Canning Altitude Adjustments for Canada

Why altitude matters in Canadian canning

Water boils at 100 °C at sea level. At Calgary’s 1,084 m it boils closer to 96 °C. Higher in the Rockies, lower still. That difference is small but it’s enough to change how long heat needs to do its work in a sealed jar.

For water-bath canning of high-acid foods, the time published in a recipe applies at altitudes up to 305 m. Above that, your altitude adds minutes on top of the base time.

For pressure canning of low-acid foods, the published time stays the same — but the pressure goes up. The pressure is what gets the contents above 100 °C; you need more of it the higher you live.

The numbers below are Bernardin’s, transcribed from their published tables. They apply to boiling-water and pressure canning generally rather than recipe by recipe, which is why we can state them here instead of sending you to look each one up.

Water-bath canning: add these minutes

Elevation (m)	Elevation (ft)	Add to processing time
0 – 305	0 – 1,000	None — use the recipe time as written
306 – 915	1,001 – 3,000	+5 minutes
916 – 1,830	3,001 – 6,000	+10 minutes
1,831 – 2,440	6,001 – 8,000	+15 minutes
2,441 – 3,050	8,000 – 10,000	+20 minutes

So a recipe that says “process 10 minutes” becomes 15 minutes in Regina, 20 minutes in Calgary, and stays 10 minutes in Toronto.

If you’re on the line between two bands, round up to the higher band. Over-processing slightly is safe; under-processing is not.

Pressure canning: change the pressure, not the time

The processing time in the recipe does not change at any altitude. Set the pressure for your band and count the recipe’s time once that pressure is reached.

Weighted-gauge canner

Elevation (m)	Pressure (lb)	Pressure (kPa)
0 – 305	10	69
306 – 3,048	15	103

A weighted gauge has no in-between setting. Above 305 m you go to 15 lb and stay there — Bernardin lists every higher band separately and every one of them reads 15.

Dial-gauge canner

Elevation (m)	Pressure (lb)	Pressure (kPa)
0 – 305	11	76
306 – 609	11	76
610 – 1,219	12	83
1,220 – 1,828	13	90
1,829 – 2,438	14	97
2,439 – 3,048	15	103

A dial gauge should be checked for accuracy once a year. A gauge reading 2 lb high is under-processing every jar you put through it, silently.

Note that the two methods do not share cut-offs. Water-bath steps at 916 m; the dial gauge steps at 610 m. Don’t carry one table’s bands across to the other.

Where Canadian cities fall

These elevations are Bernardin’s own published figures for Canadian cities, so they line up exactly with the bands above.

City	Elevation	Water-bath	Dial gauge
Vancouver, BC	4 m	base time	11 lb
Victoria, BC	19 m	base time	11 lb
Fredericton, NB	20 m	base time	11 lb
Iqaluit, NU	34 m	base time	11 lb
Charlottetown, PE	49 m	base time	11 lb
Trois-Rivières, QC	61 m	base time	11 lb
Inuvik, NT	68 m	base time	11 lb
Moncton, NB	71 m	base time	11 lb
Québec City, QC	74 m	base time	11 lb
Montréal, QC	82 m	base time	11 lb
Saint John, NB	109 m	base time	11 lb
Ottawa, ON	114 m	base time	11 lb
St. John’s, NL	141 m	base time	11 lb
Halifax, NS	145 m	base time	11 lb
Chicoutimi, QC	166 m	base time	11 lb
Toronto, ON	173 m	base time	11 lb
Sault Ste. Marie, ON	192 m	base time	11 lb
Thunder Bay, ON	199 m	base time	11 lb
Yellowknife, NT	206 m	base time	11 lb
Terrace, BC	217 m	base time	11 lb
Winnipeg, MB	239 m	base time	11 lb
Sherbrooke, QC	241 m	base time	11 lb
Barrie, ON	295 m	base time	11 lb
Kamloops, BC	345 m	+5 min	11 lb
North Bay, ON	370 m	+5 min	11 lb
Dawson, YT	370 m	+5 min	11 lb
Brandon, MB	409 m	+5 min	11 lb
Kenora, ON	409 m	+5 min	11 lb
Kelowna, BC	429 m	+5 min	11 lb
Saskatoon, SK	503 m	+5 min	11 lb
Regina, SK	577 m	+5 min	11 lb
Vermillion, AB	617 m	+5 min	12 lb
Prince George, BC	691 m	+5 min	12 lb
Whitehorse, YT	703 m	+5 min	12 lb
Medicine Hat, AB	716 m	+5 min	12 lb
Edmonton, AB	723 m	+5 min	12 lb
Swift Current, SK	817 m	+5 min	12 lb
Red Deer, AB	904 m	+5 min	12 lb
Lethbridge, AB	928 m	+10 min	12 lb
Calgary, AB	1,084 m	+10 min	12 lb

Bernardin’s published tables stop at 3,050 m. Higher than that, call Bernardin rather than extending the pattern yourself.

If your town isn’t listed, find your elevation on a topographic map or your phone’s compass app and read it off the band tables above. Bernardin also takes calls about this.

What never changes

• Headspace. Whatever the recipe says (usually 1 cm / ½ inch for jams and pickles, 2 cm / ¾ inch for tomatoes and fruit in syrup).
• Acidification rule. For tomatoes water-bath canned: 1 tbsp bottled lemon juice per 500 mL, 2 tbsp per 1 L. Bernardin and Health Canada agree on this. Altitude does not change this number.
• Jar size. A recipe written for 500 mL jars cannot be moved into 1 L jars without re-checking the time. Always match the jar size the recipe specifies.

Altitude adjustment only ever changes minutes (water-bath) or pressure (pressure canning). Everything else holds.

Confirm it against your own edition

The figures on this page come from Bernardin’s website. A printed edition of the Complete Book of Home Preserving can differ from the site, and the site is revised from time to time. Before a batch you care about, check the copy you own.

Next steps

• Do I need to adjust canning time for my altitude? — the quick yes/no FAQ if you only need an answer for one city
• Canning altitude by Canadian city — the city list on its own
• Water-bath canning pillar — broader method context
• Pressure canning pillar — the method these PSI figures belong to
• Best water-bath canner in Canada — equipment guide