Apple Watch Sleep Apnea Feature Skips Canada, Debuts in 150+ Places

Apple’s Sleep Apnea detection feature for Apple Watch as part of watchOS 11, has skipped Canada at launch.

We previously suspected that Canada would likely be omitted from the launch, as Apple’s website and marketing made it clear Sleep Apnea wasn’t going to be coming here at launch.

Now, with today’s release of watchOS 11, Apple has revealed 154 nations and territories that have the Sleep Apnea detection feature today. Canada isn’t one of them of course. Blame Health Canada or whatever you want about it not being here.

We’re not the only folks that don’t have Sleep Apnea detection at launch. Other notable omissions include Australia, South Korea, New Zealand, and Spain, for example. China, India, Brazil, Russia, Mexico, Indonesia, South Africa, Turkey, UAE, and Israel also aren’t listed on Apple’s website that details sleep apnea feature support.

Sleep apnea is when a person briefly stops breathing while asleep, often causing snoring or gasping and leaving them feeling exhausted the next day. It can also lead to other health issues.

The newest Apple Watch models—Series 9, Series 10, and Ultra 2—support sleep apnea notification. This feature is for adults 18 and older who haven’t been diagnosed with sleep apnea. Traditionally, testing for sleep apnea involves visiting a sleep clinic or using home equipment, but with this feature on the Apple Watch, more people may discover they have sleep apnea (just not in Canada for now).

Apple Watch heart features approved by Health Canada include Afib history, ECG and irregular Rhythm.

Besides missing out on sleep apnea detection, Canada will also miss out on the Hearing Aid feature for AirPods Pro 2, as that hasn’t been approved here (and likely never will).