Tuberculosis in Canada: 1924-2012

Tuberculosis (TB) has been a notifiable disease since 1924 and remains an important and serious global public health challenge. Understanding the patterns and characteristics of TB are key to controlling and preventing further spread of the disease.

To provide an overview of national TB surveillance data collected through two national surveillance systems and to highlight important trends in recent years.

Trends in the incidence of TB since 1924 are presented. Descriptive results from the Canadian Tuberculosis Reporting System (CTBRS) and the Canadian Tuberculosis Laboratory Surveillance System (CTBLSS) are presented, with a focus on the years from 2002 to 2012. No statistical tests of significance were performed.

Since the 1940s, both the number of reported TB cases and the overall Canadian incidence rate have declined. Males have always accounted for the greatest percentage of cases overall and individuals between the ages of 25 and 34 have typically accounted for the largest number of reported cases relative to other age groups. From 2002 to 2012, 66% of reported TB cases were foreign-born, but the highest burden of TB was in the Canadian-born Aboriginal population, with an average incidence rate five times that of the overall Canadian rate. Reported drug resistance in Canada remains consistently below international levels.

Overall, Canada has one of the lowest TB disease rates in the world. However, foreign-born individuals and Aboriginal people continue to be disproportionately represented among cases diagnosed in Canada. Surveillance systems like the CTBRS and CTBLSS are fundamental in providing information needed to target resources where they can be most effective.