README.md

metadata

pretty_name: PHAC Respiratory Virus Detection Surveillance — Canada weekly
license: other
license_name: ogl-canada-2.0
license_link: https://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada
size_categories:
  - 10K<n<100K
tags:
  - cadence-weekly
  - geo-ca
  - surveillance-respiratory
  - pathogen-influenza
  - pathogen-sars-cov-2
  - pathogen-rsv
  - tier-2
  - availability-open
schema_version: '0.1'
source_id: canada-fluwatch
source_url: https://health-infobase.canada.ca/respiratory-virus-surveillance/
manifest_section: §5.6
surveillance_category: respiratory
pathogens:
  - influenza
  - influenza-a
  - influenza-b
  - sars-cov-2
  - rsv
  - hmpv
  - adenovirus
  - parainfluenza
  - rhinovirus-enterovirus
  - seasonal-coronavirus
availability: open
availability_notes: null
access_type: csv
tier: 2
cadence: weekly
geography_levels:
  - national
  - subnational-state
  - subnational-region
geography_countries:
  - CA
gold_standard_for: []
vintaged_version_of: null
succeeds: null
derived_from: []
value_columns:
  - name: tests
    unit: specimens/week
    value_type: incident
    description: Number of specimens tested for this virus, this region, this week
    aggregation: sum
  - name: detections
    unit: positives/week
    value_type: incident
    description: Number of specimens that detected this virus
    aggregation: sum
  - name: percentpositive
    unit: percent (0-100)
    value_type: proportion
    description: Share of specimens positive (`detections / tests`)
    aggregation: rate
notes:
  extra_columns:
    - column: condition_native
      description: >-
        PHAC virus name (`SARS-CoV-2`, `Influenza A`, `RSV`, ...). `condition`
        is the EPI-Eval slug.
    - column: location_name
      description: >-
        Province / territory / region name from PHAC. `location_id` is
        canonical.
  interpretation_caveats:
    - column: condition
      caveat: >-
        Includes 'adenovirus', 'parainfluenza', 'rhinovirus-enterovirus',
        'seasonal-coronavirus' which are *not yet in vocabularies.yaml*. Adding
        them is recommended (low-cost extension).
    - column: percentpositive
      caveat: >-
        PHAC reports % to 1 decimal; small jurisdictions can swing widely
        week-to-week.
  general: |
    PHAC publishes a single weekly CSV. Long-format with one row per
    (date × jurisdiction × virus). The dataset replaces FluWatch+ as Canada's
    multi-virus respiratory surveillance feed. Note that some "regions" are PHAC
    rollups (Atlantic, Prairies) sitting alongside individual provinces.
extra:
  source_columns_omitted: 2 (week, weekorder, year — derivable from date)
  vocabularies_extension_request:
    - new_pathogens:
        - adenovirus
        - parainfluenza
        - rhinovirus-enterovirus
        - seasonal-coronavirus
computed:
  last_ingested: '2026-04-26T12:48:31Z'
  row_count: 2720
  time_coverage:
    - start: '2025-08-30'
      end: '2026-04-18'
  geography_unit_count: 17
  observed_cadence_days: 7
  missing_gaps: []
  data_hash: a72d12e0dd10548a

PHAC Respiratory Virus Detection Surveillance — Canada weekly

PHAC publishes a single weekly CSV. Long-format with one row per (date × jurisdiction × virus). The dataset replaces FluWatch+ as Canada's multi-virus respiratory surveillance feed. Note that some "regions" are PHAC rollups (Atlantic, Prairies) sitting alongside individual provinces.

Source: https://health-infobase.canada.ca/respiratory-virus-surveillance/

Coverage

• Time: 2025-08-30 → 2026-04-18
• Cadence: weekly (observed median spacing: 7 days)
• Geography levels: national, subnational-state, subnational-region — 17 unique location IDs
• Countries: CA
• Pathogens: influenza, influenza-a, influenza-b, sars-cov-2, rsv, hmpv, adenovirus, parainfluenza, rhinovirus-enterovirus, seasonal-coronavirus
• Surveillance category: respiratory
• Rows: 2,720

Columns

Column	Unit	value_type	Aggregation	Description
tests	specimens/week	incident	sum	Number of specimens tested for this virus, this region, this week
detections	positives/week	incident	sum	Number of specimens that detected this virus
percentpositive	percent (0-100)	proportion	rate	Share of specimens positive (detections / tests)

Additional data columns

• condition_native — PHAC virus name (SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A, RSV, ...). condition is the EPI-Eval slug.
• location_name — Province / territory / region name from PHAC. location_id is canonical.

Interpretation caveats

Things that may differ from how other sources define a similar measure. If you're combining this dataset with another, read these first.

• condition — Includes 'adenovirus', 'parainfluenza', 'rhinovirus-enterovirus', 'seasonal-coronavirus' which are not yet in vocabularies.yaml. Adding them is recommended (low-cost extension).
• percentpositive — PHAC reports % to 1 decimal; small jurisdictions can swing widely week-to-week.

Access

• Availability: open
• Access type: csv
• License: other
• Tier: 2

---

Schema version 0.1 · Last ingested 2026-04-26T12:48:31Z · source_id: canada-fluwatch · Manifest section §5.6