Canada surpasses 3,000 cases of measles in 2025 as vaccination rates decline

With childhood vaccination rates on the decline, there have been 3,170 measles cases in Canada in 2025, over three times more than any year since 1998 — the year the disease was considered to have been eliminated in this country. The vast majority of measles outbreaks reported in Canada this year have occurred in Ontario and Alberta.

Public health officials across the country have been sounding the alarm about a decline in the rate of childhood vaccinations since a measles outbreak in New Brunswick last year. The rate of Canadian children receiving both doses of the two-dose vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) has fallen from 86% in 2019 to 76% in 2023.

A report by the Angus Reid Institute outlines the role that misinformation has played in the spread of measles.

“Some have posted online claiming that measles does not pose a serious risk, instead claiming that the vaccine is much more dangerous. This has been a significant issue in the United States as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has downplayed the outbreak and spread false claims about the MMR vaccine, while also endorsing it, leading many to claim his advice on the issue has been unclear.”

---

For our latest in news, please visit the News section.