and Labrador did not start its program for pneumococcal conjugate immunization until 2005, though such a vaccine had already been offered for years in Alberta.

According to a 2011 Canadian Medical Association Journal report, vaccination rates are high in most provinces, with 93.6 per cent of New Brunswick children entering kindergarten in 2008 with their shots, and an estimated 84 to 92 per cent of Ontario students aged seven to 17 with updated immunization records in the 2009-2010 school year.

Alberta, which does not enforce vaccinations, is cited in the CMAJ report as saying that its immunization rates are "over 90 per cent" for students below Grade 2.

Manitoba's chief public health officer said overall measles vaccination rates in the province are roughly 80 per cent.

In a bid for better trackingin the event of a measles outbreak across Canada, a CMAJ editorial published last May called for a national vaccine registry "to fill Canada's information gap by improving disease surveillance" and help policy-makers "target specific groups and geographic regions" for vaccine education.

For more information on vaccination guidelines, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization has published its recommended immunization schedule on the Public Health Agency of Canada website.