The latest data on tuberculosis among Inuit in Canada

By The Canadian Press on April 16, 2023.

Ottawa and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, a national advocacy group, announced plans in March 2018 to reduce active tuberculosis across Inuit Nunangat by at least half to no more than 100 cases per 100,000 people by 2025, and eliminate it entirely by 2030. Inuit Nunangat, or Inuit homeland in Canada, is made up of more than 50 communities in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Quebec and Labrador.

Here is a breakdown of rates and cases of tuberculosis across Canada and among Inuit from 2010 to 2021, as reported by the federal government.

Canada

For most people in Canada the risk of developing active tuberculosis is very low. Rates are much higher, however, among the foreign-born population, Inuit and First Nations people living on reserve.

Rates and case numbers of tuberculosis, as well as deaths related to the disease, have fluctuated little across the country over the past decade.

2010: 4.7 per 100,000 population (1,586 cases)

2011: 4.7 (1,621 cases)

2012: 4.9 (1,700 cases)

2013: 4.7 (1,651 cases)

2014: 4.6 (1,615 cases)

2015: 4.6 (1,643 cases)

2016: 4.9 (1,762 cases)

2017: 5.0 (1,831 cases)

2018: 4.8 (1,794 cases)

2019: 5.1 (1,921 cases)

2020: 4.7 (1,772 cases)

2021: 5 (1,904 cases)

Inuit

While rates of tuberculosis among Inuit in Canada dropped significantly between 2019 and 2020, health officials say that’s partly due to reduced screening as resources were diverted to COVID-19.

The 2021 census indicates that there were 70,545 Inuit in Canada, 69 per cent of whom lived in Inuit Nunangat.

2010: 183.9 per 100,000 population (114 cases)

2011: 166.7 (105 cases)

2012: 251.6 (161 cases)

2013: 139.4 (92 cases)

2014: 177.6 (119 cases)

2015: 164.7 (112 cases)

2016: 168.7 (113 cases)

2017: 205.8 (142 cases)

2018: 194.3 (136 cases)

2019: 188.7 (134 cases)

2020: 72.2 (52 cases)