A driver killed at least nine people when he ploughed a vehicle through a crowd at a Filipino cultural celebration in Vancouver, police in the Canadian city said yesterday.

The Filipino community had gathered in Vancouver's Sunset on Fraser neighbourhood on Saturday evening when festivalgoers were hit.

"We can confirm nine people have died after a man drove through a crowd at last night's Lapu Lapu Festival," Vancouver police said on X.

The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada's election.

Police said they have arrested a "lone suspect" -- a 30-year-old man from Vancouver who was known to them -- and were not treating the incident as an "act of terrorism."

Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was "devastated" by the "horrific events."

Footage posted online and verified by AFP shows a black SUV with a damaged hood parked on a street littered with debris, meters from first aiders tending to people lying on the ground.

Eyewitness Dale Selipe told the Vancouver Sun that she saw injured children on the street after the vehicle rammed into the crowd.

"There was a lady with her eyes staring up, one of her legs was already broken. One person was holding her hand trying to comfort her," Selipe told the newspaper.

"We are still finding the words to express the deep heartbreak brought on by this senseless tragedy," community group Filipino BC, the organizer of the Saturday event, said in an Instagram statement.

Canadians go to the polls today after a frenetic election race where candidates have wooed voters on issues including rising living costs and tackling US President Donald Trump's tariffs.

Carney is favoured to win after assuring voters he can stand up to Washington's barrage of sweeping tariffs.