List of disasters in Canada by death toll

List of Canadian disasters by death toll is a list of major disasters (excluding acts of war) which occurred in Canada or involved Canadian citizens, in a definable incident, where the loss of life was 10 or more.

200 or more deaths

Disaster	Type	Location	Deaths	Date	Notes
Spanish flu	Pandemic	Canada	50,000 (estimate)	1918 to 1919
Newfoundland Hurricane of 1775	Hurricane	Newfoundland	4,000	1775^[1]
Halifax Explosion	Explosion	Nova Scotia	2,000	1917	estimate; 1,950 recorded names
Tseax Cone eruption	Volcano	British Columbia	2,000	~1700^[2]	'
RMS Empress of Ireland	Shipwreck	Quebec	1,012	1914	St. Lawrence River
RMS Atlantic	Shipwreck	Nova Scotia	562	1873	Marrs Head, Mosher Island, Meagher's Island
Duke William	Shipwreck	Near English coast	360	December 13, 1758	^[3] during the Expulsion of the Acadians
SS Princess Sophia	Shipwreck	Near Juneau, Alaska	353	1918
Aeneas	Shipwreck	Newfoundland	340	1805	Isle aux Morts
Violet	Shipwreck	England	300	December 13, 1758^[4]	During the Expulsion of the Acadians, near English coast, bound for France
Great Labrador Gale of 1885	Hurricane	Newfoundland	300	October 10, 1885 ^[5]^[6]
Sibylle	Shipwreck	Nova Scotia	300	September 11, 1834	emigrant ship wrecked St. Paul Island, Nova Scotia
SS Pacific	Shipwreck	British Columbia	298	1875	Cape Flattery out of Victoria, BC
Air India Flight 182	Sabotage	Atlantic Ocean	280 Canadians (out of 329 total fatalities)	1985	Flight out of Montréal Mirabel International Airport, bomb exploded off the coast of Ireland.
Nigeria Airways Flight 2120	Aircrash	Saudi Arabia	261	1991	Nationair DC-8-61 aircrash, Jeddah, Canadian aircraft; 14 Canadian crew, others Nigerian nationals.
Arrow Air Flight 1285	Aircrash	Newfoundland	256	1985	Gander, NL. Worst air crash on Canadian soil.
Great Lakes Storm of 1913	Storm	Ontario	250	1913	Great Lakes Basin, estimate for Canada and U.S. fatalities
HMS Tribune	Shipwreck	Nova Scotia	238	1797	Wrecked at Halifax
SS Anglo Saxon	Shipwreck	Newfoundland	237	1863^[7]	Allan Line shipwreck; Cape Race, Avalon Peninsula,
Swissair Flight 111	Aircrash	Nova Scotia	229	1998	St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia Hurricane of 1873	Weather-related	Nova Scotia	223 (disputed)	1873	The Monthly Weather Review, published by the American Meteorological Society, set the death toll at 223 but the New York Times set the toll at 600
Matheson Fire	Fire	Ontario	223	1916	[Official estimate]^[8]
SS Hungarian	Shipwreck	Nova Scotia	205	1860^[9]	Allan Line passenger ship wrecked Cape Sable, Nova Scotia
USS Pollux (AKS-2) and USS Truxtun (DD-229)	Shipwreck	Newfoundland	203	1942	Wreck of the USS Pollux resulted in 93 fatalities and USS Truxtun 110; the USS Wilkes (DD-441) also grounded, but there were no fatalities, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland.

100 to 199 deaths

200 - Ruby shipwreck near the Azores, December 16, 1758 (ref?)
189 – Hillcrest mine disaster, Hillcrest, Alberta, June 19, 1914
182+ - Victoria steamboat disaster, May 24, 1881, London, Ontario, ^[10]
174 – SS Southern Cross shipwreck, Newfoundland, March 31, 1914
173 – SS Florizel shipwreck, Cappahayden, Newfoundland and Labrador, February 23, 1918
160 – Miramichi Fire, New Brunswick, October 1825
150 – 1887 Nanaimo mine explosion, Nanaimo, British Columbia, May 3, 1887
136 – SS Valencia shipwreck, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, January 22, 1906
129 – John Franklin expedition – HMS Erebus (1826) and HMS Terror (1813) lost in Northwest Passage, 1845–1848
128 – Coal Creek mine disaster, Coal Creek, British Columbia, May 22, 1902
125 – First Springhill mining disaster, Springhill, Nova Scotia, February 21, 1891
118 – Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 831 aircrash, Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec, November 29, 1963
118 - SS Noronic fire, Toronto, September 17, 1949
115 – HMS Acorn, shipwreck, Halifax NS, April 14, 1828
109 – Air Canada Flight 621, Brampton, Ontario, July 5, 1970
102 – HMS Feversham shipwreck, Scatterie Island, Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, October 7, 1711

10 to 99 deaths

Note: The list below does not include aeronautical disasters in Saskatchewan or deaths to First Nations Peoples, Settlers & Military personal during the Rebellions of 1885 on The Prairies.

99 – Knights of Columbus Hostel fire, St John's, Newfoundland, December 12, 1942
99 – St-Hilaire train disaster, Richelieu River, Beloeil, Quebec, June 29, 1864 [deadliest train disaster in Canada]
84 – Ocean Ranger oil platform sinking, Grand Banks, February 15, 1982
81 – Hurricane Hazel, Toronto, October 1954 [Canada fatalities only]
78 – SS Newfoundland seal hunt disaster, Newfoundland, March 1914
77 – Laurier Palace Theatre Fire, Montreal, January 9, 1927
76 – Quebec Bridge first collapse, August 29, 1907
74 – Third Springhill mining disaster, Springhill, Nova Scotia, October 23, 1958
73-200 - Great Porcupine Fire, Porcupine, Ontario, July 10, 1911
70 – Frank Slide, Turtle Mountain (Alberta), April 29, 1903
70 – Desjardins Canal train disaster, bridge collapse, March 12, 1857
64 – Canadian Pacific Airlines Flight 402 (CP402) McDonnell Douglas DC-8-43 crashed on landing, Tokyo, Japan March 4, 1966
62 - Rogers Pass avalanche, Rogers Pass, British Columbia, March 4, 1910.
59 – Despatch shipwreck, Isle aux Morts, Newfoundland, July 12, 1828^[11]
55 – Point Ellice Bridge Disaster, Victoria, British Columbia, May 26, 1896
52 – Canadian Pacific Airlines Flight 21 Douglas DC-6B crashed near Dog Creek, British Columbia when a bomb blew its tail section away, July 8, 1965
52 – Great Western Railway passenger train collides with the tail end of gravel train at Baptiste Creek, Canada West. October 27, 1854
48 – Opémiska Community Hall fire, Chapais, Quebec, December 31, 1979
47 – Lac-Mégantic train disaster, Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, July 6, 2013
44 – 1997 Les Éboulements bus accident, Quebec, October 13, 1997
44 – Spanish River derailment, Northern Ontario, January 21, 1910
44 – US Military DC-4 crash, 42 US military personnel and 2 civilians, presumably somewhere in Yukon or British Columbia, January 26, 1950
43 – SARS outbreak, Toronto, Ontario, February - September 2003
43 – Great Fire of 1922, Timiskaming District, Ontario, October 4-5, 1922
42 – Pacific Western Airlines Flight 314, Cranbrook/Canadian Rockies International Airport, February 11, 1978
40 – Eastman bus accident, Eastman, Quebec, August 4, 1978
40 – SS Islander (Canadian Pacific Steam Navigation Company), sunk by iceberg, Lynn Canal south of Juneau, Alaska, August 15, 1901
40 – Québec rockslide, Cap Diamant, September 19, 1889
40 – Titanic, sank April 15, 1912 -- Canadian deaths only of 1,517 total.^[12]
39 – Almonte train wreck, December 27, 1942
39 – Hollinger Mining Disaster, Timmins, Ontario, February 10, 1928
39 – Second Springhill mining disaster, Springhill, Nova Scotia, November 1, 1956
37 – Canadian Pacific Airlines Douglas C-54 A-10-DC disappeared en route without trace out of Vancouver, British Columbia for Anchorage, Alaska, July 21, 1951
37 – Great Labrador Gale of 1867, October 9, 1867
37 – Blue Bird Café fire, Montreal, September 1, 1972
35 – 1959 Escuminac Hurricane, Gulf of St. Lawrence, June 19, 1959
32 – L'Isle-Verte nursing home fire, L'Isle-Verte, Quebec, January 23, 2014
31 – Saint-Jean-Vianney, Quebec mudslide, May 4, 1971^[13]
31 – Dugald train disaster, Dugald, Manitoba, September 1, 1947
31 – Halifax Poor House Fire, November 7, 1882
29 – 1929 Grand Banks earthquake and tsunami, Burin Peninsula, November 18, 1929
29 – SS Edmund Fitzgerald, Lake Superior November 10, 1975, went down with all hands
28 – North American ice storm of 1998, January 1998 [Canada fatalities only]
28 – Regina Cyclone, Regina, Saskatchewan, June 30, 1912
28 – LaSalle Heights Disaster, LaSalle, Quebec, March 1, 1965
27 – Edmonton Tornado, Edmonton, Alberta, July 31, 1987
27 – Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 301 Bristol Britannia crashed in Honolulu, Hawaii, July 22, 1962
27 – Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing bridge collapse, Vancouver, June 17, 1958
27 – SS Viking, explosion, Horse Islands (Newfoundland and Labrador), March 15, 1931
26 – Westray Mine methane explosion, Plymouth, Nova Scotia, May 9, 1992
26 – Granduc Mine avalanche, Stewart, British Columbia, February 18, 1965 (some references say 28 were killed)
26+ – HMS Speedy shipwreck in snowstorm, Lake Ontario, October 8, 1804
24 – 9/11, September 11, 2001 [Canada fatalities only]
24 – Air Ontario Flight 1363, near Dryden, Ontario, March 10, 1989
23 – Hinton train collision, Hinton, Alberta, February 8, 1986
23 – Air Canada Flight 797, aircraft fire, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, June 2, 1983
23 – Québec Airways DC-3 bomb sabotage, Saint-Joachim, Quebec, September 9, 1949 See Albert Guay
22 – Bus crash Swift Current, Saskatchewan, May 28, 1980
21 - Canoe River train crash, Valemount, British Columbia, November 21, 1950
21 – MV Flare bulk carrier shipwreck, Cabot Strait, January 16, 1998
20 – Beauval Indian Residential School fire, Beauval, Saskatchewan, September 20, 1927
19 – Dorion level crossing accident, Dorion, Quebec, October 7, 1966
17 – Legionnaire's disease outbreak, Toronto, 2005^[14]
17 – Cougar Helicopters Flight 91, off Newfoundland, March 12, 2009
17 – Windsor and Tecumseh, Ontario, tornado, Windsor, Ontario June 17, 1946^[15]
15 – 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami [Canadian victims only]
15 – Orléans air disaster, Orléans, Ontario, May 15, 1956
15 – Canadian Pacific Airlines Flight 307 Douglas DC-6B aircrash, near Cold Bay, Alaska, August 29, 1956
15 – Ottawa & New York Railway Bridge (south channel crossing) bridge collapse, Cornwall, Ontario, September 6, 1898
14 – École Polytechnique Massacre, shooting rampage, December 6, 1989
13 – MS Arctic Explorer shipwreck, off St Anthony, Newfoundland, July 3, 1981
13 – 1974 Les Éboulements bus accident, Quebec, 1974
13 – Quebec Bridge second collapse, September 11, 1916
13 – Sand Point, Ontario, head-on train collision, February 9, 1904
12 – First Air Flight 6560 a Boeing 737 crashes near Resolute Bay, Nunavut, August 20, 2011
12 – Pine Lake tornado in Alberta, July 14, 2000
11 – Canadian Pacific Airlines De Havilland DH-106 Comet 1A CF-CUN "Empress of Hawaii", crashed on takeoff from Karachi, Pakistan, March 3, 1953 (first passenger jetliner involved in a fatal accident)^[16]
10 - Rupert Hotel Fire, Toronto, December 23, 1989 ^[17]
10 – Metropolitan Store explosion, Windsor, Ontario, October 25, 1960^[18]

References

↑ The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1996
↑ D. Higgins, Michael (2008). "The Cascadia megathrust earthquake of 1700 may have rejuvenated an isolated basalt volcano in western Canada: Age and petrographic evidence". Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 179: 149. ISSN 0377-0273.
↑ Letter from Captain William Nichols dated December 16, 1758 says 360 passengers aboard the Duke William: London Magazine XXVII, p. 655.
↑ Letter from Captain William Nichols dated December 16, 1758 says 300 passengers aboard the Violet: London Magazine XXVII, p. 655.
↑ The Gale Off Labrador; Further Details Of Its Destructive Work.Sufferi... - Article Preview - The New York Times
↑ Coastal Flooding: Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage
↑ Anglo Saxon wreck 1863
↑ Heritage Foundation of Canada
↑ On the Rocks: Shipwrecks of Nova Scotia - Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Halifax, Nova Scotia
↑ historic plaque commemorating event
↑ Brief History of the Workington brig Despatch / Dispatch
↑ The Demographics of Titanic Passengers
↑ CBC News Indepth: Forces of nature - Flooding
↑ Legionnaires' disease claims another life in Toronto
↑ 1946 Windsor–Tecumseh, Ontario tornado
↑ ASN Aircraft accident description de Havilland DH-106 Comet 1A CF-CUN - Karachi
↑ Rupert Hotel Fire Memorial Plaque
↑ Windsor Fire and Rescue Services History

External links

Canadian Disasters: an historical survey by Robert L. Jones
SOS! Canadian Disasters, a virtual museum exhibition at Library and Archives Canada
Maritime Museum of the Atlantic: Marine Heritage Database

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