Detect changes in neurological and psychiatric symptoms faster, more easily, and more objectively through speech with the help of natural language processing and artificial intelligence.
Work with us
Analysis of spontaneous speech data elicited through Cookie Theft picture description (1-5 minute samples) from 240 people probable AD category and 233 healthy controls. Linguistic and acoustic variables used to train a machine learning classifier to distinguish between the groups, with 82% accuracy.
Fraser, K. C., Meltzer, J. A., & Rudzicz, F. (2016). Linguistic features identify Alzheimer’s disease in narrative speech. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 49(2), 407-422.
A temporal Bayes network trained on 182 lexicosyntactic, 210 acoustic, and 85 semantic features extracted from 393 spontaneous speech samples elicited through Cookie Theft picture description can predict MMSE scores with a mean absolute error of 3.8, comparable to within-subject interrater (clinician) standard deviation of 3.9 to 4.8.
Yancheva, M., Fraser, K., & Rudzicz, F. (2015). Using Linguistic Features Longitudinally to Predict Clinical Scores for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias.
Syntactic and semantic features were automatically extracted from transcriptions of narrative speech for three groups: semantic dementia (SD), progressive nonfluent aphasia (PNFA), and healthy controls. Machine learning classifiers trained on these features were able to distinguish between the three participant groups with up to 100% accuracy.
Fraser, K.C., Meltzer, J.A., Graham, N.L., Leonard, C., Hirst, G., Black, S.E., & Rochon, E. (2014). Automated classification of primary progressive aphasia subtypes from narrative speech transcripts. Cortex, 55, 43-60.Drug development in neuroscience is hampered by insensitive clinical scales which may not detect subtle changes in symptoms. By extracting over 550 features of speech and language, Winterlight Labs’ technology can measure fine-grained changes that traditional assessments cannot. Our algorithms then use these features to classify heterogeneous disease populations into subgroups, track change over time, and detect response to treatment. Winterlight’s speech assessment is deployed in a dozen clinical studies spanning Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.
Traditional endpoints are complex, stressful for patients, require specialized training to administer consistently and are challenging to deliver remotely. Our technology is flexible and simple to use. It can be administered by research staff in traditional clinic settings, while also serving as a higher frequency, digital patient reported outcome (PRO) in decentralized trial designs.
The assessment can be completed objectively across patients and administrators. Standard cognitive assessments include components which are subjectively scored and often too coarse. We analyze hundreds of linguistic cues and vocal biomarkers to detect Alzheimer’s disease and other conditions with accuracies between 82% and 100%, as reported in our peer-reviewed academic studies.
Our approach goes beyond analyzing the acoustic properties of speech, and also includes the linguistic components of speech, such as word choice, sentence structure, and coherence of ideas to produce a set of over 550 variables. These variables can be grouped into composite metrics such as word-finding difficulty, syntactic complexity, lexical richness, discourse mapping and more.
We recognize that every clinical development program is unique and so we offer different ways to work with Winterlight as part of your clinical research program. We have developed our own Winterlight Assessment App with customizable tasks that can be used to collect speech data throughout the study, or we can integrate into existing data collection tools via API. We also have the capability to retrospectively analyze data that has been previously collected by other means.
Tang S.X., Spilka M.J., John M., Birnbaum M.L., Saito E., Berretta S.A., Behbehani L.M., Liberman M.Y., Malhotra A.K., Kane J.M., Simpson W. (2025)
NPP—Digital Psychiatry and Neuroscience.
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Spilka M.J., Robin J., Xu M., Tang S.X. (2025)
Schizophrenia International Research Society (SIRS) 2025 Annual Congress.
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Bloom P.P., Fisher C.J., Tedesco N., Kamdar N., Garrido-Trevino L., Robin J., Asrani S.K., Lok A.S. (2024)
Hepatology.
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van den Berg R., de Boer C., Zwan M.D., Jutten R.J., van Liere M., van de Glind M-C.A.B.J., Dubbelman M.A., Schlüter L.M., van Harten A.C., Teunissen C.E., van de Giessen E., Barkhof F., Collij L.E., Robin J., Simpson W., Harrison J.E., van der Flier W.M., Sikkes S.A.M. (2024)
Alzheimer's Research & Therapy.
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Simpson W., Spilka M., Xu M., Robin J. (2024)
Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC).
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Spilka M., Xu M., Toth B., Hashemifar S., Amora R., Robin J., Teng E., Monteiro C., Simpson W. (2024)
Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC).
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Spilka M.J., Robin J., Nikzad A.H., Behbehani L., Berretta S., Xu M., Kane J.M., Simpson W., Tang S.X. (2024)
PsyArXiv.
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Spilka M.J., Xu M., Tang S.X., Behbehani L., Robin J., Simpson W. (2024)
American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology (ASCP) 2024 Annual Meeting.
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Spilka M., Yeung A., Xu M., Jebanesan B., Khan W., Ahmed S., Simpson W., Robin J., Naeem F. (2024)
Schizophrenia International Research Society 2024 Annual Congress.
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Gumus M., Koo M., Studzinski C.M., Bhan A., Robin J., Black S.E. (2024)
Frontiers in Neurology.
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Sorinas J., Huynh M.T.D., Hannesdottir K., Robin J., Simpson W., Coello N., Caputo A., Riviere M.-E., Curcic J. (2024)
International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases and related neurological disorders (AD/PD 2024).
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Newsome R.N., Kindellan R., Fidalgo C., Simpson W. (2024)
International Society for CNS Clinical Trials and Methodology (ISCTM) 20th Annual Meeting.
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Wei H.T., Kulzhabayeva D., Erceg L., Robin J., Hu Y.Z., Chignell M., Meltzer J.A. (2024)
Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition.
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Simmatis L., Robin J., Pommée T., McKinlay S., Sran R., Taati N., Truong J., Koyani B., Yunusova Y. (2023)
Digital Health.
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Novikova J. (2023)
GenBench at EMNLP (Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing) International Conference.
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Spilka M., Xu M., Robin J., Simpson W. (2023)
Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD) Conference.
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Robin J., Xu M., Kaufman L., Simpson W., McCaughey S., Tatton N., Wolfus C., Ward M. (2023)
Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology.
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Simmatis L., Robin J., Spilka M., Yunusova Y. (2023)
22nd Annual Meeting of the Northeast ALS Consortium.
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Tröger J., Baltes J., Baykara E., Kasper E., Kring M., Linz N., Robin J., Schäfer S., Schneider A., Hermann A. (2023)
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration.
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Gumus M., Koo M., Bhan A., Robin J., Black S.E. (2023)
Alzheimer's Association International Conference.
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van den Berg R.L., Alzheimer Center Amsterdam (2023)
Alzheimer's Association International Conference.
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Robin J., Xu M., Balagopalan A., Novikova J., Kahn L., Oday A., Hejrati M., Hashemifar S., Negahdar M., Simpson W., Teng E. (2023)
Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring.
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Spilka M.J., Xu M., Robin J., Simpson W. (2023)
American Society for Clinical Psychopharmacology (ASCP) Meeting.
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Spilka M.J., Robin J., Nikzad A., Behbehani L., Beretta S., Xu M., Simpson W., Tang S.X. (2023)
Schizophrenia International Research Society.
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Tang S.X., Spilka M.J., Berretta S., Behbehani L., Birnbaum M., Saito E., Costakis A., Robin J., John M., Liberman M., Simpson B., Kane J.M. (2023)
Schizophrenia International Research Society.
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Simmatis L., Robin J., Yunusova Y. (2023)
International Conference on Aging, Innovation, and Rehabilitation.
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Spilka M., Yeung A., Xu M., Jebanesan B., Khan W., Ahmed S., Simpson W., Robin J., Naeem F. (2023)
Society of Biological Psychiatry.
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de Azevedo Cardoso T., Rakovski C., Kapczinski F., Simpson W., Robin J. (2023)
Society of Biological Psychiatry.
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Sorinas J., Robin J., Simpson W., Curcic J., Hannesdottir K. (2023)
International Conference on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases (ADPD).
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Simmatis L.E.R., Robin J., Truong J., Pommee T., Koyani B., Yunusova Y. (2023)
International Society for CNS Clinical Trials and Methodology.
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Kindellan R., Newsome R., Fidalgo C., Robin J. (2023)
International Society for CNS Clinical Trials and Methodology.
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Simmatis L., Robin J., Pommee T., Khoyani B., Yunusova Y. (2022)
33rd International Symposium on ALS/MND.
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Kindellan, R., Sirotkin, S., Xu, M., Fidalgo, C., Simpson, W., Robin, J. (2022)
Clinical Trials in Alzheimer's Disease.
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Tasnim, M., Novikova, J. (2022)
IEEE International Conference on Machine Learning and Applications (ICMLA).
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Bloom P.P., Robin J., Lok A.S.F. (2022)
American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases: The Liver Meeting.
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Kindellan R., Xu M., Ruan J., Sirotkin S., Robin J. (2022)
International Society for CNS Clinical Trials and Methodology.
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Ehghaghi, M., Rudzicz, F., Novikova, J. (2022)
COLING Workshop: The 8th Workshop on Noisy User-generated Text (W-NUT).
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Curcic J., Vallejo V., Sorinas J., Sverdlov O., Praestgaard J., Piksa M., Deurinck M., Erdemli G., Bugler M., Tarnanas I., Taptiklis N., Cormack F., Anker R., Masse F., Souillard-Mandar W., Intrator N., Molcho L., Madero E., Bott N., Chambers M., Tamory J., Shulz M., Fernandez G., Simpson W., Robin J., Snaedal JG., Cha J., Hannesdottir K. (2022)
JMIR Research Protocols.
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Ehghaghi, M., Novikova, J., Sett, A., Hejrati, M., Robin, J., Teng, E., Hashemifar, S. (2022)
Applications of Medical AI (AMAI).
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Robin J., Xu M., Balagopalan A., Novikova J., Kahn L., Oday A., Hejrati M., Hashemifar S., Negahdar M., Simpson W., Teng E. (2022)
Alzheimer's Association International Conference.
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Teferra B.G., Borwein S., DeSouza D.D., Simpson W., Rheault L., Rose J. (2022)
JMIR Mental Health.
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Nikzad A.H., Cong Y., Berretta S., Hansel K., Cho S., Pradhan S., Behbehani L., DeSouza D.D., Liberman M.Y., Tang S.X. (2022)
Schizophrenia.
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DeSouza D.D., Gumus M., Xu M., Fidalgo C., Simpson W., Robin J. (2022)
Society of Biological Psychiatry (SOBP) Annual Meeting.
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Tang S.X., DeSouza D.D., Berretta S., John M., Cong Y., Birnbaum M.L., Costakis A., Saito E., Kane J., Simpson B. (2022)
Schizophrenia International Research Society.
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Robin J., Xu M., Kaufman L.D., Simpson W., McCaughey S., Wolfus C., Jackson S., Ward M. (2022)
American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting.
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Robin J., Xu M., Balagopalan A., Novikova J., Hashemifar S., Oday A., Kahn L., Hejrati M., Amora R., Bohorquez S.S., Simpson W., Teng E. (2022)
Alzheimer's & Parkinson's Diseases Conference.
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DeSouza D.D., Gumus M., Fidalgo C., Simpson W., Robin J. (2022)
International Society for CNS Clinical Trials and Methodology.
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Spencer K.A., Robin J., Xu M., Rose M.K., Bialystok E., Meltzer J.A. (2021)
Alzheimer's Association International Conference.
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Robin J., Xu M., DeSouza D.D., Gupta A.S., Kaufman L.D., Simpson W. (2021)
Alzheimer's Association International Conference.
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Bloom P.P., Robin J., Xu M., Arvind A., Daidone M., Gupta A., Chung R.T. (2021)
The American Journal of Gastroenterology.
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Yeung A., Iaboni A., Rochon E., Lavoie M., Santiago C., Yancheva M., Novikova J., Xu M., Robin J., Kaufman L.D., Mostafa F. (2021)
Alzheimer's Research & Therapy.
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DeSouza D., Xu M., Fidalgo C., Robin J., Simpson B. (2021)
Society of Biological Psychiatry (SOBP) Annual Meeting.
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Balagopalan A., Eyre B., Robin J., Rudzicz F., Novikova J. (2021)
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.
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Robin J., Xu M., Simpson W. (2021)
International Society for CNS Clinical Trials and Methodology.
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Robin J., Xu M., Simpson W., Novikova J. (2021)
International Society for CNS Clinical Trials and Methodology.
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Robin J., Xu M., Kaufman L.D., Hagey M., Paul R., Siddiqui O., Ward M., Simpson W. (2020)
Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease.
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Robin J., Harrison J.E., Kaufman L.D., Rudzicz F., Simpson W., Yancheva M. (2020)
Digital Biomarkers, 99–108.
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Eyre B., Balagopalan A., Novikova J. (2020)
W-NUT Workshop on Noisy User-generated Text at EMNLP 2020.
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Bloom P.P., Arvind A., Daidone M., Robin J., Xu M., Gupta A.S., Chung R.T. (2020)
American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases: The Liver Meeting.
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Fidalgo C., Xu M., Balagopalan A., Robin J., Kaufman L.D., Simpson W. (2020)
International Society for CNS Clinical Trials and Methodology.
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Yeung A., Iaboni A., Rochon E., Lavoie M., Santiago C., Yancheva M., Novikova J., Xu M., Robin J., Kaufman L.D., Mostafa F. (2020)
Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.
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Robin J., Novikova J., Sirotkin S., Yancheva M., Kaufman L.D., Simpson W. (2020)
Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.
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Robin J., Xu M., Kaufman L.D., Simpson W. (2020)
Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.
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Simpson W., Kaufman L.D., Balagopalan A., Khan N.C., Gupta A.S. (2020)
Ataxia Investigators Meeting.
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Robin J., Simpson W., Kaufman L.D. (2020)
International Society for CNS Clinical Trials and Methodology.
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Eyre B., Balagopalan A., Novikova J. (2019)
Machine Learning for Health Workshop at NeurIPS 2019.
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Kaufman L.D., Balagopalan A., Novikova J., Mostafa F. (2019)
Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease.
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Balagopalan A., Kaufman L.D., Novikova J., Siddiqui O., Paul R., Ward M., Simpson W. (2019)
Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease.
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Balagopalan A., Novikova J., McDermott M. B. A., Nestor B., Naumann T., Ghassemi M. (2019)
Machine Learning for Health Workshop at NeurIPS 2019.
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Simpson W., Balagopalan A., Kaufman L.D., Yancheva M. (2019)
Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease.
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Novikova J., Balagopalan A., Shkaruta K., Rudzicz F. (2019)
W-NUT Workshop on Noisy User-generated Text at EMNLP 2019.
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Simpson W., Balagopalan A., Kaufman L.D., Yeung A., Butler A (2019)
International Society for CNS Clinical Trials and Methodology.
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Simpson W., Kaufman L.D., Detke M., Lynch S., Butler A., Dominy A. (2019)
Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.
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Simpson W., Kaufman L.D., Balagopalan A., Novikova J. (2019)
Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.
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Balagopalan A., Shkaruta K., Novikova J. (2019)
W-NUT Workshop on Noisy User-generated Text at EMNLP 2020.
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Balagopalan A., Novikova J., Rudzicz F., Ghassemi M. (2018)
Machine Learning for Health Workshop at NeurIPS 2018.
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Zhu Z., Novikova J., Rudzicz F. (2018)
IRASL, Interpretability and Robustness in Audio, Speech and Language Workshop at NeurIPS 2018.
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Pou-Prom C., Rudzicz F. (2018)
Proceedings of Empirical Methods in Natural Languages Processing 2018.
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Kokkinakis D., Lundholm Fors K., Fraser K.C., Nordlund A. (2018)
Proceedings of the 11th edition of the Language Resources and Evaluation Conference (LREC). Miyazaki, Japan.
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Chinaei H., Danks A, Mehta T., Chan-Currie L., Lin H., Rudzicz F. (2017)
Computational Linguistics, 43(2):377-406.
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Yancheva, M., Rudzicz, F. (2016)
Proceedings of the 54th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics (Volume 1: Long Papers).
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Winterlight Labs
100 King Street West
1 First Canadian
Place
Suite 6200, P.O. Box 50
Toronto ON M5X 1B8