Canada AIDS Statistics by Year and Age

back to top Positive HIV tests and AIDS diagnoses by year

Year AIDS diagnoses Positive HIV test reports
Adult male Adult female Total, all ages
 Adult male Adult female Total, all ages
Until end 1999† 16,455 1,407 18,079 35,266 5,306 45,503
2000 439 58 502 1,533 482 2,099
2001
 352 71 426 1,603 540 2,216
2002 348 63 414 1,793 614 2,468
2003 300 78 381 1,816 623 2,478
2004 261 61 325 1,825 648 2,527
2005 296 79 380 1,818 619 2,494
2006 256 69 329 1,802 692 2,547
2007 257 50 309 1,798 602 2,459
2008 238 72 312 1,919 668 2,636
2009 181 42 224 1,759 609
 2,417
Total 19,383 2,050
 20,746 52,932 11,403 69,844

† AIDS reporting began in 1979; HIV reporting began in 1985; annual data are not available for positive HIV test reports prior to 1995 for all jurisdictions.

line chart positive HIV test and AIDS diagnoses by year

Trends in HIV diagnoses

The annual number of reported positive HIV test results increased between 2000 and 2004, following a steady decline since 1995. This rise may be partly due to changes in immigration policies that were introduced in 2002. HIV tests are now part of the routine assessment for immigrants and most provinces and territories include these results in their reports.

Women have accounted for around a quarter of adult HIV diagnoses reported with known gender in each year since 2000. This proportion has more than doubled from 12% in the period 1985-97.

When interpreting HIV test reports, it is important to note that there may be a "reporting delay" between the time when a person tests positive for HIV and the time when the report is received by the Centre for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control (CIDPC). The statistics for recent years are likely to rise as more reports are received. Even if adjustment is made for reporting delays, the statistics still include only those people who have come forward to be tested for HIV. Willingness to be tested may vary between different groups of people.

Trends in AIDS diagnoses

Since the beginning of the epidemic in the early 1980s, there have been 21,681 AIDS diagnoses reported to CIDPC. The number of annual diagnoses peaked at 1,828 in 1993 and has since declined to fewer than 300. A major factor in the initial, dramatic decrease in cases was the delayed or prevented onset of AIDS due to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Such treatment has become widespread since 1996.

After steep falls between 1995 and 1997, a more gradual decline in the number of diagnoses has continued. In the analysis of recent years, allowance should be made for delays in reporting, and for the fact that Quebec has not reported AIDS data since June 2003.

Females accounted for 7% of AIDS cases reported with known gender in the period 1979-94; in 2007 that proportion was around 20%.

back to top AIDS cases by ethnic status and year of diagnosis

Ethnic status 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Total*
Aboriginal 40 35 36 28 24 20 712
South Asian/
West Asian/Arab 		5 3 4 3 3 0 179
Asian 9 5 2 5 4 5 294
Black 39 14 15 11 14 9 1,578
Latin American 1 4 4 3 3 3 287
White 137 100 99 94 102 71 13,743
Other 4 0 0 1 0 0 104
Not reported 90 219 169 164 162 126 4,784
Total 325 380 329 309 312 224 21,681
Bar chart AIDS cases by ethnic status

*Total reported AIDS diagnoses since 1979

The proportion of AIDS cases with known ethnicity reported among white people declined from 91% in 1988 to 62% in 2009. Over the same period, there were steep increases in the proportions attributed to aboriginal and black people. These two groups are now highly overrepresented.

In the 2001 census, aboriginal and black people accounted for 3.3% and 2.2% of Canada's population respectively. In the same year, these groups respectively reported 6.4% and 15.2% of AIDS cases with known ethnicity. In 2009, these proportions were 20.4% for aboriginal people and 9.3% for black people. However it should be noted that in many cases ethnicity is not reported. In 2009 ethnic status was not provided in 56% of AIDS cases reported.

The relative size of exposure categories varies significantly between ethnic groups. Injecting drug use is a major route of transmission of infection in aboriginal communities. Among black Canadians, the vast majority of infections are probably acquired through heterosexual contact. Sex between men accounted for the majority of AIDS cases in white Canadians. In females there was a fairly even split in positive test reports in white and aboriginal women at around 40% with black women only accounting for 15 % of new infections.

back to top Positive HIV tests and AIDS diagnoses by age group, until end of 2009

Age group AIDS diagnoses Positive HIV test reports
Male Female Total* Male Female Total*
Under 15 128 115 243 319 224 557
15-19 57 21 78 550 453
 1,018
20-24 526 144 670 12,448 3,711
 16,472
25-29 2,315 355 2,670
30-34 4,116 469 4,586 21,034 4,288 25,851
35-39 4,275 357 4,633
40-44 3,418 281 3,699 12,614 1,986 14,872
45-49 2,223 159 2,382
50-54 1,175 78 1,253 5,408 869 6,396
55-59 665 77 743
60 or older 613 109 722
Total 19,511 2,165 21,679 53,251 11,627 66,231

* Includes reports for which gender was not reported or was reported as transgender

In recent years the most notable trend has been the increase in diagnoses among young women. Prior to 1996, females comprised 14% of HIV diagnoses in the age group 15-29, whereas in 2009 this proportion was 30%.  There are also increases in the number of HIV positive tests and AIDS diagnoses among older Canadians, now accounting for 15% of the total.

Nominet Winner 2012