Vaccination coverage in Canada

Canada monitors vaccination coverage on a regular basis to:

help improve vaccination programs
learn how well people are protected from vaccine-preventable diseases

Why getting vaccinated is important

When you're vaccinated, you build immunity (ability to resist infection). This protects you from getting the disease and prevents you spreading it to others. Some vaccines protect you for several years and some protect you for the rest of your life.

The more people who are vaccinated in the community, the lower the risk of infection for those who:

can't be vaccinated
are too young to receive vaccines (infants)
developed only partial immunity from the vaccine

When you're vaccinated, you help to create community immunity, sometimes called herd immunity. You protect both yourself and those around you.

The more contagious a disease, the more we need high vaccination coverage to reach community immunity. For measles, the most contagious vaccine-preventable disease, we need coverage rates as high as 95%.

How we monitor vaccination coverage

We do a survey every 2 years to track coverage for all vaccines recommended by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization.

How we calculate the numbers for vaccination coverage

We estimate the percentages of people vaccinated for vaccine-preventable diseases.

For example, to calculate vaccination coverage for pertussis (whooping cough) in 2-year-olds, we:

divide the number of 2-year-old children who received the recommended 4 doses of pertussis vaccine before age 2 by the total number of children aged 2
multiply the result by 100, to get the percentage

Results from recent vaccination coverage surveys

Childhood National Immunization Coverage Survey (cNICS)

cNICS measures coverage for all vaccines given to infants, children and teens every second year.

Survey on Vaccination during Pregnancy (SVP)

The Survey on Vaccination during Pregnancy measures the uptake of pertussis and influenza vaccination in pregnant women.

Adult National Immunization Coverage Survey (aNICS)

aNICS measured coverage for vaccines recommended for adults. As of 2018, some questions from the aNICS were merged into the Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Coverage Survey.

Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Coverage Survey

The Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Coverage Survey measures coverage for the flu shot in adults every year. Every second year, it measures other adult vaccines as well.

COVID-19 vaccination coverage in Canada

The Childhood COVID-19 Immunization Coverage Survey (CCICS) targets Canadian parents and guardians with children under 18 years of age. It aims to understand COVID-19 and seasonal influenza coverage levels in children.

The weekly report presents the vaccination coverage for COVID-19 vaccines by demographics in Canada.

COVID-19 vaccination coverage in Canada

The COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage Survey (CVCS) targets Canadian adults. The survey compares vaccination coverage levels by different socio-demographic groups.

COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage Survey (CVCS)

This analysis of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) assessed inequalities in COVID-19 vaccine uptake and intent at the national level.

Supporting provincial and territorial immunization registries

The Public Health Agency of Canada works with the provinces and territories to develop tools and best practices, so that they can best manage their vaccination programs. Most provinces and territories have an electronic immunization registry for their jurisdiction, in order to:

identify children who are due or overdue for a vaccine
provide health care professionals with a patient's up-to-date vaccination status
measure immunization coverage and help assess immunization programs

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Date modified:: 2024-01-22

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