Doctors Manitoba | Manitoba Declares HIV Public Health Emergency

Manitoba has declared a public health emergency in response to a sharp rise in HIV cases — with rates now among the highest in Canada. The increase reflects broader challenges tied to substance use, housing instability, mental health, and inequitable access to care.

New HIV diagnoses climbed from 90 cases in 2019 to 328 in 2025.
Manitoba’s rate of 19.5 cases per 100,000 people is more than three-and-a-half times the national rate of 5.5.
The highest rates are in Prairie Mountain Health and Northern Health, though Winnipeg continues to see the largest number of diagnoses.

📈 What’s different in Manitoba: The province’s HIV profile does not mirror national trends.

More than half of new cases are among females, compared to 32% nationally.
Most newly diagnosed women are under age 40, increasing the risk of perinatal transmission.
Manitoba reported perinatal HIV transmission cases in both 2024 and 2025.
Transmission is most commonly linked to injection drug use and unprotected heterosexual sex.
Indigenous peoples remain disproportionately affected.

💡 What’s happening: The province is establishing an HIV Response Steering Committee through Public Health, with Indigenous and community leadership central to its work.

Priority areas include:

Expanding access to PrEP
Enhancing HIV testing and earlier diagnosis
Improving connection to care
Delivering targeted supports for communities at highest risk

🩺 What physicians can do: The Manitoba HIV Program has released a new infographic from Manitoba HIV Program aiming to help physicians and other health care providers diagnose and treat HIV.

Here are the program’s guidelines for health care providers.

Manitoba has the highest rate of HIV in Canada. Here’s how you can help*:

Offer pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for eligible patients in your care.
When testing for one STBBI, test for all.
Normalize HIV testing and know the HIV-STBBI status of all patients in your care. If your patient is having condomless sex with new, anonymous or multiple partners OR is a person who injects drugs AND has not been tested in the last 3 – 6 months, recommend testing. Additional risk based and clinical indications to guide testing frequency can be found in the MB HIV Program Testing Guidelines.
If your patient’s test is positive for HIV:
- Notify your patient as soon as possible after diagnosis
- Refer your patient to the Manitoba HIV Program by fax using the Manitoba HIV Program Referral Form
Provide your patient with education
Reinforce that when HIV is undetectable, it is sexually untransmittable (U=U)
Conduct a baseline medical assessment
If you are caring for a patient who is not connecting for HIV care or if you have urgent clinical concerns, consult the MB HIV Program: 1−866−449−0165 | TigerConnect the “MB HIV Program Team” | eConsult | Fax: 204−318−3181

Learn more here.

*Understand the historic and current context of HIV in Indigenous Peoples, and increase your knowledge of culturally safe care

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Manitoba Declares HIV Public Health Emergency