List of Canadian tornadoes and tornado outbreaks (before 2001)

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This page lists tornadoes and tornado outbreaks which have touched down in Canada prior to the 21st century. On average, there are around 80 confirmed and unconfirmed tornadoes that touch down in Canada each year, with most occurring in the southern Canadian Prairies, Southern Ontario and southern Quebec. Canada ranks as the country with the second most tornadoes per year, after the US. The most common types are F0 to F2 in damage intensity level and usually result in minor structural damage to barns, wood fences, roof shingles, chimneys, uprooted or snapped tree limbs and downed power lines. Fewer than 5% of tornadoes in Canada are rated F3 or higher in intensity, where wind speeds are in excess of Prior to April 1, 2013, Canada used a slightly modified Fujita scale, and as of that date the Enhanced Fujita scale, again slightly modified, was put into use to rate tornado intensity, based on the damage to buildings and vegetation. Each year on average, about 43 tornadoes occur across the Canadian Prairies and about 17 occur across Ontario and Quebec. New Brunswick and the British Columbia Interior are also recognized tornado zones. All other provinces and territories have significantly less threat from tornadoes. The peak season in Canada is through the summer months, (June to August), when clashing air masses move north, as opposed to the spring season in the United States southern central plains, although tornadoes in Canada have occurred in spring, fall and very rarely winter. The reported increase in numbers of tornadoes in recent years may reflect more reporting by citizens and media involvement rather than an actual increase in tornado occurrence (although some natural increase has not been ruled out), in addition to better detection technology i. e. Doppler weather radar and satellite imagery. The upswing could also be attributed to other factors, such as improved aerial and ground damage assessment after the fact in sparsely populated areas (particularly the case in remote parts of the Canadian Prairies and Northern Ontario, for example), better trained spotter capabilities and increased use of digital recording devices by citizens. Tornadoes in Canada are enough of a threat for a public warning system to be in place, overseen by the national weather agency, Environment Canada (EC). For a variety of reasons, such as Canada's lower population density and generally stronger housing construction due to the colder climate, Canadian tornadoes have historically caused fewer fatalities than tornadoes in the United States. The deadliest tornado in Canadian history, the Regina Cyclone of June 30, 1912, killed 28 and injured 300. Urban centres are not immune from the threat of severe tornadoes. Twelve medium to large size Canadian cities have been hit by significant strength tornadoes (F3 or higher), which caused large scale damage and fatalities: Toronto (1868); Regina (1912); Windsor (1946 and 1974); Sarnia (1953); LaSalle (1956); Sudbury (1970); Woodstock (1979); Lloydminster (1983); Barrie (1985); Edmonton (1987); Aylmer (1994); and Ottawa Gatineau (1888 and 2018). All figures for damages are in Canadian dollars.

April 6 an F0 tornado touched down near Altona, Manitoba, southwest of Winnipeg. May 5 an F1 tornado was confirmed north of Stratford, Ontario, leaving a path of damage in length. April 30 an F0 tornado was confirmed near Cudworth, Saskatchewan, northeast of Saskatoon. An F2 tornado also struck north of Viking, and two F1 twisters were confirmed northeast of Lacombe and near Kinsella. Walpole Island saw an F2 tornado, which injured one person. It lasted on the ground and caused C$1 million in damages.

April 27 an F2 tornado touched down near New Sarepta, Alberta. May 12 an F1 tornado touched down near the town of Whitewood, Saskatchewan. May 20 a brief F0 tornado touched down in the southern outskirts of Spruce Grove, Alberta. June 18 a tornado struck Eastern Ontario near the town of Westport. It severely damaged a small group of buildings. June 22 an F2 tornado struck near Warren, Manitoba. It stayed on the ground for 31.7 km (19.7 mi). Another F1 also struck nearby. Many buildings were damaged, and cottages completely destroyed. 38 people were injured by flying debris. August 14 an F1 tornado hit the north part of Toronto, Ontario, causing millions in damage. October 4 a weak tornado touched down in Wheatley, Ontario.

June 1 three tornadoes touched down in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. There were no official ratings given for the tornadoes, although some damage indicated F3 strength winds. Roofs were thrown off houses and a warehouse was destroyed. No one was injured, and damage was estimated at over $1 million. June 16 severe storms produced an F3 tornado that travelled from Brady Lake to Maynooth, Ontario. Two other tornadoes were also reported. June 16 an F3 tornado was confirmed near Lac Gareau, Quebec. It severely damaged summer chalets and overturned a truck. Two other tornadoes were reported further east. This was from the same weather system that had affected Ontario earlier in the day. A third tornado, an F2, grazed the outskirts of Provost, causing $100,000 in damages. June 25 an F1 tornado touched down southeast of Wainwright, Alberta. July 9 three tornadoes briefly touched down throughout Central Alberta. Two were spotted near Penhold and one reported south of Sylvan Lake. July 13 an F0 tornado hit the northeastern limits of Cochrane, Alberta. June 8 an F1 tornado was confirmed near the town of Fort Coulonge, Quebec, causing minor damage. July 22 an F1 tornado was confirmed in Foam Lake Ontario. It was the only known tornado in Ontario that year. June 25 eight tornadoes were confirmed in Alberta after storms tore through the province. The strongest was an F2 near Milo. Six F1s touched down near Springbank, Ghost Pine Creek, Esther, Bow Island, Jalna, and in the town of Lacombe. An F0 also touched down near Eckville.

May 1 a weak unconfirmed tornado grazed eastern Vancouver, British Columbia. June 5 eight tornadoes touched down around Alberta as storms tore through the province. Two F0s touched down south of Mundare and southeast of Elkwater. Five F1s were confirmed east of Okotoks, north of Tofield, between Olds and Didsbury, south of Ryley, and south of Clive. The strongest of the day, an early morning F2, also touched down near the Saddle Lake Reserve. June 10 an F1 tornado touched down north of Vermilion, Alberta. June 29 an F2 tornado hit the eastern part of Cardston, Alberta. August 2 an F1 tornado touched down just northeast of Pigeon Lake, Alberta. August 14 three tornadoes touched down in the province of New Brunswick. One hit the town of Carlisle, where trees were uprooted and a barn was destroyed. 22 out of 24 glass storm windows stored inside the barn were left undamaged. November 16 an F2 tornado caused $2 million in damage in the community of Mont Saint Hilaire, Quebec. This tornado was part of the November 1989 Tornado Outbreak.

June 28 a large tornado touched down south of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. August 28 Southern Ontario was hit by three tornadoes, in an outbreak associated with the 1990 Plainfield tornado. The strongest was an F3, which hit near the Port Stanley area, destroying 10 homes in Frome, and barns near St. Thomas and Delaware, killing several horses. An F2 tornado also struck Komoka, near London, destroying a church. An F1 tornado touched down near the small town of Kendal, just north of Newtonville. Only six minor injuries were reported.

March 27 an early season tornado struck Sarnia, Ontario, causing over $25 million in damage. June 23 an F0 tornado touched down just north of Cardston, Alberta. July 28 a brief F0 tornado touched down in Edmonton, Alberta. It crossed the North Saskatchewan River before dissipating.

June 22 tornadoes touched down across southern Manitoba, including two F1s near Winkler and an F0 in St. Claude. The region had been affected by severe weather the day before as well. August 8 an F1 tornado struck north of Deloraine, Manitoba. June 22 three weak tornadoes touched down in Manitoba. Two F0s touched down near Gladstone, Manitoba, and an F1 touched down west of Shell River. July 9 an F1 tornado touched down in West Nipissing, Ontario, and travelled east for 15 km (9.3 mi). Originally rated F2, this tornado was downgraded after survey teams discovered the houses that had been destroyed were mobile homes, not wood framed houses. July 29 a series of violent thunderstorms tracked across Central Alberta, spawning three tornadoes. The strongest of these was an F3 in Holden, east of Edmonton. An F0 touched down in near Falun, east of Pigeon Lake, and an F1 tornado was reported northeast of Lac La Biche. August 1 an F0 tornado touched down northwest of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

June 14 an F2 tornado uprooted trees and hydro poles on Caliper Lake, Ontario. June 30 an F2 tornado hit southeast of Kenora, Ontario, destroying boats, blowing apart cottages, and uprooting trees. July 9 one person was killed when an F2 tore because through the town of Saint Charles sur Richelieu, Quebec. Three other people were injured, and about a dozen homes were damaged. July 10 an F4 tornado tore through Birtle, Manitoba, which tracked for 29.4 km. The tornado destroyed several farm houses and barns, injuring 2 during its lifetime. August 4 an F3 tornado touched down in Aylmer, Quebec, across the river from Ottawa, injuring 15 people. The tornado path was long and caused major damage to a downtown residential subdivision, including homes destroyed. A second tornado had previously touched down just across the Ottawa River in Carp. In Quebec, other tornadoes touched down near Laurel and Rawdon. August 27 a F4 tornado hit rural farmland near Turtle Mountain, Manitoba. Devastation was especially visible at Mayfair Hutterite Colony, and there was well over $1 million in damage. There were no injuries or deaths.

June 20 thunderstorms rumbled for seven hours over Manitoba, producing winds which blew trees and power lines over. The storm produced a weak tornado. July 15 a large progressive derecho thunderstorm produced severe winds over an expansive area of the central Great Lakes and New England overnight. It also contained at least six tornadoes that hit Central Ontario, most centred on or north of the Kawartha Lakes. The strongest was an F2 tornado that destroyed a marina at Bridgenorth and overturned a houseboat on Lake Chemong, trapping 20 occupants for a few hours until they were rescued, just north of Peterborough. One person was killed in Bridgenorth. July 15 an F3 tornado touches down just west of Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. The tornado touched down near Pointe Des Chenes campground and moved through a heavily wooded area downing all trees in its path. The tornado then demolished 3 seasonal camps two of which were completely destroyed. 3 houses suffered significant damage, one house had the entire second floor ripped a part. The tornado would also rip the entire roof off one house well another house had its roof ripped off and the front exterior wall demolished. July 26 a tornado in Fredericton, New Brunswick, took the roof off a government building and damaged a tennis court dome. August 14 a tornado touched down near Barrie, Ontario. August 29 several farms were destroyed when a tornado lasting a couple of minutes affected Spring Valley, Saskatchewan, near Moose Jaw.

April 20 Multiple tornadoes hit Grey, Wellington and Dufferin counties. Two F3 class tornadoes touched down in Grey County (Williamsford), Wellington County and Dufferin County. Significant property damage occurred; nine people were injured by the two tornadoes. These tornadoes were part of the larger Tornado outbreak sequence of April 1996. May 20 a strong thunderstorm damaged one of the four screens of a drive in theatre at Thorold, Ontario, in the Niagara Region. Coincidentally, this drive in was planning to show the movie Twister that evening. Eyewitnesses reported seeing a small funnel cloud, but the physical evidence was inconclusive. Distorted and exaggerated media reports of this event abound; most claimed that the storm blew down the screen while Twister was being shown on it. The storm actually took place before sundown. However, a small tornado did touch down in Stoney Creek that same evening. July 4 an estimated nine tornadoes touched down in the Saskatoon, Maymont and Osler, Saskatchewan, areas. An F3 was measured in the Maymont area, destroying power lines. Homes and property were damaged in the Osler area. Wind gusts in Saskatoon reached and , damaging many trees and properties on the east end of the city. A drive in theatre and a nightclub on the eastern outskirts of the city were also heavily damaged; ironically, the movie that was going to be shown at the drive in that night was Twister. September 6 A tornado struck Trinity, Newfoundland, damaging houses and a shipyard building.

June 24 Lantz, Nova Scotia, F0 tornado touched down in a local ball field at approximately 4:45 pm ADT (UTC−03:00). Golf ball sized hail and intense lightning were also reported with this storm. July 2 during the Southeast Michigan tornado outbreak, an F1, an F2, and an F3 hit Windsor, Ontario, and surrounding areas. See the article for more in depth information. July 4 an F2 tornado touched down near Grand Falls, New Brunswick. A roof was torn off a building, and farmers' fields were ripped up. The same line of storms also dropped an F2 tornado in Matapédia (New Brunswick/Quebec border), where a couple of barns were destroyed.

June 2 during a wider severe weather outbreak (derecho thunderstorm) that struck Southern Ontario in the mid afternoon, an F1 tornado descended near Holbrook around 3:50 pm EDT (UTC−04:00) and travelled southeastward to Norwich, damaging many buildings, including a church. There were also tornado reports in Elmvale and Dunnville, and several reports of funnel clouds, hail, and high winds. July 10 an F2 tornado touched down in Charleston, New Brunswick, leaving a by path of damage. A mobile home was thrown and totally destroyed. There were minor injuries to the residents in the home. July 19 a weak tornado hit Daysland, Alberta, about east of Camrose. It damaged power lines, knocking out power to surrounding communities. August 11 a small F1 tornado went through part of Saint Émile, Quebec City, in the suburbs of Quebec City. It overturned a shed and caused a citywide electricity loss when a garage was slammed into an electric pole.

May 8 a tornado over Hull, Quebec, caused $2M damage and tore roofs off buildings. It was caused by the same system that produced the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak between May 3 and May 8. It was the second significant tornado in the Hull Gatineau area in five years. May 18 three tornadoes touched down close to the western limits of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The supercell associated with the tornadoes pelted the city with quarter sized hail, wind gusts of nearly , and over of rain fell from the half hour storm. July 3 an F2 tornado north of Kimberley, Ontario, destroyed barns, damaged farmhouses, and uprooted or snapped hundreds of trees. July 6 a Bois Francs, Quebec, region tornado left 4,000 without power and 200 in need of temporary shelter in Berthierville, Yamaska and Drummondville. Environment Canada records show one person was killed in the event. May 9 two anticyclonic tornadoes touched down in Southern Ontario, causing minor damage. The first was given an F0 rating, and occurred north of Amherstburg. Multiple trees were knocked over along a path. The second tornado, an F1, touched down in Malden Centre. It tore the roof from a storage shed, and knocked over a large shipping container along a path. No injuries were reported with either storm. May 23 an F2 tornado touched down near Appin, Ontario, damaging a pig barn and killing several pigs. Multiple homes also sustained damage, and hydro poles were snapped. No injuries were reported. June 22 an F0 tornado was confirmed near the town of Quyon, Quebec. The third tornado, an F1, occurred in Simcoe County, near the town of Melduf. It snapped and uprooted trees, and caused minor crop damage. An aluminum shed was destroyed. July 18 an F0 tornado touched down near Saint Jean Chrysostome, Quebec. July 24 a tornado outbreak in southern Manitoba spawned at least 4 confirmed tornadoes, including a large tornado which touched down for 10 minutes, from 6:10 pm to 6:20 pm, west of Brunkild, Manitoba. The Brunkild tornado did not hit anything, resulting in an F0 rating. The other confirmed tornadoes were located north of Elm Creek, Manitoba (4:22 pm), north of Brookdale, Manitoba(5:19 pm), west of Neepawa, Manitoba(5:50 pm) and south of Plum Coulee, Manitoba (6:08 pm). July 26 a tornado touched down briefly near Wabamun, Alberta, about west of Edmonton, causing minor damage. August 1 a tornado struck Viking, Alberta. August 6 a tornado touched down near Elnora, Alberta, southeast of Pine Lake. The tornado occurred while people were gathering for a memorial service in Pine Lake for those who died in the Pine Lake tornado just a few weeks earlier. August 9 a tornado was confirmed near Sangudo, Alberta. August 9 an F1 tornado touched down near Tilbury, Ontario, destroying a barn and causing heavy damage to two farmhouses. No injuries were reported.