Canada is likely to exceed the U.S. infection rate in the coming days The assumption that we would fare better than our neighbours to the south held true through much of the pandemic's first year. Not anymore. (Source: Johns Hopkins University CSSE COVID-19 Data) On April 6, Canada’s rate of new COVID-19 cases came as close as its ever been to that of the United States since the beginning of the pandemic, as Canada posted 180.8 cases per million population, while the U.S. posted 195.7 per million population. And our case count is rising so fast—up 28 per cent in the past week alone—that we’re likely to exceed the plateauing U.S. rate in the coming days.