app
- Printable digital products and videos for understanding the app
- Digital and printable products to promote the app
- Share your story
- Built in the open
- Contact us
Your privacy is protected
COVID Alert does not use GPS or track your location.
It has no way of knowing:
- your location
- your name or address
- your phone's contacts
- the health information of anyone you're near
Nobody will get any information about you or the time you were near them. Learn more about how COVID Alert protects your privacy.
How it works
- The app uses Bluetooth to exchange random codes with nearby phones.
- Every day, it checks a list of random codes from other users who tell the app they tested positive.
- If you've been near a user who tested positive within the last 14 days, through these random codes, you'll get a notification.
Learn more about how it works.
More about how COVID Alert works
The app runs in the background and will not interrupt your activities.
Whenever you're near someone else with COVID Alert, both phones exchange random codes every 5 minutes.
The random codes change often and cannot be used to identify you.
Watch the video on how the COVID Alert app works.
What's an exposure?
The app estimates how near other app users are by the strength of Bluetooth signals.
An exposure depends on your contact with one or more COVID-19 cases over a 24-hour period.
An exposure is recorded if the contact is:
- within 2 metres
- for 15 minutes or longer
Getting a positive test
If a user is diagnosed with COVID-19, they can choose to upload the random codes their phone sent.
They can also enter details to help narrow down when they were likely most infectious. Those details tell the phone which random codes to upload. If the person chooses not to provide details, the app uploads the random codes from the last 14 days.
The random codes go into a central server. No other information is sent to the server.
Looking for exposures
Every day, whenever it has an Internet connection, your phone will get a list of the random codes from other app users who reported a diagnosis.
If it finds codes that match, the app notifies you that you've been exposed and explains what to do next.
Provinces and territories where you can report a diagnosis
Use COVID Alert to report a COVID-19 diagnosis if you're in:
- Manitoba
- New Brunswick
- Newfoundland and Labrador
- Northwest Territories
- Nova Scotia
- Ontario
- Prince Edward Island
- Quebec
- Saskatchewan
Other provinces and territories
It's still helpful to download COVID Alert even if you can't use it to report a diagnosis. That way, you'll be notified:
- if you come into contact with someone from a reporting province or territory
- when other app users in your area are able to report a diagnosis
One part of public health
- COVID Alert is just one part of the public health effort to limit the spread of COVID-19.
- Follow all public health guidelines in your area.
- Use the app for the duration of the COVID-19 outbreak.
- The app does not replace manual contact tracing by local public health authorities.
- COVID Alert does not replace medical advice. If you get sick, contact your doctor or other healthcare provider.
How many people are using the app
App usage in Canada
January 14, 2021
Number of downloads
6,046,148
Provinces and territories onboard
9
One-time keys used
15,630
Printable digital products and videos for understanding the app
- COVID Alert: Canada's COVID-19 exposure notification app (infographic)
- How the COVID Alert app works (video)
Digital and printable products to promote the app
- Share social media products about the COVID Alert app
- Share printable and video products about the COVID Alert app
Share your story
Did using the app help you make informed choices for yourself or your family? We want to hear from you. Contact us by email with details about your experience.
Built in the open
The Government of Canada is building and continually improving the COVID Alert app in the open.
- COVID Alert mobile app advisory council
- COVID Alert mobile app open source repository
- COVID Alert open source server repository
- COVID Alert portal repository
- Report a vulnerability
- Accessibility statement for COVID Alert
- Privacy assessment for COVID Alert
Contact us
Before you contact us, check the COVID Alert help section.
Phone: 1-833-784-4397
- Hours of operation are from 7 a.m. to midnight EST
- Interpretation service available in more than 200 languages
Teletypewriter (TTY): 1-800-465-7735
- Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time
Email: hc.AlerteCOVIDAlert.sc@canada.ca
Follow the Canadian Digital Service (CDS) on twitter for updates about COVID Alert:
- English: https://twitter.com/CDS_GC
- French: https://twitter.com/SNC_GC
Get COVID Alert
Available for iOS and Android
- Date modified: