FluWatchers

How do you feel today?

FluWatchers is a volunteer program that helps track the activity of common viruses like flu, RSV and COVID-19 in Canada.

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About FluWatchers

The FluWatchers program is an important part of FluWatch, a national program that gathers and reports information on flu activity across Canada.

Once you sign up, you'll receive an email once a week asking if you had a cough or fever in the previous week. This serves as an early warning sign for respiratory illness activity, which helps public health officials predict and respond to potential outbreaks.

It only takes about 15 seconds to complete through our secure portal and your answers are anonymous.

We follow the rules of the Privacy Act when collecting information from you. This means that we collect the minimum amount of information we need to efficiently and effectively monitor flu activity in Canada.

Learn more:

Why FluWatchers needs you

Tracking diseases usually requires a person to see a health care provider and get tested. This method excludes a lot of people from our data, since not everyone who feels sick sees a health care providerand gets tested.

The FluWatchers program can capture symptom and testing information on everyone. This allows us to get a better sense of illness levels in the community.

You can help public health officials identify where and when viruses like flu and COVID-19 may be circulating. Just answer a few quick health-related questions each week, whether you're feeling sick or healthy.

Anyone can be a FluWatcher, and you can report on behalf of your household too. As the number of participants increases in your area, so does the accuracy of the data. That's why we need more volunteer FluWatchers across Canada.

Sign up to be a FluWatcher

Data and reports

Contact us

Contact us to:

  • get more information
  • share comments or concerns
  • unsubscribe from the program

Email: fluwatchers-actiongrippe@phac-aspc.gc.ca

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