README.md

---
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*