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This list of disasters in Canada includes major disasters, either man-made or natural, that occurred in Canada as currently defined or in adjacent waters. Disasters include natural disasters (major fires and floods) and accidental human disasters such as those relating to transportation, industrial and mining activities, and health (epidemics and pandemics). List + Colonial period Date Disaster Type Location (modern name) RegionDeathsNotes Ref(s) Lachine massacre Massacre Lachine, District of Montreal, Canada, New France (Lachine, Quebec) Central Canada253 Cascadia earthquake Earthquake British Columbia West Coast Mw 8.7 – 9.2 megathrust earthquake along the Cascadia subduction zone Eruption of Tseax Cone Volcanic eruption Tseax Cone, British Columbia West Coast2000 One of Canada's worst known geophysical disasters HMS Feversham Shipwreck Scatarie Island, Colony of Acadia, New France (Scatarie Island, Nova Scotia) Maritimes90 Montreal earthquake Earthquake District of Montreal, Canada, New France (Montreal-region, Quebec) Central Canada300 damaged houses, as well as 185 buildings destroyed by fire following the earthquake Newfoundland hurricane Hurricane Colony of Newfoundland (Newfoundland and Labrador) Atlantic Canadac. 4,000 Central Atlantic hurricane Hurricane Grand Banks of Newfoundland Atlantic Canadac. 3,500 Central Atlantic hurricane Hurricane Grand Banks of Newfoundland Atlantic Canadac. 3,500 Boston schooner Resolution Ship capture and Massacre Haida Gwaii (formerly Queen Charlotte Islands) West Coast11 Fort Edmonton Prairie Fire Wild fire Edmonton Prairies8Eight Natives died in ten-day fireHolt, Out of the Flames, p.12 Aeneas Shipwreck Isle aux Morts, Colony of Newfoundland (Isle aux Morts, Newfoundland and Labrador) Atlantic Canada340 HMS Penelope Shipwreck Cap-des-Rosiers, Lower Canada, British North America (Cap-des-Rosiers, Quebec) Central Canada40+ Miramichi Fire Fire Miramichi, New Brunswick, British North America (Miramichi, New Brunswick) Maritimes HMS Acorn Shipwreck Halifax, Nova Scotia Maritimes115 Despatch Shipwreck Isle aux Morts, Colony of Newfoundland (Isle aux Morts, Newfoundland and Labrador) Atlantic Canada59 Sybelle Shipwreck St. Paul Island, Nova Scotia Maritimes316 Jeannette's Creek train wreck Train wreck Jeannettes Creek, Canada West, Province of Canada, British North America (Jeannettes Creek, Ontario) Central Canada52 Desjardins Canal disaster Train wreck Hamilton, Canada West, Province of Canada, British North America (Hamilton, Ontario) Central Canada59 SS Montreal Shipwreck Quebec City, Canada East, Province of Canada, British North America (Quebec City, Quebec) Central Canada253 SS Hungarian Shipwreck Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia Maritimes205 1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic epidemic West Coast West Coastc. 20,000 SS Anglo Saxon Shipwreck Cape Race, Colony of Newfoundland (Cape Race, Newfoundland and Labrador) Atlantic Canada237 St-Hilaire train disaster Train wreck Mont Saint Hilaire, Canada East, Province of Canada, British North America (Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec) Central Canada99

1867–1916

+ Early Dominion Period Date Disaster Type Location (modern name) RegionDeathsNotes Ref(s) SS Atlantic Shipwreck Lower Prospect, Nova Scotia Maritimes535 Drummond Mine explosion Mining disaster Westville, Nova Scotia Maritimes60–70 Considered Canada's first mining disaster Oil Cabinet Novelty Works Company fire Fire Montreal, Quebec Central Canada12 Great Fire of Saint John Fire Saint John, New Brunswick Maritimes18-19 Foord Pit explosion Mining disaster Stellarton, Nova Scotia Maritimes44 Victoria steamboat disaster Shipwreck Thames River, Ontario Central Canada182 (approx.) Vale Colliery explosion Mining disaster near Stellarton, Nova Scotia Maritimes13 Calgary fire in centre of town Fire Calgary, Alberta Prairies Fourteen buildings were destroyed.Holt, Out of the flames, p. 50 Nanaimo mine explosion Mining disaster Nanaimo, British Columbia West Coast148 Québec rockslide Geologic collapse near Quebec City, Quebec Central Canada40+ 76 Ranch sheep mass-slaughter Wild Fire Gull Lake, Saskatchewan Prairies More than a thousand sheep were killed by prairie fire.Holt, Out of the flames, p. 38 Saint-Jean-de-Dieu asylum fire Fire Montreal, Quebec Central Canada86-104 Princess Opera House Fire Winnipeg, Manitoba Prairies Nineteen buildings destroyed.Holt, Out of the flames, p. 44 The Great Fire of 1892 Fire St. John's, Newfoundland Atlantic Canada Point Ellice Bridge disaster Traffic-rail accident Victoria, British Columbia West Coast55 McIntyre Block fire Fire Winnipeg, Manitoba Prairies Fifty offices, the office of the University of Manitoba and the UofM's Isbister Library were destroyed.Holt, Out of the flames, p. 38MHSA, "Historic Sites of Manitoba: McIntyre Block (416 Main Street, Winnipeg)" https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/mcintyreblock.shtml Caledonia Mine explosion Mining disaster Glace Bay, Nova Scotia Maritimes11 Great Hull Fire Fire Ottawa-Hull, Ontario-Quebec Central Canada7 4,000 buildings destroyed in Hull (Québec) and Ottawa (Ontario) Shipwreck Sinking of British man of war HMS Condor Off Cape Flattery? West Coast 104"HMS Condor" https://rshg.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/HMS-Condor..pdf accessed July 30, 2025 Coal Creek (BC) mine disaster Mining disaster Coal Creek, Fernie district, British Columbia West Coast128 Wanstead train disaster Train wreck Wanstead, Ontario (Wanstead, Ontario) Central Canada31"Petrolia [website]. Wanstead Ontario Wanstead was the scene of a very sad and tragic..." https://www.petroliaheritage.com/wanstead.html accessed August 21, 2025 1903 Hamilton Powder Company explosion Explosion Departure Bay, British Columbia West Coast12 Frank Slide at Turtle Mountain Geologic collapse Turtle Mountain, District of Alberta, Northwest Territories (Turtle Mountain, Alberta) Prairies70-90+ Carbonada coal mine explosion Mining disaster Carbonada (outside Fernie) BC14 Edmonton Bulletin, Nov. 23, 1904 Fernie Fire of 1904 Fire Fernie BC destroyed whole downtown - 65 buildings lost "Fernie Fire of 1904" https://fernie.com/about-fernie/history/the-fernie-fire-of-1904/ Clallam (steamboat) Shipwreck Oak Bay, BC West Coast56 Paterson, Shipwreck, Tragedy, Piracy and Terror in the Pacific Northwest (Solitaire publication), p. 31-38 Sternwheeler Columbian disaster Shipwreck At Eagle Rock on the Yukon River, Yukon Northern Canada6 Winter of 1906-1907 blizzards southern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan Prairies Thousands of cows died in cold, blowing winds and driving snow. Forty-eight cows died right on Calgary's main street.Foran and Foran Calgary Canada's Frontier Metropolis, p. 96-97History Matters: Saskatchewan is no stranger to bad winters https://thestarphoenix.com/opinion/columnists/history-matters-saskatchewan-is-no-stranger-to-bad-winters Hochelaga Protestant School fire Fire Montreal, Quebec Central Canada 17 Strathcona coal mine fire Mining disaster Edmonton, Alberta Prairies 6A fire began in the building at mouth of vertical mine shaft. The whole shift of miners tried to flee but each in turn succumbed to flames and smoke.Strathcona Plaindealer June 11, 1907"Six Men dead as result of Mining disaster at Strathcona" Edmonton Bulletin, June 10, 1907, p. 1 https://archive.org/details/EDH_1907061001 accessed Jan 4, 2026 First Quebec Bridge Collapse Engineering disaster Quebec City, Quebec Central Canada 75 Port Hood Mine explosion Mining disaster Port Hood, Nova Scotia Maritimes10 Elk River Bush Fire Wildfire British Columbia (Michel, Hosmer, Sparwood, Fernie) British Columbia BC125"125 are Dead in Forest Fire" Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed April 22, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/698 Fernie destroyed by fire (part of the Elk River Bush Fire) Fire Fernie, BC British Columbia BC1–100+Anna Hubbard eyewitness, "Fernie The Early years" https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/205/301/ic/cdc/fernie/05/1908_escape.html"Disastrous Fire sweeps the Elk Valley – The Free Press Turns 115 years Old", https://thefreepress.ca/2012/12/31/disastrous-fire-sweeps-the-elk-valley-the-free-press-turns-115-years-old/1909 October 5Wellington Collieries cave-inMining disasterExtension, BC (near Ladysmith)West Coast32 Spanish River derailment Train wreck Nairn and Hyman, Ontario Central Canada43-70 Rogers Pass avalanche Avalanche Rogers Pass, British Columbia West Coast62 The Herald fire Fire Montreal, Quebec Central Canada32 Bellevue mine disaster Mining disaster Bellevue, Alberta Prairies301911 JulyGreat Porcupine fireFireTimmins, OntarioCentral Canada73 to 200 Sinking of the RMS Titanic Shipwreck Atlantic Ocean, off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland Atlantic Canada1490-1635 Regina Cyclone Tornado Regina, Saskatchewan Prairies28 The Great Lakes Storm of 1913 Meteorological storm Ontario Central Canada250+ Hillcrest mine disaster Mining disaster Hillcrest, Alberta Prairies189 Southern Cross disaster ship sinking (likely due to breaking up in storm) location unknown, in Newfoundland waters Maritimes 174 (or 173) Largest death toll in Newfoundland and Labrador's sailing history. episode in the "1914 Newfoundland Sealing Disaster" SS Newfoundland sealing disaster off northern coast of Newfoundland Maritimes 78 132 sealers were stranded on an ice floe, resulting in 78 deaths RMS Empress of Ireland collision with Norwegian collier Storstad Shipwreck Saint Lawrence River in Quebec Central Canada1012 Britannia Landslide Geologic collapse Britannia Mine, British Columbia West Coast 50–60 Burning of Parliament Buildings Fire Ottawa, Ontario Central Canada Matheson Fire Fire Northeastern Ontario Central Canada223 (approx.) Michel Colliery (Fernie district) explosionmine explosion Fernie district, British Columbia British Columbia13 Virtual Museum https://www.sparwood.ca/parks-recreation-culture/arts-culture-heritage/virtual-museum Second Quebec Bridge Collapse Engineering disaster Quebec City, Quebec Central Canada13

1917–1969