uOttawa’s Assessment Centre is open

A reminder that uOttawa's own COVID-19 Assessment Centre is now open at the Lees Campus.

Testing is only available to currently enrolled students, faculty and staff of the University and appointments can be booked online for a 72-hour time period.

The uOttawa Assessment Centre’s goal is to alleviate some of the pressure on other sites in the National Capital Region while servicing our university community. The Centre is operated in partnership with Ontario Partners in Health and is under the medical direction of Dr. Danielle Gervais.

Visit the “Assessment Centre” tab on this page for details.

Download the COVID Alert App

All faculty, students and staff are encouraged to download the Government of Canada’s COVID Alert app. This exposure notification app will significantly reduce the chances of an outbreak of COVID-19 at uOttawa and in your community this fall

Preparation for the fall semester continues

The University of Ottawa continues to prepare for the fall semester and implement measures to ensure that the community can resume academic and research activities, while respecting public health directives. Safeguarding the health and safety of University of Ottawa faculty, students and staff is our top priority.

In-Person courses

While the vast majority of courses will be taught online, a certain number of classes will be provided in person because of the particular subject matter. It is estimated that about 5,000 students will be taking courses that have an in-person component. The University notified students who will have the option to come to campus to attend in-person courses and provided them with information about what to expect. The University is working diligently to identify solutions that will accommodate students’ needs without compromising the safety and wellbeing of our community. Faculties are making efforts to come up with alternatives for students who choose not to attend in-person courses.

The Student Academic Success Service (SASS) team has also been looking at innovative solutions to help support student learning at a distance. In fact, every unit on campus is working very hard to find creative ways to ensure an outstanding student experience, notwithstanding the current circumstances.

Cleaning

The University has substantially increased the cleaning of our facilities, in alignment with public health directives. To be on campus, students, faculty and staff are required to complete online COVID-19 training and respect safety measures such as wearing a mask in all indoor common areas and following physical distance guidelines.

Research mobilization

All faculties have received approval for their plans for a progressive return to campus. About two-third of our research activities have resumed and the University anticipates that the level of activities will continue to increase as we begin the new term.

Domestic and international travel

To protect the health and safety of uOttawa’s community, all international travel for University-related work, including fieldwork (students, faculty, staff and postdocs) is not permitted until at least September 1. The decision will be revisited in the coming days and an update will be communicated to the University community.

Domestic travel and off-campus activities are permitted, as long as they are carried out in accordance with the advice of the relevant public health agencies and the directives in effect at the location and site-host where the activities occur. The Office of Risk Management has a useful document to help plan and prepare for off-campus activities (PDF).