Tuberculosis (TB): Monitoring
On this page
- How Canada monitors tuberculosis
- Number of cases of tuberculosis in Canada
- Rate of tuberculosis in Canada
How Canada monitors tuberculosis
Tuberculosis disease is a nationally notifiable disease. That means provincial and territorial public health authorities voluntarily submit data to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) on all:
- new cases of the disease
- re-treatment cases
PHAC then uses this data to monitor national trends, which is a practice called public health surveillance.
PHAC does not collect personally identifiable information, like your name, contact information or health card numbers.
Information on tuberculosis trends helps communities, health care providers and public health departments to:
- understand what the needs are for prevention and health care
- gauge the impact of programs and services
This data also helps communities who have an increased burden of tuberculosis to advocate for supports and resources they need.
Number of cases of tuberculosis in Canada
In 2024, there were 2,508 persons newly diagnosed with tuberculosis disease reported in Canada. People born outside Canada and Indigenous Peoples accounted for the majority of cases. Among cases of tuberculosis disease:
- 1,899 were people born outside of Canada (based on available information on place of birth and population group)
- 350 were born in Canada (257 were Indigenous)
In terms of percentages for tuberculosis disease cases, this corresponds to:
- 82.9% of reported cases were among people born outside Canada
- 17.1% of reported cases were among people born within Canada
- 11.3% of reported cases among people born within Canada were among Indigenous Peoples
- 4.1% of reported cases among people born within Canada were among non-Indigenous people
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Rate of tuberculosis in Canada
The incidence of tuberculosis disease in Canada is among the lowest in the world. Incidence means the number of new cases of a disease that occur in a specific population during a defined period of time.
Canada experienced a steady decrease in the incidence of tuberculosis between the 1940s and 1980s. After remaining relatively stable for a while, it has been increasing incrementally in the last couple of years.
In 2024, the rate of tuberculosis disease in Canada was 6.1 per 100,000 population. The rates per 100,000 people were highest among:
- Inuit (186.9)
- people born outside of Canada (17.4)
- First Nations (13.5)