The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) which was declared by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020. It is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Most cases over the course of the pandemic have been in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta. Confirmed cases have been reported in all of Canada's provinces and territories. Statistics (see below) show that COVID-19 has drastically declined in 2026, and now seems to be less dangerous than influenza.

The virus was confirmed to have reached Canada on January 25, 2020, after an individual who had returned to Toronto from Wuhan, Hubei, China, tested positive. The first case of community transmission in Canada was confirmed in British Columbia on March 5. In March 2020, as cases of community transmission were confirmed, all of Canada's provinces and territories declared states of emergency. Provinces and territories implemented, to varying degrees, school and daycare closures, prohibitions on gatherings, closures of non-essential businesses and restrictions on entry. Canada severely restricted its border access, barring travelers from all countries with some exceptions. The federal Minister of Health invoked the Quarantine Act, introduced following the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak. For the first time in its legislative history, the act was used, legally requiring all travelers (excluding essential workers) returning to the country to self-isolate for 14 days, until rules were changed to accommodate fully vaccinated travelers.

By mid to late summer of 2020, the country saw a steady decline in active cases until the beginning of late summer. In July, the four Atlantic provinces formed the Atlantic Bubble, which allowed unrestricted movement for provincial residents. Through autumn, there was a resurgence of cases in all provinces and territories. On September 23, 2020, Prime Minister Trudeau declared that Canada was experiencing a "second wave" of the virus. New restrictions from provincial governments were put in place once again as cases increased, including variations of regional lockdowns. In late November, the Atlantic Bubble was disbanded because of the second wave. The federal government passed legislation to approve further modified economic aid for businesses and individuals.

Nation-wide cases, hospitalizations and deaths spiked during and after the Christmas and holiday season in December, 2020 and January, 2021. Alarmed by hospital capacity issues, fatalities and new cases, heavy restrictions (such as lockdowns and curfews) were put in place in affected areas (primarily Ontario, Quebec, and Alberta) and across the country. These lockdowns caused active cases to steadily decline, reaching a plateau in active cases in mid-February 2021. During a third wave of the virus, cases began rising across most provinces west of Atlantic Canada in mid-March, prompting further lockdowns and restrictions in the most populous provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Due to a relatively low volume of cases in the Atlantic provinces, the travel-restricted Atlantic Bubble was planned to reopen; however, in late April, the third wave had spread to the Atlantic provinces. In response, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia reinstated travel bans toward the rest of the country.

Following Health Canada's approval of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, and later the mRNA-1273 vaccine developed by Moderna, mass vaccinations began nationwide on December 14, 2020. On February 26, 2021, Health Canada approved the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for use, and on March 5, 2021, they additionally approved the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine for a total of four approved vaccines in the nation. However, most provinces discontinued first doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca by May 12, 2021, while the administration of the Janssen vaccine was determined unnecessary. Canada became one of the most vaccinated countries in the world, with a continually high uptake of the vaccine. Despite high general uptake of the vaccine, cases began to surge particularly amongst the unvaccinated population in provinces like Alberta, which had removed nearly all pandemic restrictions.

Near the end of summer 2021, cases surged across Canada, particularly in British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec and Ontario, described as a "pandemic of the unvaccinated". A July 2021 PHAC epidemiology report said that those who were unvaccinated represented almost 90% of COVID cases reported. This fourth wave led to the reinstatement of pandemic restrictions like mask mandates in provinces such as British Columbia and Alberta. Consequently, vaccine passports were introduced in all provinces and two territories. Federally, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau implemented vaccination requirements for air travel, Via Rail and Rocky Mountaineer trains, and federally regulated workers, effective October 30, 2021.

In January 2022, all of Canada's provinces and territories were experiencing record-level case numbers, primarily driven by the Omicron variant, which caused provincial and territorial governments to reintroduce restrictions surrounding travel and isolation. However, in mid-February active caseloads and hospitalizations began to decrease and towards the end of February 2022, almost all provinces and territories had announced plans to lift restrictions by early March or mid-March 2022, if epidemiology remained favorable. By March 2022, more than 85% of Canadians aged five and over were fully vaccinated.

Background and epidemiology

On January 12, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, reported to the WHO on December 31, 2019.

The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 was much lower than SARS of 2003, but the transmission was significantly greater, with a significant death toll.

COVID-19 pandemic in Canada by province and territory, 6 October 2026, 23:50 UTC Province Population Tests Cases Deaths Per m Modified British Columbia5,722,4576,985,7441,220.8442,20477,2758,3011,450.62026-10-05 Alberta5,122,0558,188,3341,598.6670,737130,9517,1101,388.12026-10-05 Saskatchewan1,282,8992,015,7061,571.2177,083138,0332,1051,640.82026-10-05 Manitoba1,521,8081,880,0851,235.4175,234115,1493,1632,078.42026-10-05 Ontario16,300,84928,566,5191,752.51,789,962109,80819,4771,194.82026-10-05 Quebec9,081,61021,721,2782,391.81,556,684171,41121,8562,406.62026-10-05 New Brunswick886,3601,203,3461,357.6106,414120,0571,1951,348.22026-10-06 Prince Edward Island183,140365,2961,994.659,715326,062161879.12026-10-05 Nova Scotia1,105,5432,363,2792,137.7164,703148,9791,3161,190.42026-10-05} Newfoundland and Labrador553,369835,0811,509.163,575114,8874518152026-10-05 Yukon50,73544,2908735,461107,63849965.82026-10-05 Northwest Territories45,75648,5481,06112,060263,57225New cases not recorded since 2022546.42026-10-05 Nunavut43,41964,3061,481.15,212120,05010 New cases not recorded since 2022230.32026-10-05 N/AN/AN/A13N/A0 N/A 2020 Canada41,900,00074,281,8121,772.85,220,057124,79865,2191,556.52026-10-06

Preparations

On January 1, 2020, the WHO set up the IMST (Incident Management Support Team) across all three levels of the organization: headquarters, regional headquarters and country-level, putting the organization on an emergency footing for dealing with the outbreak.

On January 7, when it appeared that there was a health crisis emerging in Wuhan, Public Health Canada advised travelers to China to avoid contact with animals, noting that they were very carefully monitoring the situation. Still there was no evidence of what caused the illness, or how it spread.

On January 15, the federal government activated its Emergency Operations Centre.

On January 17, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) indicated plans were in progress "to implement signage" in the Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver airports to raise awareness of the virus. An additional health screening question added to the electronic kiosks for passengers arriving from central China. The agency noted the overall risk to Canadians was low, and there were no direct flights from Wuhan to Canada. The CBSA said it would not be, at that time, implementing extra screening measures, but would "monitor the situation closely".

On January 23, the federal Minister of Health, Patty Hajdu, said they were monitoring five or six people for signs of the virus. That same day, the chief public health officer of Canada, Theresa Tam, was a member of the WHO committee that broadcast that it was too early to declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

Initially, Canada faced a shortage of personal protective equipment, as the Trudeau government had reduced PPE funding as a cost-cutting measure in previous years.

Vaccination

Variants of concern On December 26, 2020, Ontario announced that two cases of the B.1.1.7 variant had been found in Durham. On January 8, 2021, the Public Health Agency of Canada announced that the first case of the South African variant had been found in Alberta. On February 8, CTV reported that the first case of the P.1 variant out of Brazil had been detected in Toronto. On April 21, the B.C. Ministry of Health announced that they had seen cases of B.1.617 as early as April 4. On May 14, Canada added B.1.617 (including what is now known as Delta) to its variants of concern. On May 31, 2021, WHO announced that the variant B.1.1.7 was being renamed Alpha, P.1 Gamma, B.1.617.2 Delta and B.1.351 Beta.

Early evidence out of Alberta suggested that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines would continue to be effective against death or hospitalization from the Alpha and Gamma variants. A study in Ontario found that the Pfizer vaccine was 95% effective to prevent hospitalization or death from the Alpha, Beta and Gamma variants 7 days after the second dose. Moderna was 94% effective against Alpha 7 days after the 2nd dose. Moderna appeared to be highly effective against Delta.

A preprint study from epidemiologists David Fisman and Ashleigh Tuite, at the University of Toronto, found that the Delta variant had a 120% greater risk of hospitalization, 287% greater risk of ICU admission and 137% greater risk of death compared to non-variant of concern strains of SARS-COV-2.

Number of cases by different variants (as of December 31, 2021) Variant of concern Number of cases Percentage of all cases Alpha 268,258 39.59% Delta 211,644 31.24% Omicron 174,248 25.72% Gamma 20,979 3.09% Beta 2,416 0.36% Total includedin this data set 677,545 Analysis has been made availableonly for the 13.65% of all 4,964,587 cases Note: * The PHAC's stopped providing updates on variants on December 31, 2021.

Over the five years (2020-2024), five main variants have been recorded, with hundreds of different lineages, sublineages, recombinants, and mutations.

Government response

Federal

Public health The federal government activated its Emergency Operations Centre on January 15, 2020. The federal government's pandemic response was based on two primary documents: the Canadian Pandemic Influenza Preparedness planning guidelines, which outlines risks and measures to address a viral disease, and the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Public Health Response Plan for Biological Events, which includes identifying, tracking, and ensuring rapid access to medical care. By February 27, the response plan was at level 3 (escalated).

On March 18, the federal Minister of Health, Patty Hajdu, announced that the federal government had signed an interim order to speed up access to COVID-19 test kits that would allow provincial labs to increase testing. The test kits were made by Switzerland-based Roche Molecular Systems and Thermo Fisher Scientific.