A Canadian missionary died during the tsunami that ravaged much of Japan's northeastern coast after a powerful earthquake shook the country on Friday.

The Quebec-based Society of Foreign Missions said Sunday that 76-year-old Andre Lachapelle was killed in the wake of the twin natural disasters that have claimed the lives of thousands.

A spokesman for the society said Lachapelle was in the hard-hit port city of Sendai when the 8.9 magnitude quake struck. Having survived the tremblor, Lachapelle tried to return to his home, a half hour drive away, but never made it.

"He wanted to be with his community," Eloy Roy, a colleague with the mission organization said Sunday.

It's unclear exactly how Lachapelle died, but Roy suspects he was caught in the tsunami that followed the quake as he drove along a coastal route toward his home in Shiogama.

Members of his group in Japan have given indications that there may have been waves that hit Lachapelle's car, Roy said.

"He couldn't have driven for half an hour with nothing happening," he said. "It would have been very stressful."

Roy says it's believed Lachapelle drove himself to hospital, and died of a massive heart attack upon arrival.

The Quebecer was from St.-Jacques, a village 65 kilometres north of Montreal, but had lived in Japan for more than 40 years and was well-established in the community.

"He was very involved," Roy said. "He loved his work and the Japanese...He was a man of reflection and study, and worked very deeply with the gospel."

The department of Foreign Affairs said Sunday that one Canadian has been killed as a result of the natural disasters in Japan, but wouldn't provide any details or confirm if the person was Lachapelle.

Of the estimated 10,000 to 12,000 Canadians in Japan, only 1,773 were registered with the Canadian Embassy when the quake struck. Thirteen Canadians were registered as being in the hardest hit area, a Foreign Affairs spokeswoman said.

The department continues to try and account for all Canadians living or visiting Japan.

Japanese officials have confirmed at least 1,800 people have been killed by the quake and tsunami that followed, but put the estimated death toll at 10,000. Hundreds of thousands have been left homeless.

Canada has since upgraded its travel report for Japan, asking its citizens to exercise a high degree of caution in Tokyo and to avoid all travel to the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant and surrounding areas where authorities race to combat the threat of multiple nuclear reactor meltdowns.

Canada is also monitoring the situation at the Fukushima plant for risks to Canadians after an explosion Saturday which could have exposed up to 160 people in the area to radiation. Operators have lost the ability to cool some of their reactors using usual procedures, after the quake knocked out power and the tsunami swamped backup generators.

British Colombia's public safety minister Rich Coleman said the radiological activity posed no health risk to Canadians so far.

"Health Canada has advised us that at the present time the current radiological activity at a facility in Japan is expected to pose no health risk to British Columbian's," he said in a statement released Sunday.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Friday he had offered Japan's ambassador any help required.