The annual antimicrobial resistance (ARO) survey was created in collaboration by Public Health Ontario (PHO) and the Institute for Quality Management in Healthcare (IQMH) to understand current risks to patient safety specific to ARO resistance and improving infection control practices. 

The COVID-19 pandemic exemplified how antimicrobial resistance poses a threat to global public health and identifies the necessity of surveillance programs on AROs to understand the current landscape of resistant organisms.

The ARO survey is administered to all licensed microbiology laboratories and public Ontario hospitals. However, the survey was suspended for one year due to the pandemic.

View the ARO 2020–2021 report.