Background: There is a paucity of data on the burden of the full spectrum of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and acute otitis media (AOM) from outpatient and inpatient settings across the age spectrum.Methods: We conducted a population-based retrospective study in Ontario and British Columbia (BC), Canada, to estimate the incidence rate of CAP and AOM in children and adults over a 14-year period using health administrative databases. CAP and AOM cases were identified from outpatient physician consultation and hospitalisation data in both provinces, and from emergency department visit data in Ontario.