How healthy is Canada?

A count of every cancer newly found in 2023 in Canada without Nova Scotia, which has sent no counts after 2019, and of every death in 2024, which Statistics Canada calls preliminary.

The cancer page gives the sources in full.

Sources: Statistics Canada, Number of new cases and age-standardized rates of primary cancer, by cancer type and sex, reference year 2023, read 11 October 2026. Statistics Canada, Leading causes of death, total population, by age group, reference year 2024, read 11 October 2026.

Opioids are a family of strong painkilling drugs. The publisher's own words:

“57,509 apparent opioid toxicity deaths reported between January 2016 and March 2026”

"Apparent" and "toxicity" are the publisher's words, kept here. The count is of deaths reported to it.

Source: Public Health Agency of Canada, Opioid- and stimulant-related harms in Canada, read 11 October 2026.

People's own answers to a yearly survey, adults aged 18 and over. The three territories are not in it; the publisher's area is "Canada (excluding territories)".

The publisher's words for the measure are "Has a regular healthcare provider". Three provinces were read twice; the table has all ten.

Source: Statistics Canada, Health indicator statistics, annual estimates, reference year 2024, released 6 August 2025, read 11 October 2026.

• 2024Confirmed cases146
• 2025Confirmed cases5,085
• 2026, to 26 SeptemberConfirmed cases1,040

The publisher counts confirmed cases and probable cases apart; these are confirmed cases only. It says:

“Measles was first eliminated in Canada in 1998. In 2025, Canada's measles elimination status was lost due to sustained transmission within Canada for more than one year of the measles virus strain associated with the multijurisdictional outbreak.”

And of its counts:

“This data only represents reported cases and is likely an underestimate of the total number of cases that have occurred in Canada”

Source: Public Health Agency of Canada, Measles and rubella weekly monitoring report, week 38 of 2026, updated 5 October 2026, read 11 October 2026.

The Public Health Agency of Canada also adds up the provinces' own vaccination records: 80.4 in 100 two-year-olds with at least one dose, at the end of 2025.

“Vaccination coverage is a combined estimate based on reports from the provinces and territories that reported for 2025: Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Yukon.”

That is six places, counted another way, so it is not a fall from the 2021 survey.

Source: Public Health Agency of Canada, Vaccination coverage in children, read 11 October 2026.

From a national survey of children's vaccination in 2021, the newest round in the table, so it is an estimate. The goal was agreed by the federal, provincial and territorial governments in 2016:

“Age 2: 95% vaccination coverage of 1 dose of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.”

The two figures in the cross-check are not the same measure. The worldwide one counts a second dose and is made the same way for every country, which is why the grade uses it. Dooram leads with Canada's own.

Sources: Statistics Canada, Vaccine coverage estimates for recommended vaccines in children and pregnant women, reference year 2021, read 11 October 2026. Public Health Agency of Canada, Vaccination coverage in children, read 11 October 2026. World Health Organization and UNICEF, United Nations Statistics Division, SDG Global Database, read 11 October 2026.

Health Canada's report on the Canada Health Act for 2024-2025 presents the 13 provincial and territorial plans and gives the transfer as $52.1 billion; Finance Canada's table gives 52,081 million. The provinces' spending is Statistics Canada's, read again in its Daily of 27 November 2025. Dollars at the 2024 average rate of 1.3698 Canadian dollars to $1 (Bank of Canada; the Federal Reserve 1.3699); the transfer is for a fiscal year, so its dollars are about.

The page on how health care works gives every source in full.

Sources: Health Canada, Canada Health Act Annual Report 2024-2025, chapter 1 and chapter 3, read 20 October 2026. Department of Finance Canada, Major federal transfers, read 20 October 2026. Statistics Canada, Canadian Classification of Functions of Government (CCOFOG) by consolidated government component, Health [707], 2024, read 20 October 2026. Bank of Canada, Annual average exchange rate of the US dollar in Canadian dollars (FXAUSDCAD), read 20 October 2026.

• Homes that treat their water before drinking itCanada, 202353 in 100
• Homes told to boil their water in the past yearCanada, 20239 in 100
• QuebecTold to boil their water26 in 100
• OntarioTold to boil their water1 in 100

Source: Statistics Canada, Treatment of main source of water by households, Canada, provinces and census metropolitan areas (CMA), reference year 2023, read 11 October 2026.

What households told a survey in 2023, in the ten provinces. The three territories are not in it. A town supply is the publisher's "municipal" supply.

This says where water comes from, not whether it is safe.

The two figures in the cross-check measure different things. One counts homes by where their water comes from; the other is an estimate of people with safe water. Dooram leads with Canada's own.

Of private wells, the health department says:

“Health Canada estimates that about 4 million people in Canada rely on a private well for their drinking water.”

Sources: Statistics Canada, Households and the environment survey, dwelling's main source of water, reference year 2023, released 9 December 2025, read 11 October 2026. Health Canada, Water Talk: Information for private well owners, read 11 October 2026. WHO and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme, United Nations Statistics Division, SDG Global Database, read 11 October 2026.

The publisher counts advisories on public water systems on reserves. Its own heading and words:

“Long-term drinking water advisories on public systems on reserves as of September 10, 2026”

“38 long-term drinking water advisories are in effect in 36 communities.”

“158 long-term drinking water advisories lifted since November 2015.”

One community can have more than one advisory. This is a count of advisories on those systems, on one day. It is not a count of people, and it counts public systems only.

Source: Indigenous Services Canada, Ending long-term drinking water advisories, read 11 October 2026.

• Prairies and northern Ontario16.1
• Northern territories15.7
• Southern Ontario8.8
• British Columbia7
• Atlantic Canada5.4

The regions are the publisher's own. Two were above the standard.

Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada, Air quality, Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators, read 11 October 2026.

The average of 161 monitoring stations across Canada. 2023 is the newest year, and the only year from 2009 to 2023 above the standard. The publisher adds:

“The comparison to the Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standard is provided for illustrative purposes only.”

The reason given for 2023 is the publisher's, in its words. Dooram adds none.

The worldwide estimate comes from a model of the whole country, which is why it differs. Dooram leads with what was measured.

An estimate, not a count, from the health department:

“Health Canada estimates that above-background air pollution in 2018, including air pollution from human sources in North America, contributed to 17,400 premature deaths in Canada.”

Sources: Environment and Climate Change Canada, Air quality, Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators, read 11 October 2026. Health Canada, Health impacts of air pollution in Canada in 2018, read 11 October 2026. World Health Organization, United Nations Statistics Division, SDG Global Database, read 11 October 2026.