Measles outbreaks in southern Ontario and Quebec have local health officials increasing vaccination efforts.
As measles cases surge in parts of southern Ontario and Quebec, Ottawa Public Health is working to close vaccination gaps among children and youth, Dr. Trevor Arnason told the city’s board of health this week.
“We’ve remained committed to helping children and youth getting and staying up to date on routine childhood immunizations,” said Arnason, who is acting medical officer of health for OPH.
The public health unit has increased access to information about routine childhood vaccines through neighbourhood health and wellness hubs and in partnership with the Kids Come First health team, he said. OPH administered more than 23,000 routine vaccinations to children and youth in 2024. OPH also set up a virtual hub to make information about vaccinations more accessible.
The work is something that has become more urgent with dropping vaccination rates since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and growing outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases across North America. There are now 37 confirmed cases in the Grand Erie Public Health region of southern Ontario, including Norfolk County. Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to mankind.
As part of its vaccination surveillance efforts, Ottawa Public Health assessed immunization records of children and youths between the ages of seven and 17 last fall and mailed about 11,000 notices of incomplete immunization to families of students in the city. At this week’s board of health meeting, Arnason said OPH is actively working with community partners to encourage parents to update their children’s immunization records.
Evening Update
This year, for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, OPH also plans to send out suspension notices for students whose vaccination records remain incomplete even after being contacted by public health authorities. “Suspension notices have proven an effective method to promote compliance with (Ontario student immunization laws) and ultimately to prevent vaccine preventable disease outbreaks such as measles, which is a recent concern,” said Arnason.
Suspension order notices, for those who do not respond to first letters, will start being mailed out this month through April, according to OPH. Suspensions would start in March through to May. OPH said it does not yet know the number of suspension notices that will be mailed out because parents are still responding.
In a report last year, OPH said it had found significant gaps in routine childhood immunization rates.
Typically, before the pandemic about 17 per cent of Ottawa students had incomplete immunization records early in the school year, according to OPH, but after interventions including letters, vaccination compliance typically reached 95 per cent. In the 2023-2024 school year, however, more than 38 per cent of students continued to have incomplete immunization records, event after surveillance. At the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year, 61.3 per cent of students who underwent surveillance by OPH were overdue for vaccinations — down from 66.2 per cent at the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year, according to a report released by OPH in 2024.
In addition to the measles outbreak in southern Ontario, there have been cases of measles in Quebec since the beginning of 2025, most of them in people who were not vaccinated, or under vaccinated, according the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Measles was eliminated in Canada in 1998. Still, cases occur sporadically, usually due to importation from regions where measles is circulating that might result in outbreaks. The majority of cases in Ontario and Quebec this year have been acquired as a result of outbreaks.
Between 1998 and 2024 there have been an average of 91 measles cases reported annually in Canada, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Last fall, an unvaccinated Ontario child under the age of five died as a result of measles. It was the first measles death in the province since 1989.
If parents or guardians receive a letter of incomplete immunization records they should check their child’s records and compare them to Ontario’s routine immunization schedule. If their child is missing a vaccine, they should ensure their child gets vaccinated by speaking to their primary care provider or going to a walk-in clinic. Routine childhood vaccines are not available through pharmacies.
Families facing barriers can book appointments through Kids Come First vaccination clinics or Neighbourhood Health and Wellness Hubs. Families can update their childrens vaccine information with OPH using the online immunization connect Ontario tool or the CANImmunize app.
