Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government will fund provinces' efforts to test people for COVID-19, track the contacts of those who test positive, and help different jurisidictions share data.
Trudeau says the measures are essential because COVID-19 remains a serious health threat and the economy can't fully recover until Canadians are confident that the novel coronavirus will be contained anywhere new it breaks out.
He says federal contact-tracers are helping public health authorities in Ontario and are ready to make thousands more calls a day when any province asks.
Canada has the capacity to test 60,000 people per day, but has been averaging only about 28,000.