Canada

Hantavirus in Canada: How Common Is It in Ontario, Alberta, and BC?

How common is hantavirus in Canada — broken down by Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, and the Prairies. Real numbers, deer mouse range, and the live tracker.

HantaVirusTrack Editorial·May 8, 2026

Hantavirus in Canada: How Common Is It, Province by Province?

Hantavirus is rare in Canada — but the cases aren't distributed evenly. Most occur in the western and prairie provinces, with very few east of Manitoba. If you live in Vancouver, Calgary, Saskatoon, or rural Manitoba, the question is meaningfully different than if you live in Toronto, Ottawa, or Halifax.

This guide breaks down the actual numbers, province by province.

How common is hantavirus in Canada overall?

Since Sin Nombre virus was first identified in Canada in 1994 (a fatal case in British Columbia), the Public Health Agency of Canada has confirmed roughly 150 to 175 cases nationally — averaging 3 to 6 cases per year across the entire country.

Compared to the United States — which has averaged closer to 30–50 cases per year over the same period — Canadian incidence is lower in absolute terms, but per capita the rates in the western provinces are roughly comparable to those in the U.S. Mountain West.

The case fatality rate in Canada has historically been around 30%, similar to U.S. numbers.

How common is hantavirus in Alberta?

Alberta has had the highest cumulative HPS case count in Canada, with roughly 70+ confirmed cases since surveillance began. That's nearly half of all Canadian cases.

Why Alberta?

Abundant deer mouse populations across the province, particularly in the southern grasslands and parkland regions.
Rural and agricultural lifestyle — many Albertans live, work, or vacation in settings with rodent exposure: farms, ranches, hunting cabins, recreational properties.
Long, cold winters that drive mice indoors into stored equipment, sheds, and outbuildings, where they accumulate during off-season closures.
Spring cleanup risk — opening cabins, sheds, and storage in May–July is the highest-risk activity.

Cases in Alberta cluster in southern and central parts of the province, with lower incidence in the far north. Most occur between April and September, peaking in late spring.

If you spend time in rural Alberta — especially around grain bins, sheds, hunting cabins, or older outbuildings — basic precautions matter. Sealing entry points, avoiding dry-sweeping droppings, and wet-cleaning with bleach are the main interventions.

How common is hantavirus in BC?

British Columbia has had roughly 30+ confirmed HPS cases since 1994, with the first Canadian death from HPS occurring in BC in 1994.

Where in BC matters:

Highest risk — interior and southern BC: the Okanagan, Thompson, Cariboo, Kootenay, and Chilcotin regions. These are deer-mouse-rich areas with significant rural populations and recreational properties.
Lower risk — Lower Mainland (Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey) and Vancouver Island. Deer mice are present but human cases are uncommon.
Coastal and northern BC — sporadic cases, generally in rural settings with significant rodent exposure.

BC's pattern mirrors Alberta's in terms of seasonality and exposure type — most cases involve cleaning closed cabins, working in barns or sheds, or extensive rural rodent contact.

How common is hantavirus in Ontario?

Hantavirus is very rare in Ontario. Public Health Ontario and the Public Health Agency of Canada have documented only a small number of confirmed HPS cases in Ontario since surveillance began — single digits over more than three decades. Most years record zero Ontario cases.

Why so few?

Deer mice exist in Ontario, but they're not as dominant as in the western provinces. White-footed mice are common in southern Ontario, and they can carry New York virus, but human cases from this strain are extremely rare.
Most Ontarians live in urban environments where the dominant rodents are house mice and Norway rats — neither of which carries Sin Nombre virus.
Land use patterns differ. Ontario has fewer of the high-risk exposures (long-closed cabins in deer-mouse country, large agricultural settings with grain storage, cleanup of remote outbuildings) that drive Western Canadian cases.

If you have a cabin in northern Ontario or work in agriculture or forestry, the same general precautions apply as anywhere — but for most Ontario residents, the risk is genuinely close to zero.

What about the other provinces?

Saskatchewan and Manitoba: moderate case counts, similar pattern to Alberta. The Prairies as a whole — Alberta + Saskatchewan + Manitoba — account for the bulk of Canadian HPS cases.
Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut: few human cases, though deer mice extend into parts of the southern Yukon.
Quebec: very rare, similar to Ontario.
Atlantic Canada (NB, NS, PEI, NL): essentially no confirmed HPS cases. Deer mice are present in parts of the Maritimes, but the combination of climate and land use produces almost no human disease.

What you can do

If you're in a higher-incidence province (Alberta, BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba), the practical playbook is the same as the U.S. Mountain West:

Don't sweep or vacuum dry mouse droppings. Always wet them down first with a 1:10 bleach solution and let it sit at least 5 minutes.
Wear a well-fitting N95 (or better) respirator and gloves when cleaning up rodent contamination, especially in enclosed spaces like sheds, cabins, basements, or outbuildings.
Ventilate for at least 30 minutes before entering a long-closed space.
Seal entry points — gaps as small as a dime can let mice in. Steel wool, hardware cloth, and caulk are inexpensive and effective.
Trap actively during the season — snap traps disposed of safely after spraying with disinfectant.
After exposure, watch for symptoms for 1–8 weeks: fever, severe muscle aches, profound fatigue, and especially shortness of breath.

If you live in Ontario, Quebec, or Atlantic Canada and are reading this because you spotted mouse droppings, the practical answer is: clean them up safely (the steps above are good practice for any rodent infestation, hantavirus or not), but don't lose sleep over hantavirus. The data say it's not the threat you should be worrying about most.

See live cases in your province

We track every confirmed hantavirus case in Canada that's reported by a public health authority — provincial ministries, the Public Health Agency of Canada, or peer-reviewed surveillance. Each case on the HantaVirusTrack live map is linked back to its original source, with the date and location it was reported. If you want to know whether there's hantavirus activity near you right now, that's the place to check.