List of disasters in Canada by death toll

List of Canadian disasters by death toll is a list of major disasters (excluding acts of war) which occurred in Canada or involved Canadian citizens, in a definable incident, where the loss of life was 10 or more.

200 or more deaths

Disaster	Type	Location	Deaths	Date	Notes
Spanish flu	Pandemic	Canada	55,000[1] (estimate)	1918 to 1919
HIV/AIDS	Pandemic	Canada	24,300	1981 - Present	Ongoing
Canadian Typhus	Epidemic	Canada	20,000	1847
COVID-19 pandemic in Canada	Pandemic	Canada	20,024	2020 - Present	Ongoing
Asian Flu	Pandemic	Canada	7,000	1957 to 1958
Russian Flu	Pandemic	Canada	6,000	1890 to 1891
Newfoundland Hurricane of 1775	Hurricane	Newfoundland	4,000	1775[2]
Hong Kong Flu	Pandemic	Canada	4,000	1968
1700 Cascadia earthquake	Earthquake	British Columbia	likely several thousand	January 26, 1700	True figures unknown. Many coastal First Nations villages (for example Kiix?in) were completely wiped out.[3][4][5]
Tseax Cone eruption	Volcano	British Columbia	2,000	~1700[6]
Halifax Explosion	Explosion	Nova Scotia	2,000	1917	estimate; 1,950 recorded names
RMS Empress of Ireland	Shipwreck	Quebec	1,012	1914	St. Lawrence River
RMS Atlantic	Shipwreck	Nova Scotia	562	1873	Marrs Head, Mosher Island, Meagher's Island
Swine flu	Pandemic	Canada	428	2009 to 2010	out of 3 million Canadians infected
Duke William	Shipwreck	Near English coast	360	December 13, 1758	[7] during the Expulsion of the Acadians
SS Princess Sophia	Shipwreck	Near Juneau, Alaska	353	1918
Aeneas	Shipwreck	Newfoundland	340	1805	Isle aux Morts
Violet	Shipwreck	England	300	December 13, 1758[8]	During the Expulsion of the Acadians, near English coast, bound for France
Sybelle	Shipwreck	Nova Scotia	316	September 11, 1834	Emigrant ship wrecked St. Paul Island, Nova Scotia
Great Labrador Gale of 1885	Hurricane	Newfoundland	300	October 10, 1885 [9][10]
SS Pacific	Shipwreck	British Columbia	298	1875	Cape Flattery out of Victoria, BC
Air India Flight 182	Terrorism	Atlantic Ocean	268 Canadians (out of 329 total fatalities)	1985	Flight out of Montréal Mirabel International Airport, bomb exploded off the coast of Ireland.
Arrow Air Flight 1285	Aircrash	Newfoundland	256	1985	Gander, NL. Worst air crash on Canadian soil.
SS Montreal	Shipwreck	Quebec	253	1857	Burned near Québec on 26 June 1857.[11]
Great Lakes Storm of 1913	Storm	Ontario	250	1913	Great Lakes Basin, estimate for Canada and U.S. fatalities
HMS Tribune	Shipwreck	Nova Scotia	238	1797	Wrecked at Halifax
SS Anglo Saxon	Shipwreck	Newfoundland	237	1863[12]	Allan Line shipwreck; Cape Race, Avalon Peninsula,
Swissair Flight 111	Aircrash	Nova Scotia	229	1998	St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia Hurricane of 1873	Hurricane	Nova Scotia	223 (disputed)	1873	The 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	Fire	Ontario	223	1916	[Official estimate][13]
SS Hungarian	Shipwreck	Nova Scotia	205	1860[14]	Allan Line passenger ship wrecked Cape Sable, Nova Scotia
USS Pollux (AKS-2) and USS Truxtun (DD-229)	Shipwreck	Newfoundland	203	1942	Wreck of the USS Pollux resulted in 93 fatalities and USS Truxtun 110; the USS Wilkes (DD-441) also grounded, but there were no fatalities, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland.

100 to 199 deaths

• 190+ – Ruby shipwreck near the Azores, December 16, 1758 (Acadian deportees)[15]
• 189 – Hillcrest mine disaster, Hillcrest, Alberta, June 19, 1914
• 182+ – Victoria steamboat disaster, May 24, 1881, London, Ontario,[16]
• 174 – SS Southern Cross shipwreck, Newfoundland, March 31, 1914
• 173 – SS Florizel shipwreck, Cappahayden, Newfoundland and Labrador, February 23, 1918
• 173-192 – 1927 Nova Scotia hurricane, August 23–25, 1927 (approximate figure, most deaths occurred at sea)
• 160 – Miramichi Fire, New Brunswick, October 1825
• 150 – 1887 Nanaimo mine explosion, Nanaimo, British Columbia, May 3, 1887
• 136 – SS Valencia shipwreck, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, January 22, 1906
• 129 – John Franklin expedition – HMS Erebus (1826) and HMS Terror (1813) lost in Northwest Passage, 1845–1848
• 128 – Coal Creek mine disaster, Coal Creek, British Columbia, May 22, 1902
• 125 – First Springhill mining disaster, Springhill, Nova Scotia, February 21, 1891
• 118 – SS Noronic fire, Toronto, Ontario September 17, 1949
• 118 – Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 831 aircrash, Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec, November 29, 1963
• 115 – HMS Acorn, shipwreck, Halifax, Nova Scotia, April 14, 1828
• 109 – Air Canada Flight 621, Brampton, Ontario, July 5, 1970
• 102 – HMS Feversham shipwreck, Scatarie Island, Main-a-dieu, Nova Scotia, October 7, 1711

10 to 99 deaths

Note: The list below does not include aeronautical disasters in Saskatchewan or deaths to First Nations Peoples, Settlers & Military personal during the Rebellions of 1885 on The Prairies.

• 99 – St-Hilaire train disaster, Richelieu River, Beloeil, Quebec, June 29, 1864 [deadliest train disaster in Canada]
• 99 – Knights of Columbus Hostel fire, St John's, Newfoundland, December 12, 1942
• 84 – Ocean Ranger oil platform sinking, Grand Banks, February 15, 1982
• 81 – Hurricane Hazel, Toronto, October 1954 [only Canada fatalities are included in this figure]
• 78 – SS Newfoundland seal hunt disaster, Newfoundland, March 1914
• 77 – Laurier Palace Theatre Fire, Montreal, January 9, 1927
• 76 – Quebec Bridge first collapse, August 29, 1907
• 74 – Third Springhill mining disaster, Springhill, Nova Scotia, October 23, 1958
• 73-200 – Great Porcupine Fire, Porcupine, Ontario, July 10, 1911
• 70 – Desjardins Canal train disaster, bridge collapse, March 12, 1857
• 70 – Frank Slide, Turtle Mountain (Alberta), April 29, 1903
• 64 – Canadian Pacific Airlines Flight 402 (CP402) McDonnell Douglas DC-8-43 crashed on landing, Tokyo, Japan March 4, 1966
• 63 – Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, January 8, 2020 [Canadian Victims Only may exclude some holders of Iranian passports ]
• 62 – Rogers Pass avalanche, Rogers Pass, British Columbia, March 4, 1910
• 62 – Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810, Chilliwack, British Columbia, December 9, 1956
• 59 – Despatch shipwreck, Isle aux Morts, Newfoundland, July 12, 1828[17]
• 55 – Point Ellice Bridge Disaster, Victoria, British Columbia, May 26, 1896
• 55-58 – 1926 Nova Scotia hurricane, August 8, 1926 (approximate figure, most deaths occurred at sea)
• 54 – 2018 Eastern Canada heat wave[18]
• 52 – Great Western Railway passenger train collides with the tail end of gravel train at Baptiste Creek, Canada West. October 27, 1854
• 52-232 – 1900 Galveston hurricane, September 12–14, 1900 (approximate figure, most deaths occurred at sea)
• 52 – Canadian Pacific Airlines Flight 21 Douglas DC-6B crashed near Dog Creek, British Columbia when a bomb blew its tail section away, July 8, 1965
• 48 – Opémiska Community Hall fire, Chapais, Quebec, December 31, 1979
• 47 – Lac-Mégantic rail disaster, Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, July 6, 2013
• 44 – Spanish River derailment, Northern Ontario, January 21, 1910
• 44 – US Military DC-4 crash, 42 US military personnel and 2 civilians, presumably somewhere in Yukon or British Columbia, January 26, 1950
• 44 – 1997 Les Éboulements bus accident, Quebec, October 13, 1997
• 43 – Great Fire of 1922, Timiskaming District, Ontario, October 4–5, 1922
• 43 – SARS outbreak, Toronto, Ontario, February - September 2003 (out of 251 total cases)
• 42 – Pacific Western Airlines Flight 314, Cranbrook/Canadian Rockies International Airport, February 11, 1978
• 40+ – HMS Penelope, April 30, 1815, near Cap des Rosiers (many survivors later froze to death)[19]
• 40 – Québec rockslide, Cap Diamant, September 19, 1889
• 40 – SS Islander (Canadian Pacific Steam Navigation Company), sunk by iceberg, Lynn Canal south of Juneau, Alaska, August 15, 1901
• 40 – Titanic, sank April 15, 1912 -- Canadian deaths only of 1,517 total.[20]
• 40 – Eastman bus accident, Eastman, Quebec, August 4, 1978
• 39 – Hollinger Mining Disaster, Timmins, Ontario, February 10, 1928
• 39 – Almonte train wreck, December 27, 1942
• 39 – Second Springhill mining disaster, Springhill, Nova Scotia, November 1, 1956
• 37 – Great Labrador Gale of 1867, October 9, 1867
• 37+ – 1869 Saxby Gale, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, October 4–5, 1869 (most deaths occurred at sea)
• 37 – Canadian Pacific Airlines Douglas C-54 A-10-DC disappeared en route without trace out of Vancouver, British Columbia for Anchorage, Alaska, July 21, 1951
• 37 – Blue Bird Café fire, Montreal, September 1, 1972
• 35 – 1959 Escuminac Hurricane, Gulf of St. Lawrence, June 19, 1959
• 32 – L'Isle-Verte nursing home fire, L'Isle-Verte, Quebec, January 23, 2014
• 31 – Halifax Poor House Fire, November 7, 1882
• 31 – Dugald train disaster, Dugald, Manitoba, September 1, 1947
• 31 – Saint-Jean-Vianney, Quebec mudslide, May 4, 1971[21]
• 30 – John B. King Explosion, near Brockville, Ontario, June 26, 1930, lightning struck a drill boat containing dynamite
• 30 – Quebec blizzard, March 3–5, 1971 (conservative estimate, all in Quebec)
• 29 – 1929 Grand Banks earthquake and tsunami, Burin Peninsula, November 18, 1929
• 29 – SS Edmund Fitzgerald, Lake Superior November 10, 1975, went down with all hands
• 28 – Regina Cyclone, Regina, Saskatchewan, June 30, 1912
• 28 – LaSalle Heights Disaster, LaSalle, Quebec, March 1, 1965
• 28 – North American ice storm of 1998, January 1998 [Canada fatalities only]
• 27 – SS Viking, explosion, Horse Islands (Newfoundland and Labrador), March 15, 1931
• 27 – Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing bridge collapse, Vancouver, June 17, 1958
• 27 – Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 301 Bristol Britannia crashed in Honolulu, Hawaii, July 22, 1962
• 27 – Edmonton Tornado, Edmonton, Alberta, July 31, 1987
• 26+ – HMS Speedy shipwreck in snowstorm, Lake Ontario, October 8, 1804
• 26 – Granduc Mine avalanche, Stewart, British Columbia, February 18, 1965 (some references say 28 were killed)
• 26 – Westray Mine methane explosion, Plymouth, Nova Scotia, May 9, 1992
• 24 – Air Ontario Flight 1363, near Dryden, Ontario, March 10, 1989
• 24 – 9/11, September 11, 2001 [Canada fatalities only]
• 23 – Québec Airways DC-3 bomb sabotage, Saint-Joachim, Quebec, September 9, 1949 See Albert Guay
• 23 – Air Canada Flight 797, aircraft fire, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, June 2, 1983
• 23 – Hinton train collision, Hinton, Alberta, February 8, 1986
• 23 – Legionnaire's disease outbreak, Toronto, 2005[22][23]
• 23 – 2020 Nova Scotia attacks, Portapique NS, April 18–19 2020
• 22 – Bus crash Swift Current, Saskatchewan, May 28, 1980[24]
• 22 – 2008 Canada listeriosis outbreak, 2008 (out of 57 total cases)
• 21 – Canoe River train crash, Valemount, British Columbia, November 21, 1950
• 21 – MV Flare bulk carrier shipwreck, Cabot Strait, January 16, 1998
• 20 – Beauval Indian Residential School fire, Beauval, Saskatchewan, September 20, 1927
• 19 – Dorion level crossing accident, Dorion, Quebec, October 7, 1966
• 18 – Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, March 10, 2019 [Canadian victims only]
• 17 – Windsor and Tecumseh, Ontario, tornado, Windsor, Ontario June 17, 1946[25]
• 17 – Cougar Helicopters Flight 91, off Newfoundland, March 12, 2009
• 16 – Protection Island mining disaster, elevator cable break[26]
• 16 – Humboldt Broncos bus crash, April 6, 2018
• 15 – Ottawa & New York Railway Bridge (south channel crossing) bridge collapse, Cornwall, Ontario, September 6, 1898
• 15 – Orléans air disaster, Orléans, Ontario, May 15, 1956
• 15 – Canadian Pacific Airlines Flight 307 Douglas DC-6B aircrash, near Cold Bay, Alaska, August 29, 1956
• 15 – 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami [Canadian victims only]
• 15 – Les Éboulements bus accident, Quebec, June 1, 1974
• 14 – "Barrie" tornado outbreak, May 31, 1985
• 14 – École Polytechnique massacre, shooting rampage, December 6, 1989
• 13 – Sand Point, Ontario, head-on train collision, February 9, 1904
• 13 – Quebec Bridge second collapse, September 11, 1913
• 13 – MS Arctic Explorer shipwreck, off St Anthony, Newfoundland, July 3, 1981
• 12 - Boating tragedy Lake of Two Mountains, Ile Bizard Quebec. 12 NCC (Negro Community Centre) children drown. July 13 1954.
• 12 – M.F.V. Enterprise and MV Patrick Morris sinking (the latter was responding to a mayday call from the former), northeast of Cape Breton Island, April 20, 1970
• 12 – Cormier-Village Hayride Accident, Cormier-Village, New Brunswick, Oct 1989
• 12 – Pine Lake tornado in Alberta, July 14, 2000
• 12 – First Air Flight 6560 a Boeing 737 crashes near Resolute Bay, Nunavut, August 20, 2011
• 11 – Canadian Pacific Airlines De Havilland DH-106 Comet 1A CF-CUN "Empress of Hawaii", crashed on takeoff from Karachi, Pakistan, March 3, 1953 (first passenger jetliner involved in a fatal accident)[27]
• 11 – Collision between a van and an eighteen-wheeler, between Stratford and Perth, Ontario, February 6, 2012. (Ten of the killed were Peruvian migrant workers)[28]
• 10 – Metropolitan Store explosion, Windsor, Ontario, October 25, 1960[29]
• 10 – Rupert Hotel Fire, Toronto, December 23, 1989 [30]
• 10 – Toronto van attack, Toronto, April 23, 2018

See also

• List of Canada-related topics
• List of disasters in Antarctica by death toll
• List of disasters in Australia by death toll
• List of disasters in Canada (by date)
• List of disasters in Croatia by death toll
• List of disasters in Great Britain and Ireland by death toll
• List of disasters in New Zealand by death toll
• List of disasters in Poland by death toll
• List of disasters in the United States by death toll
• List of wars and disasters by death toll (worldwide)
• Volcanism in Canada

References

1. https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/culture/clmhc-hsmbc/res/doc/information-backgrounder/espagnole-spanish
2. "The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1996". www.nhc.noaa.gov.
3. Meissner, Dirk (18 January 2015), "Earth will rip open like a zipper, expert says, when overdue Vancouver Island quake strikes", Toronto Star, retrieved 19 January 2015
4. "Prepare for next tsunami, says chief". Raven's Eye, Vol. 8, No. 9, 2009.
5. "Haida Gwaii Quake Brings Home the Importance of Quileute Relocation Legislation" Archived 2016-08-23 at the Wayback Machine. Indian Country Today Media Network, November 6, 2012.
6. D. Higgins, Michael (2008). "The Cascadia megathrust earthquake of 1700 may have rejuvenated an isolated basalt volcano in western Canada: Age and petrographic evidence". Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research. 179: 149. doi:10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2008.10.016. ISSN 0377-0273.
7. Letter from Captain William Nichols dated December 16, 1758 says 360 passengers aboard the Duke William: London Magazine XXVII, p. 655.
8. Letter from Captain William Nichols dated December 16, 1758 says 300 passengers aboard the Violet: London Magazine XXVII, p. 655.
9. "THE GALE OFF LABRADOR; FURTHER DETAILS OF ITS DESTRUCTIVE WORK.SUFFERINGS OF THE SHIPWRECKED CREWS--OVER 75 LIVES LOST AND 80 VESSELSWRECKED--HEROIC DEEDS".
10. Coastal Flooding: Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage Archived 2007-06-29 at the Wayback Machine
11. Marine Disasters
12. Anglo Saxon wreck 1863 Archived 2008-05-17 at the Wayback Machine
13. Heritage Foundation of Canada Archived 2012-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
14. On the Rocks: Shipwrecks of Nova Scotia - Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Halifax, Nova Scotia Archived 2007-07-13 at the Wayback Machine
15. Lockerby, Earle (Spring 1998). "The Deportation of the Acadians from Ile St.-Jean, 1758". Acadiensis. XXVII (2): 45–94.
16. ""THE "VICTORIA" BOAT DISASTER 1881" - London - Ontario Provincial Plaques on Waymarking.com". www.waymarking.com.
17. Brief History of the Workington brig Despatch / Dispatch Archived 2012-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
18. "50 people now dead due to sweltering Quebec heat wave". Global News. Retrieved 2018-07-06.
19. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List (4987). 11 July 1815.
20. "The Demographics of Titanic Passengers".
21. "CBC News Indepth: Forces of nature - Flooding".
22. Alamenciak, Tim (July 24, 2013). "Toronto sees spike in legionnaires' disease cases". Toronto Star. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
23. [email protected]. "People's Daily Online -- Legionnaires' disease claims another life in Toronto". english.people.com.cn.
24. "Canada's worst bus crash". Montreal Gazette. April 17, 2009. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
25. 1946 Windsor–Tecumseh, Ontario tornado
26. Lindsay, AScT, Shari (2004), Coal Mine Underground Workings Atlas, Box 233, Nanaimo, BC V9R 5K9: Pacific Spatial SystemsCS1 maint: location (link)
27. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident de Havilland DH-106 Comet 1A CF-CUN Karachi-Mauripur RAF Station". aviation-safety.net.
28. "Ontario crash kills 11, including migrant workers". CBC News. 2012-02-07.
29. Windsor Fire and Rescue Services History Archived 2012-03-02 at the Wayback Machine
30. "Rupert Hotel Fire Historical Plaque". torontohistory.org.

External links

• Canadian Disasters: an historical survey by Robert L. Jones
• SOS! Canadian Disasters, a virtual museum exhibition at Library and Archives Canada
• Maritime Museum of the Atlantic: Marine Heritage Database