TORONTO — The flu season likely peaked in Canada over the holidays at the highest rate the country has seen in years, the Public Health Agency of Canada says.
The latest national influenza data released Friday accounts for the period of Dec. 14 to Jan. 3 and shows the number of new cases remains high but stabilized by the start of the new year.
Going into the holiday season, a rapid and early rise of influenza A cases overwhelmed hospitals, with three children dying in Ottawa and eastern Ontario.
During the week of Christmas, the federal agency says the percentage of positive tests for influenza was the highest it has been over the past three seasons, at 33 per cent.
Dr. Eleni Galanis, director general for the Centre for Emerging and Respiratory Infections and Pandemic Preparedness at PHAC, said that’s the week the influenza season peaked.
“It’s since dropped to 27 per cent,” Galanis said, approximately what the peak was last year.
Dr. Adrina Zhong, a public health physician in Communicable Disease Control at Public Health Ontario, says the province reached its peak the week of Dec. 21 and has seen a “substantial decrease” of about 10 per cent since then.
However, there is still a lot of flu circulating right now, she said.
“Even if the season has reached its maximum last month, just a couple weeks ago, there’s still several weeks of the season left,” Zhong said.
Similarly in Alberta, a Primary and Preventative Health Services official says that influenza A activity remains elevated but has likely peaked in the province.
Alberta’s latest provincial data released Thursday shows the province has seen more than 3,000 hospitalizations, and 133 deaths this influenza season.
They said test positivity rate and case counts have started to decline after a steep rise, and hospital admissions are also beginning to drop.
“It’s too early to say for sure that we’re past the peak but the recent drop would correspond to the pattern in 2022 and 2023.”
The official said Alberta is seeing an increase of influenza B, which typically causes a second, less severe and more mild, wave of illness later in the season.
“As in other jurisdictions, we have seen an early and exceptionally large wave of flu cases, which has strained emergency departments and other care providers. We’re hopeful that the drop in flu admissions will be sustained and that pressure on the health system will ease somewhat, although the hospitals will likely remain very busy as in any respiratory virus season.”
WHO IS GETTING SICK?
Cases among adults 65 years of age and older have been rising in recent weeks and now account for more than 6,000 infections, over half of the flu cases nationally detected.
Older adults are more likely to have severe outcomes from the flu because it is harder for their immune system to fight off infection. That could lead to hospitalization or death.
All other age groups appear to be going down, most notably in the five to 19 age group, which now has about 700 cases.
Infants four years of age and younger account for about 1,400.
Some pediatric hospitals have reported a “gradual decrease” in hospital admissions.
CHEO told the Canadian Press it saw 48 patients test positive for the flu the first week of January, compared to 300 between Dec. 1 and 10.
Montreal Children’s Hospital said they are still seeing a lot of flu admissions, but it appears that it might be slowing down.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 9, 2026.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
Hannah Alberga, The Canadian Press
