Canada declares its two-year multi-jurisdictional measles outbreak over

Canada’s Public Health Agency (PHAC) announced on Monday that the country’s multi-jurisdictional measles outbreak is over, more than two months having passed since the last linked case was reported, working with provincial and territorial public health officials.

The outbreak began in October 2024 and produced more than 6,400 cases across 10 provinces and territories, most of them in unvaccinated people, PHAC said. Because the outbreak strain kept spreading for more than 12 months, Canada lost its global measles elimination status in late 2025.

The declaration does not automatically restore that status: transmission of the associated strain must be interrupted for at least 12 consecutive months, PHAC said. The agency called the end of the outbreak “an important milestone” and urged Canadians to confirm their measles vaccinations are up to date with a healthcare provider or local public health unit, noting two doses of a measles-containing vaccine provide strong protection. Measles continues to spread in many parts of the world, and travel-related cases are expected to continue in Canada.

The national announcement follows Manitoba’s own declaration, effective October 16, that its provincial outbreak was over. Manitoba’s closing bulletin counted 1,038 cases (931 confirmed and 107 probable), 52 hospitalizations including six intensive-care admissions, and no deaths, The Northern Current reported; the last laboratory-confirmed case was identified in August, and 87 per cent of cases involved people unimmunized or of unknown vaccination status. Outbreaks in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia were declared over earlier this year, federal data shows.

Sources: PHAC news release, Oct 19, 2026 (canada.ca); release text republished via newswire.ca, Oct 19, 2026; Manitoba detail from The Northern Current, Oct 16, 2026.