Canada
Travel Destination – Canada
From the dramatic peaks of the Rocky Mountains to vibrant multicultural cities, Canada offers travellers a diverse and highly developed destination. Visitors can explore iconic national parks such as Banff and Jasper, experience French-influenced culture in Montreal, or enjoy the coastal scenery of Vancouver. Outdoor enthusiasts are drawn to hiking, skiing, wildlife viewing, and road travel across vast scenic landscapes.
While Canada has a high-quality healthcare system and strong sanitation standards, a pre-travel health assessment can help reduce the risk of preventable illness during your visit.
Health Risks
Pre-travel preparation
Before travelling to Canada, arranging a consultation with a travel doctor is recommended. A pre-travel appointment allows your doctor to review your immunisation history, confirm that routine vaccinations are up to date, and provide advice tailored to your itinerary and planned activities.
Ideally, this consultation should take place six to eight weeks before departure. This timeframe allows for any required vaccine updates and ensures adequate immune protection before travel. Even if departure is approaching soon, a last-minute appointment can still provide valuable health advice and address essential vaccinations.
Your doctor can tailor recommendations depending on whether you are planning urban tourism, skiing holidays, cruises, road trips, hiking in remote areas, or visiting friends and relatives. Travellers with underlying medical conditions should discuss how to access care in Canada and ensure they carry sufficient medication, prescriptions, and documentation for the duration of their stay.
Insect avoidance
In Canada, mosquito and tick exposure varies by season and location. During warmer months, mosquitoes can transmit West Nile virus in some regions, while ticks in certain provinces may carry Lyme disease. Risk is generally higher in wooded, grassy, or rural environments.
To reduce the risk of insect-borne illness, wear long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and enclosed footwear when hiking or spending time outdoors. Apply insect repellent containing DEET, picaridin, or oil of lemon eucalyptus to exposed skin. When walking in bushland or forested areas, remain on cleared trails where possible and perform thorough tick checks after outdoor activities. Clothing treated with permethrin can provide additional protection, particularly in tick-prone regions.
Food and water hygiene
Canada maintains high standards of food handling, water treatment, and sanitation. Tap water is safe to drink in most urban and regional areas. As a result, the risk of gastrointestinal illness is significantly lower than in many international destinations.
Nevertheless, gastroenteritis can still occur, particularly through person-to-person spread, buffet-style dining, or improperly stored food. Practise good hand hygiene before eating, especially when travelling, camping, or attending large events. Choose food that is freshly prepared and served at appropriate temperatures, and take care when consuming raw or undercooked animal products.
Rabies prevention
Rabies is present in Canada, primarily in wildlife such as bats, raccoons, skunks, and foxes. Domestic dogs are rarely affected due to vaccination programs, but travellers should avoid contact with all wild animals and unfamiliar pets.
Those planning activities such as caving, wildlife handling, or extended stays in remote regions should discuss rabies risk with a travel doctor. Any bite, scratch, or contact with saliva from a potentially infected animal requires urgent medical assessment, as rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms develop.
Our Travel Doctors
Our fully qualified doctors have an interest in travel medicine and immunisations. And they know travel. Their expert advice will be tailored for you, your travel companions and your trip.
Which shots do I need for Canada?
Measles
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Measles is a highly contagious viral illness that spreads through respiratory droplets and can cause fever, cough, rash, and in some cases serious complications such as pneumonia or brain inflammation. Measles outbreaks continue to occur globally, including in Canada. Travellers may be exposed in airports, public transport, schools, festivals, or other crowded settings. Anyone born during or after 1966 should have documentation of two doses of measles-containing vaccine prior to travel. Ensuring full vaccination is important, even when visiting countries with advanced healthcare systems.
Influenza
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Influenza is a contagious viral respiratory infection that can cause fever, cough, sore throat, muscle aches, and fatigue, and may lead to severe complications in vulnerable individuals. Influenza circulates seasonally in Canada, typically peaking during the northern hemisphere winter months of December to February, although cases occur year-round. Travel, crowded indoor settings, and air travel can increase exposure risk. Annual influenza vaccination is recommended for all travellers aged six months and older, particularly older adults, pregnant women, and those with chronic medical conditions.
COVID-19
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COVID-19 is a contagious respiratory illness caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus that can range from mild symptoms to severe disease. COVID-19 continues to circulate globally, including in Canada, and travel increases the chance of exposure in airports, on planes, and in indoor venues. Travellers should be up to date with COVID-19 vaccination according to Australian immunisation guidance. Those at higher risk are recommended more frequent boosters, with annual boosters for adults 65 to 74 years, and six-monthly boosters for those aged over 75. Those with certain underlying medical conditions also benefit from booster doses. Discuss vaccination recommendations with your travel doctor.
Routine vaccinations
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Before travelling to Canada, ensure your routine vaccinations are up to date in accordance with the Australian National Immunisation Program. This includes measles-mumps-rubella (MMR), tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis, as well as polio and varicella (chickenpox) where indicated. Whilst these conditions are low risk in Australia due to widespread immunisation, international travel increases risk of exposure.
Some adults may require booster doses, particularly for tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis if it has been more than 10 years since their last dose. Hepatitis B vaccinations may be recommended depending on risk factors.
A travel health consultation can review your immunisation history and identify whether any catch-up or booster doses are recommended prior to departure.
Canada
Other health risks in Canada
Gastroenteritis
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Gastroenteritis, is an infection of the stomach and intestines that can cause diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and sometimes fever. In Canada, the risk is low, but infection can be transmitted through contaminated food or water, or through person-to-person contact, especially where hand hygiene is inadequate. Buffet-style dining, undercooked seafood, unpasteurised products, and food left at unsafe temperatures may increase risk. Campers and hikers should take care to treat or boil untreated surface water from lakes or streams to avoid waterborne infections.
Most cases are mild and resolve within a few days. The most important treatment is maintaining hydration, preferably with oral rehydration solutions. Medical care should be sought if symptoms are prolonged or atypical. Careful hand washing and food hygiene remain the most effective preventive measures.
Rabies
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Rabies is a viral infection that affects the central nervous system and is almost always fatal once symptoms develop.
Rabies is present in Canada, primarily in wildlife such as bats, raccoons, skunks, and foxes. Domestic dogs are rarely affected due to established vaccination programs, but travellers should avoid contact with all wild animals and unfamiliar pets. Those planning activities such as caving, wildlife handling, or extended stays in remote regions should discuss rabies risk with a travel doctor before departure. Any bite, scratch, or contact with saliva from a potentially infected animal requires urgent medical assessment, as prompt treatment after exposure is critical to prevent fatal disease progression.
Lyme disease
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Lyme disease is present in Canada and is transmitted by the bite of infected ticks. Travellers are at higher risk when spending time in wooded or grassy areas, especially during warmer months. Early symptoms may include fever, fatigue, headache, and a characteristic expanding skin rash, although this rash is not always present. Preventing tick bites by using insect repellent, wearing long clothing, and performing regular tick checks is important, as early diagnosis and treatment significantly reduce the risk of complications.
Non-infectious conditions
Crime and unrest
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Canada is generally considered a safe destination with low levels of violent crime. However, petty crime such as pickpocketing and theft can occur in larger cities and tourist areas. Travellers should remain aware of their surroundings, secure valuables, and avoid poorly lit or isolated areas at night. Be wary of protests and large public gatherings, and these might disrupt transport or local services.
Travellers are advised to monitor safety updates from the Australian government's Smartraveller website before and during travel.
Altitude sickness
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Altitude sickness can affect travellers visiting high-elevation areas in western Canada, particularly in the Rocky Mountains. Mountain resorts and hiking trails in areas surrounding Banff and Jasper may exceed 2,400 metres.
Acute mountain sickness can cause headache, nausea, fatigue, dizziness, and sleep disturbance, particularly when ascending rapidly without acclimatisation. Symptoms often improve with rest and by avoiding further ascent. More severe forms, including high altitude cerebral oedema and high altitude pulmonary oedema, are rare but potentially life-threatening and require immediate descent and urgent medical care.
Gradual ascent, adequate hydration, and allowing time for acclimatisation can significantly reduce risk. Travellers planning strenuous hiking or climbing at altitude should seek personalised medical advice prior to departure.
Safety on the roads and elsewhere
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Canada’s road infrastructure is generally of high quality, but distances between towns can be vast, particularly in rural and northern regions. Weather conditions may change rapidly, especially during winter, increasing the risk of road accidents. Ensure vehicles are appropriate for seasonal conditions and follow local road regulations.
Outdoor activities such as skiing, snowboarding, hiking, and wildlife viewing are popular. Follow local safety guidance, respect warning signage, and use experienced guides for backcountry activities. Weather exposure, including extreme cold, can present additional health risks in winter months.
Travel insurance is highly recommended for Canada to cover unexpected events such as medical emergencies and evacuation, ensuring peace of mind and financial protection throughout your journey.
Deep vein thrombosis
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Long-haul flights from Australia to Canada involve prolonged immobility, increasing the risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT). DVT is a condition whereby slowed blood flow contributes to clots formation in deep veins, usually affecting the legs. Extended road trips within Canada may also involve many hours of sitting.
To minimise risk, stand and walk regularly during flights, perform leg exercises while seated, and maintain adequate hydration. Travellers with additional risk factors for blood clots should seek medical advice before departure and may benefit from graduated compression stockings.