Hepatitis C in Canada: 2021 surveillance data update

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Organization: Public Health Agency of Canada
Type: Infographic
Date published: 2023-12-20

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on reported hepatitis C case counts and rates in 2020 and 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic affected the demand for and access to services related to sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections, including testing. This likely contributed to fewer reported cases of hepatitis C casesFootnote 1. As parts of the country experienced various levels of disruptions due to COVID-19 during 2020 and 2021, comparisons of hepatitis C case counts and rates between the provinces and territories may also be inaccurate.

Hepatitis C

In 2021, 7,535 cases of hepatitis C (acute, chronic and unspecified combined) were reported from all 13 provinces and territories for a rate of 19.7 cases per 100,000 people living in Canada.

Figure 1 shows the number and rates of reported hepatitis C from 2012 to 2021. The trends in this figure are described below:

Note: Hepatitis C reporting differed by province and territory from 2012 to 2021. See Table 6 for provincial and territorial hepatitis C reporting patterns.

Reported hepatitis C case counts and rates by age group and sex in Canada

Figure 1 and Table 1 show the number and rates of reported hepatitis C overall and by sex from 2012 to 2021. Table 2 summarizes the number of cases, rates and proportions of hepatitis C by age group and sex reported in 2021. The trends in this figure and in this table are described below:

Figure 1. Number of reported cases and rates of hepatitis C overall and by sex in Canada, 2012 to 2021
Figure 1. Text version below.
Figure 1 – Text description
Table 1. Number of reported cases and rates of hepatitis C overall and by sex in Canada, 2012 to 2021
Year Total cases Male cases Female cases Total rate
(per 100,000 population of Canada)
Male rate
(per 100,000 males)
Female rate
(per 100,000 females)
2012 10,205 6,345 3,767 29.4 36.9 21.5
2013 10,366 6,527 3,751 29.5 37.5 21.2
2014 10,496 6,603 3,829 29.6 37.6 21.4
2015 10,920 6,767 4,088 30.6 38.2 22.7
2016 11,338 7,081 4,235 31.4 39.5 23.3
2017 11,837 7,215 4,565 32.4 39.8 24.8
2018 12,572 7,671 4,856 33.9 41.7 26.0
2019 11,400 6,988 4,368 30.3 37.4 23.1
2020 7,380 4,508 2,840 19.4 23.9 14.9
2021 7,535 4,683 2,825 19.7 24.6 14.7

National annual hepatitis C rates were calculated using the number of hepatitis C cases (including acute, chronic and unspecified) reported to the Canadian Notifiable Disease Surveillance System as numerators and Statistics Canada July 2022 yearly population estimates as denominators. The "total" case count and rate include all males, females and unspecified sex. Hepatitis C reporting differed by province and territory from 2012 to 2021 (see Table 6 for provincial and territorial hepatitis C reporting patterns).

Figure 2. Rates of reported hepatitis C cases by age group and sex in Canada, 2021
Figure 2. Text version below.
Figure 2 – Text description
Table 2. Number of reported cases, rates and proportion of hepatitis C by age group and sex in Canada, 2021
Age group (years) Males Females Total
Cases (n) Rate (per 100,000 males) Proportion of all male cases Cases (n) Rate (per 100,000 females) Proportion of all female cases Cases (n) Rate (per 100,000 population) Proportion of all reported cases
<15 21 0.7 0.4% 24 0.8 0.8% 45 0.7 0.6%
15 to 19 20 1.9 0.4% 59 5.9 2.1% 79 3.8 1.0%
20 to 24 165 12.9 3.5% 191 16.3 6.8% 359 14.7 4.8%
25 to 29 520 38.1 11.1% 426 33.5 15.1% 951 36.1 12.6%
30 to 39 1,206 44.5 25.8% 758 28.6 26.8% 1,970 36.8 26.1%
40 to 59 1,636 32.9 34.9% 792 15.7 28.0% 2,434 24.3 32.3%
>60 1,065 23.4 22.7% 524 10.2 18.5% 1,593 16.4 21.1%

National reported hepatitis C rates by age group and sex in 2021 were calculated using the number of hepatitis C cases reported to the Canadian Notifiable Disease Surveillance System as numerators and Statistics Canada July 2022, 2021 population estimates as denominators. The "total" case count and rate include all males, females and unspecified sex. There were 27 reported hepatitis C cases of unspecified sex reported in 2021.

Reported hepatitis C case counts and rates by province and territory in Canada

In 2021, the national reported hepatitis C rate was 19.7 cases per 100,000 population. Provinces and territories that had rates of reported hepatitis C above the national rate included:

In 2021, provinces and territories with rates of reported hepatitis C below the national rate included:

Caution should be used when comparing rates across provinces and territories. Reported rates of hepatitis C may be inflated in provinces and territories with a relatively small population size. To contextualize rates, it is important to look at the case counts per province and territory (Table 4).

In 2021, Ontario had the greatest proportion of reported hepatitis C cases in Canada (3,019 cases; 40.0%), followed by British Columbia (1,363 cases; 18.1%) and Quebec (805 cases; 10.7%).

Reported acute hepatitis C case counts and rates in Canada

Reported acute hepatitis C case counts and rates by age group and sex group in Canada

Hepatitis C public health messaging

Hepatitis C continues to be a public health concern

Appendix A: Data tables corresponding to described hepatitis C information

Table 3. Number of reported cases and rates of reported hepatitis C overall and by infection status, 2021
Hepatitis C infection status Number of cases Rate per 100,000 population
AcuteFootnote 2 209 1.0
ChronicFootnote 3 2,026 16.4
UnspecifiedFootnote 4 5,300 16.1
Total 7,535 19.7

National rates of reported acute, chronic and unspecified hepatitis C were calculated using the number of acute, chronic and unspecified hepatitis C cases reported to the Canadian Notifiable Disease Surveillance System as numerators and Statistics Canada July 2022, 2021 population estimates as denominators.

Table 4. Number of reported cases, rates and proportion of hepatitis C cases by province and territory, 2021
Jurisdiction Cases (n) Rate (per 100,000 population) Proportion of all reported hepatitis C cases
Canada 7,535 19.7 100.0%
British Columbia 1,363 26.2 18.1%
Alberta 653 14.7 8.7%
Saskatchewan 452 38.3 6.0%
Manitoba 589 42.3 7.8%
Ontario 3,019 20.4 40.1%
Quebec 805 9.4 10.7%
New Brunswick 181 22.9 2.4%
Nova Scotia 274 27.6 3.6%
Newfoundland and Labrador 155 29.8 2.1%
Prince Edward Island 27 16.4 0.4%
Yukon DNS DNS DNS
Northwest Territories DNS DNS DNS
Nunavut 7 17.6 0.1%

Provincial and territorial 2021 hepatitis C rates were calculated using the number of hepatitis C cases reported to the Canadian Notifiable Disease Surveillance System as numerators and Statistics Canada July 2021 and 2022 population estimates as denominators.

DNS: Data not shown to reduce the risk of identifying individuals

Table 5. Number of reported cases, rates and proportion of acute hepatitis C by age group and sex in Canada, 2021
Age group (years) Males Females Total
Cases (n) Rate (per 100,000 males) Proportion of all male cases Cases (n) Rate (per 100,000 females) Proportion of all female cases Cases (n) Rate (per 100,000 population) Proportion of all reported cases
<15 0 0 0% 0 0 0% 0 0 0%
15 to 19 0 0 0% 5 0.9 5.1% 5 0.5 2.4%
20 to 24 9 1.4 8.3% 6 1.0 6.1% 15 1.2 7.2%
25 to 29 15 2.1 13.8% 13 1.9 13.3% 29 2.1 13.9%
30 to 39 32 3.9 29.4% 36 2.5 36.7% 68 2.3 32.5%
40 to 59 38 1.4 34.9% 26 1.0 26.5% 64 1.2 30.6%
>60 8 0.3 7.3% 7 0.3 7.1% 15 0.3 7.2%

National acute hepatitis C age rates by sex and overall in 2021 were calculated using the number of acute hepatitis C cases reported to the Canadian Notifiable Disease Surveillance System as numerators and Statistics Canada July 2022, 2021 population estimates as denominators. The "total" case count and rate include all males, females and unspecified sex. There were two reported cases of hepatitis C unspecified sex reported in 2021.

In 2021, seven provinces and territories (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, Nunavut, and Yukon) provided reported acute hepatitis C case data.

Table 6. Acute, chronic and unspecified hepatitis C reporting patterns by province and territory, 2012 to 2021
Jurisdiction 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
British Columbia Acute and Chronic/UnspecifiedFootnote 9
Alberta Acute, Chronic and Unspecified
Saskatchewan Unspecified Acute, Chronic and Unspecified
Manitoba Unspecified Acute, Chronic and Unspecified
Ontario Unspecified
Quebec Acute and Unspecified
New Brunswick Unspecified
Nova Scotia Unspecified
Prince Edward Island Unspecified
Newfoundland and Labrador Unspecified
Yukon Acute, Chronic and Unspecified Acute and Chronic Acute, Chronic and Unspecified Acute and Chronic
Northwest Territories Unspecified
Nunavut Unspecified Acute, Chronic and Unspecified

Appendix B: List of supplementary tables

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of reported hepatitis C cases, a 2021 hepatitis C in Canada surveillance report was not prepared by the Public Health Agency of Canada. However, the supplementary tables described below are available upon request via sti-hep-its@phac-aspc.gc.ca.

Notes

Observed differences in the data published here and the data published in provincial and territorial surveillance products may be due to reporting delays, differences in the date data were extracted from the provincial and territorial surveillance databases or other reporting variations. Where such differences are noted, it is recommended that data and results from provincial and territorial products be used. Also, percent changes in rates were calculated using non-rounded numbers.

Related links

Footnotes

Footnote 1

Survey on the impact of COVID-19 on the delivery of STBBI prevention, testing and treatment, including harm reduction services, in Canada. Ottawa, ON: Public Health Agency of Canada; 2022. Pub.: 210294.

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Footnote 2

In 2021, seven provinces and territories (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, Nunavut, and Yukon) reported acute hepatitis C cases.

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Footnote 3

In 2021, six provinces and territories (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nunavut, and Yukon) reported chronic hepatitis C cases.

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Footnote 4

In 2021, 11 provinces and territories (all but British Columbia and Yukon), reported unspecified hepatitis C cases.

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Footnote 5

Interpret rate with caution since it was calculated as the number of cases among a smaller population. In such instances, it is best to consider the number of cases reported for the jurisdiction.

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Footnote 6

The National Hepatitis C Case Definition was revised in 2018/2019 to add acute hepatitis C.

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Footnote 7

People living with Hepatitis C (HCV) in Canada, 2019. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/infographic-people-living-with-hepatitis-c.html

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Footnote 8

Canadian Network on Hepatitis C. Blueprint to inform hepatitis C elimination efforts in Canada. Montreal, QC: CanHepC; 2019; (accessed in February 2023). https://www.canhepc.ca/sites/default/files/media/documents/blueprint_hcv_2019_05.pdf

Return to footnote 8 referrer

Footnote 9

British Columbia sends hepatitis C chronic and unspecified data together, as one category, to the Canadian Notifiable Disease Surveillance System. The Canadian Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (https://diseases.canada.ca/notifiable/) treats these cases as hepatitis C chronic cases.

Return to footnote 9 referrer

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