List of disasters in Canada by death toll

Last updated

This list of Canadian disasters by death toll includes major disasters (excluding acts of war) that occurred on Canadian soil or involved Canadian citizens, in a definable incident, where the loss of life was 10 or more.

Contents

200 or more deaths

DisasterTypeLocationDeathsDateNotes
1918 influenza pandemic Pandemic Canada55,000+1918–1919
COVID-19 PandemicCanada53,000+2020–presentOngoing
HIV/AIDS PandemicCanada26,000+1981–presentOngoing
Canadian typhus EpidemicCanada20,000+1847–1848
Asian flu PandemicCanada7,0001957–1958
Russian flu PandemicCanada6,0001890–1891
Newfoundland Hurricane of 1775 Hurricane Newfoundland 4,0001775 [1]
Hong Kong flu PandemicCanada4,0001968
1700 Cascadia earthquake Earthquake British ColumbiaUnknown, likely several thousandJanuary 26, 1700True figures unknown. Many coastal First Nations villages (such as Kiix-in) were completely wiped out. [2] [3] [4]
Tseax Cone eruption Volcano British Columbia2,000~1700 [5]
Halifax Explosion Explosion Nova Scotia2,0001917estimate; 1,950 recorded names
RMS Empress of Ireland Shipwreck Quebec1,0121914 St. Lawrence River
2021 Western North America heat wave Heat wave British Columbia and Alberta6762021610 excess deaths in BC and 66 excess deaths in Alberta during the week [6] [7] [8]
Polio Epidemic Canada500+1953
RMS Atlantic ShipwreckNova Scotia5621873Marrs Head, Mosher Island, Meagher's Island
Swine flu PandemicCanada4282009 to 2010out of 3 million Canadians infected
Duke William Shipwreck North Atlantic, near English coast360December 13, 1758during the expulsion of the Acadians [9]
SS Princess Sophia ShipwreckNear Juneau, Alaska 3531918en route from Vancouver and Victoria to northern BC and Alaska
Aeneas ShipwreckNewfoundland3401805Isle aux Morts
Violet ShipwreckEngland300December 13, 1758 [10] during the expulsion of the Acadians, near English coast, bound for France
Sybelle Shipwreck St. Paul Island, Nova Scotia316September 11, 1834emigrant ship wreck
Great Labrador Gale of 1885 HurricaneCoast of Labrador, Newfoundland300October 10, 1885 [11] [12]
SS Pacific ShipwreckBritish Columbia2981875near Cape Flattery out of Victoria, BC
Air India Flight 182 TerrorismAtlantic Ocean268 (Canadians)1985flight out of Montréal Mirabel International Airport, bomb exploded off the coast of Ireland. 268 out of 329 total fatalities were Canadian.
Arrow Air Flight 1285 Aircrash Gander, NL 2561985As of 2022, it is the deadliest aviation accident to occur on Canadian soil. [13]
SS Montreal ShipwreckQuebec253June 26, 1857burned near Québec. [14]
Great Lakes Storm of 1913 Storm Great Lakes Basin, ON2501913estimate for Canada and U.S. fatalities
HMS Tribune Shipwreck Halifax, NS 2381797Wrecked at Halifax
SS Anglo Saxon Shipwreck Cape Race, Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland2371863 [15] Allan Line shipwreck
Swissair Flight 111 AircrashNova Scotia2291998 St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia hurricane of 1873 HurricaneNova Scotia223 (disputed)1873The Monthly Weather Review, published by the American Meteorological Society, set the death toll at 223 but the New York Times set the toll at 600
Matheson Fire FireOntario2231916Official estimate [16]
SS Hungarian Shipwreck Cape Sable, NS2051860 [17] Allan Line passenger ship wrecked Cape Sable, NS
USS Pollux (AKS-2) and USS Truxtun (DD-229) Shipwreck Placentia Bay, Newfoundland2031942Wreck of the USS Pollux resulted in 93 fatalities and USS Truxtun 110; the USS Wilkes (DD-441) also grounded, but there were no fatalities.

100 to 199 deaths

DisasterTypeLocationDeathsDateNotes
Ruby Shipwreck near the Azores 190+ [18] December 16, 1758during the expulsion of the Acadians
Hillcrest mine disaster Explosion Hillcrest, AB 189June 19, 1914
Victoria steamboat disaster Shipwreck London, ON 182+May 24, 1881 [19]
SS Southern Cross ShipwreckNewfoundland174March 31, 1914
SS Florizel Shipwreck Cappahayden, NL 173February 23, 1918
1927 Nova Scotia hurricane Hurricane NS 173-192August 23–25, 1927approximate figure, most deaths occurred at sea
Miramichi fire Forest fire NB 160October 1825
1887 Nanaimo mine explosion Explosion Nanaimo, BC 150May 3, 1887
SS Valencia Shipwreck Vancouver Island, BC 136January 22, 1906
Franklin's lost expedition Mass disappearance Northwest Passage 1291845–1848The final expedition of John Franklin, where the HMS Erebus (1826) and HMS Terror (1813) were lost in the Northwest Passage
Coal Creek mine disasterExplosion Coal Creek, BC 128May 22, 1902
First Springhill mining disaster Explosion Springhill, NS 125February 21, 1891
SS Noronic fireShipwreck Toronto, ON 118September 17, 1949
Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 831 Plane crash Sainte-Thérèse, QC 118November 29, 1963
HMS Acorn Shipwreck Halifax, NS 115April 14, 1828
Air Canada Flight 621 Plane crash Brampton, ON 109July 5, 1970
HMS Feversham Shipwreck Scatarie Island, Main-à-Dieu, NS 102October 7, 1711

10 to 99 deaths

See also

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